Ten Free Mac OS X Programs

Ten Free Mac OS X Programs that Make the PC to Mac Switch a Breeze

With more and more attorneys adopting Macs throughout their offices every day and the business world raving about the cost effectiveness
of Mac OS X, today Macs are an accepted and feasible alternative to
Windows in the legal community. Having recently made the switch to a
Mac myself, I’ve put together a list of the top ten free Max OS X
programs that made switching from a PC to a Mac a breeze.

1. Quicksilver

Quicksilver is a program launcher that uses simple commands to rapidly
bring up any program, file, folder, or website. Quicksilver learns what
files and programs are most often accessed and adapts so that those
items are pulled up almost instantaneously when the user starts typing
the name of the item in the Quicksilver interface.

For example, in screenshot below, I pulled up the Quicksilver
interface with a single keystroke and then by typing in “ex” brought up
Excel. Using the tab key I was able to bring up specific commands such
as the option to open a specific excel document, move a document to
another folder, or email a specific file. Quicksilver is very intuitive
and allows users to execute specific commands so quickly that using the
built-in OS X dock to open a program seems slow by comparison.

2. Anxiety

Anxiety brings the iCal task list to your desktop. It provides easy
access to your to-do list so that tasks can be added or marked as
complete without opening your full calendar. Anxiety stays in sync with
iCal and disappears when not in use.

3. Caffeine

OS X has a great power saving feature built-in: after a short period
of inactivity the screen automatically dims. Caffeine allows you to
turn this feature on and off with a single click so that presentations
can be run without interruption. It also prevents your Mac from going
to sleep or starting the screensaver.

4. Growl

Growl provides unobtrusive notification messages from various
programs that run on OS X, including Adium, Firefox, and iTunes. They
simply pop up as semi-transparent notifications on the top right corner
of your screen and then disappear.

5. Adium

Adium is by far the best instant messaging program I have ever used.
You can seamlessly send messages to your friends using various
protocols including AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google
Talk, and MSN Messenger. Adium also supports tabbed conversations so
you can keep all your conversations in a single window.