Where to Find the 5 Best Mac Apps Available

The apps that will let you get the best out of your Apple Mac computer.

Step 1 VLC Media Player

The definitive freeware media player. This app fills all the holes where Quicktime's lack of essential codecs limits its compatibilty with some audio and video files. Supports DivX, MP3, AVI and most other formats. To download copy and paste the URL below into your address bar:

URL: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Comments

[gorgo333]

Or you could skip this part, pay for your music, and NOT get a plethora of viruses.

[bumper44]

I agree with you about the legal part, but Macs are virus-proof.

[tstirler]

Nice list. I would add Quicksilver though. http://www.blacktree.com/ Now I no longer have any apps on the Dock. :)

[qballcat]

does vmware come with windows pre installed or do you have to install it?

[lowtherz]

vmware requires you to boot windows from your installation disc.

[MarcusAvery]

Firefox does not come with Macs. Safari is the resident browser.

[ultrauber]

I'd say that VLC is waaaaaay better on windows - the UI just makes more sense. Also, Firefox comes with Mac nowadays, so you can hardly recommend downloading it. Otherwise, nice!

[cybersurfer24]

You would be better with frostwire... No ads and full speed for free

[Cartermarquis]

I used to use Limewire on my Windows box at home, but when i got my Macbook I downloaded Frostwire. Its the open source version of Limewire, and has the "turbocharged" connection automatically. Has the exact same UI, except it's built on open source goodness. www.Frostwire.com . For a free virtual machine, Try Virtualbox (www.virtulabox.org). It runs on Linux, Windows, and OS X hosts, and is free of charge. I use it to run XP and Ubuntu Linux, and it works great, except some USB functionality is left to be desired. Overall, good choice of apps.

[TheScientist]

camino is a better browser than firefox. it's made by mozilla, and uses bugger all system resources compared to firefox, while having more or less the same UI as firefox. only downside is that you can't have all the addons (it has adblock etc built in though) also check out opensourcemac.org (i think) for lots of other neat programs

[lowtherz]

Camino better than Firefox?! Maybe, but lack of addons is a pretty serious downer. Cheers for the link, its a pretty neat site!

[TheScientist]

ok, camino comes into its own if your mac doesn't have much memory, and you like to use firefox. firefox will make your mac start to chug pretty fast with multiple tabs, but camino doesn't :-) if you have lots of memory, it doesn't matter!

[fiftydotsix]

While im a big Opera fanboy i'll leave aside the browser wars and recommend a few more programs. Adium is a great chat client that will handle most types of IM. The only other thing thats missing is the wonderful Quicksilver, an app launcer that can do almost anything.

[lowtherz]

Thanks for commmenting guys, this is my first instructable so I really appreciate the feedback, thanks again!!

[lucidn]

I would add Handbrake to this list. It's the best free DVD ripper.

[lowtherz]

Yeah, I agree, Handbrake is really good but I decided to limit the list to 5 and it didn't make the cut.

[=SMART=]

agreed

[ac1D]

N own!