Antivir – My personal favorite Antivirus program. I’ve had a lot more luck with Antivir than I have with AVG or Avast .

Dropbox – 2 gigs of free cloud-based storage that automatically sync my folders and files between computers. I don’t know how I survived the days of Dropboxlessness.

Evernote – The only note taking, scrap collecting, journal writing, website clipping software suite I will ever need. Evernote also takes full advantage of the cloud while also syncing locally to all my computers.

Filezilla – My favorite FTP program by far. Simple and does what it’s suppose to do.

Firefox – Still the best browser out there. I switched to Chrome for a while and although faster in a lot of situations, it tended to be a little too buggy for me to use on a daily basis. Not to mention its lack of Mozilla’s impressive collection of add-ons.

While we’re on the subject of Firefox add-ons, here’s a mini-must-have bonus list.

Google Gears – Lets you to store data from websites locally allowing you to access it while offline. Very useful at times.
Xmarks – Syncs my bookmarks between all my computers. So nice.
Nice Translator – An extension to a great website of the same name which enables me to translate words and sentences on the fly in a plethora of different languages.
Web Developer – A must have for any web developer or tinkerer.
No Script – Blocks all flash and javascript from running without my express permission. I highly recommend this one.
Dictionary Tooltip – Does just what you think it would. Highlight a word and it gives you its definition.
LogMeIn – This is an add-on which enables me to log into my home or work PC from anywhere. You need to install a small app onto the target PC, but it’s well worth it.

Audacity – A cross-platform, open source sound editor.

iTunes – I know there are a lot of alternatives out there, but honestly, I haven’t found a reason to switch yet. (It’s funny that I feel like I have to justify the use of such a mainstream program)

Launchy – An open source keystroke launcher. Enables me to launch anything in a split second. I would be lost without it. I use Quicksilver for the Mac.

Notepad++ – This is a fantastic, open source text editor with syntax highlighting. I absolutely love it.

Open Office – The open source alternative to M$ Office. Much better too, in my opinion.

Python – An open source, general purpose programming language which allows me to do…, well, anything I want.

Sandboxie – This cool little app can isolate programs from the rest of your computer, essentially rendering them harmless to your system. Great for testing software or surfing the web, i.e., Firefox in sandboxie mode. (Sadly, not for Mac).

Skype – Instant message and VoiP. The best of the best of the best…sir.

Steam – Because we all need to unwind. Steam is by far the easiest way to game.

Truecrypt – Create an encrypted container of any size to securely store content or use it to encrypt your entire hard drive. Either way, your data is safe from prying eyes. I keep a 100 megabyte encrypted container in my Dropbox folder so I can access it from anywhere.

uTorrent – My favorite bit torrent app. And now available on Mac, yay!

VLC – A cross-platform video player that just works — all the time.

7-Zip – A good compression utility. There’s nothing more exciting than a good compression utility, am I right?

Tweetdeck – A power user’s window into the world of Twitter. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t understand the hype surrounding Twitter until I started using Tweetdeck. With this program, I can get real-time information from anywhere around the world, from real people, anytime of day or night. Did I mention real it’s real time? Literally, Twitter is the chat room of the world and Tweetdeck is the interface.

Cygwin – A Unix emulator for Windows for us command-line warriors. (No need for Mac / linux)

Virtualbox – Very handy, open source virtualization software, ideal for running operating systems within operating systems.

And there you have it.

If it were up to me, I would go on using XP and OS X forever, but we all know that can’t happen. So what do I do? When the day comes to replace my Dell XPS, what will I buy? Another XPS, but this time with Vista on it? Sure, you can still buy new PCs running Windows XP, but will that be the case a year from now? Would I even want XP a year from now? A year in terms of technology is an eternity. Microsoft already said they are going to stop supporting XP in 2008. I’m really getting backed into a corner here. I can’t run XP forever, and I highly doubt Vista will have matured by then, if ever. I’d say there’s a 50 / 50 chance that I may eventually go all Mac. Those chances are pretty high considering I’ve been with Windows since the beginning of time (remember the whole technology / eternity thing). It’s really sad too. The truth is, there are really only three reasons why I haven’t made the switch yet.

The first reason is because I dropped $3500 on an XPS about a year ago. I am going to squeeze every last ounce of life out of that computer before I pull the plug.

The second reason is familiarity. I can fly around XP like it’s nobody’s business. Unfortunately, Microsoft blew that right out of the water when the redesigned Vista. Was there something wrong with “Add or Remove Programs“? Not to mention I’m starting to get pretty damn efficient with OS X. Did anyone else just hear a hammer?

The third reason, though it may seem childish to some, is that I’m a gamer. I love gaming. First person shooters in particular. XP still reigns supreme in this arena, but for how much longer? With Macs sporting their new Intel chips, game development has shifted significantly. I’m sure this also has to do with the fact that Apple’s market share is increasing. Game developers actually like to sell their products. Weird! My point is, Apple seems to be moving in the right direction in terms of gaming, and that’s bad news for Microsoft.

So what’s left? Productivity? Mac! Development? Mac! It’s Unix for god sakes. Internet? Mac! Entertainment? Mac! Creativity? Mac!

Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me the reasons why I should, nay,… need to stay with Microsoft. Believe me, I’ll listen. I feel like I’m breaking up with a long time girlfriend. I keep making excuses to stick around, but they’re starting to sound old and transparent. I know what you’re thinking, “stop your bitchin’ and just switch already“. *sigh I have some time to think about it anyway.

Maybe Vista is a reincarnated version of Windows ME. And maybe a year from now we’ll all be saved by the release of Windows XP Ultra Deluxe 2009 Edition. Then all my problems would be solved.

For the last few days I’ve been messing around with a great program for the Mac called Journler. It’s like a journal on steroids. It has all the basic features you would expect from journaling software, but then takes it to a whole other level. You can do things like add audio, video, and photos to your entries with the click of a button, or record them directly using your built-in hardware. You can even publish your entries to your blog (I haven’t actually tried this yet, cross your fingers). The interface is sleek and intuitive, just what you’d expect from a Mac app.

Don’t look at this as a full review of Journler though, since I’m still plummeting head first through the learning curve, but I was impressed enough with what I saw to give it a mention to anyone who has never heard of it.

Journler

I’m still a big time Mac noob. I’ve had this MacBook for about a year now and I just recently discovered what that weird little diagonal line is that all the Mac tutorials refer to. But I do listen. The OS X gurus may not think I’m listening, but I am — and every now and then I pick up on their good habits. I’ve recently been introduced to another little app called Quicksilver. I’m really not the guy to be giving a full review of this app either, or any Mac app for that matter, but from what I’ve seen of it so far, it’s pretty damn incredible. Here’s what I can tell from the little time I’ve spent with it — it’s an extremely powerful search application with a slew of built in macros (is that the right word?) which allow you to do all sorts of things to the items that you’ve just searched for. It uses a lot of keyboard shortcuts (which I love) to accomplish tasks at a lightning fast pace.

I’m really not doing this program any justice, so I’m gonna shut up now. The guys over at the Blacktree Inc. will most likely be sending me a cease and desist letter any day now anyways because of this literary mutilation of their product. Go ahead and check it out for yourself. I think you’ll really like it. If you don’t, blame the gurus.

Quicksilver

If there were such an operating system that could make me switch, however, it would most likely be OS X Tiger. I’ve been using OS X on a daily basis now for about five months and have loved every minute of it. This is a new frontier for me. I have no substantial experience with any of the other Apple operating systems, so I can’t form a valid opinion of them. Just OS X Tiger.

Here are some of my thoughts on OS X in comparison to Windows and Linux:

First of all, OS X is really just a pretty version of Unix, so we know right away that it’s far more secure than Windows. Having a background in Linux/Unix really helped me with the transition to OS X. In fact, the first time I booted up my Mac I was surprised at how much it looked like Kubuntu, menus and all.

Boot up and shutdown times are ridiculously quick. Noticeably faster than Windows and quite a bit faster than Ubuntu. Coming out of sleep mode is almost instantaneous too.

Installing programs couldn’t be easier. Drag the new program to the Applications folder and voila, it’s installed. Uninstalling couldn’t be easier either. Drag the program to the trash bin and voila, it’s uninstalled. No orphaned DLL files or abandoned registry entries to clutter up your system.

No viruses. The typical argument here is that it’s because the writers of such malicious programs don’t create viruses for Macs, because no one uses Macs. That’s partially true. It is possible to write a virus (or other malware) for OS X — and as the operating system becomes more popular you can bet we’ll see more of them. The simple fact is, however, it’s much harder to write this kind of software for a Unix based OS. One reason for this is because 99% of Windows users are going about their daily business logged onto their computers as administrator, also called a root. Ask any Linux user if he or she surfs the net as root and they’ll most likely laugh at you. OS X, for all intents and purposes, is Linux.

It’s very intuitive to use, but first, you have to clear your mind of all Windows. Only then will yo be able to accept the OS X interface. For example, the whole corners thing is genius. When I move my mouse to the top left corner (or whichever corner you choose), all my open applications are tiled in front of me. It’s like alt-tab times 100. It’s little things like that that make OS X shine.

OS X is a very powerful development platform which comes preloaded with languages such as Python, Perl, PHP, and Ruby, while still remaining incredibly user friendly to the computer novice.

Spotlight! By far the best search utility in any operating system. So good that Microsoft is putting a Spotlight clone in Vista.

Plenty of software applications. From what I used to hear about Macs, the main problem was that no one made software for them. Like I said, I don’t know anything about the older versions of Apple’s OS, so this may be true. I can tell you that with OS X, there is definitely no shortage of software. Because OS X is Unix based, you can essentially run any Linux program you want on it. For example, I don’t use Microsoft Office anymore, even on Windows. I use OpenOffice which is a free, cross-platform office suite. I don’t use Dreamweaver anymore. I use NVU, which is a free, cross-platform HTML editor. Software that is cross-platform is especially nice because no matter what OS you are using, your workspace remains familiar.

OS X is geared more towards the user. In the world of Web 2.0, content is king. In the world of content creation, OS X is king. It’s hard for anyone to argue the fact that the Mac reigns supreme in the area of photo manipulation and audio / video production. With bundled apps like Garage Band, Photo Booth, iTunes, and iMovie, the average user can easily produce rich content, ripe for a new dynamic web.

These are just some of the examples of why I love OS X, and it’s only been 5 months. So if you are a Windows user and you haven’t looked at an Apple in a while, I recommend that you take another look, you may be surprised.

Or you can wait a bit. Apple and Microsoft both have new operating systems due out shortly, OS X Leopard and Windows Vista respectively. 2007 could turn out to be an interesting year.

I needed to edit my .htaccess file from my web server, but when I downloaded it to my desktop (OS X), the file magically disappeared. So I downloaded it again. This time it asked me if I wanted to overwrite the existing .htaccess file on my desktop. That’s when it hit me, .htaccess is a hidden file. Duh!

I did a quick scan in Finder for a “Show Hidden Files” option, but I had no luck. Google here we come. And this is what I found.

In a terminal, type the following:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder

To revert back to the way it was, repeat the above step, but this time replace the TRUE value with a FALSE value. Voila! Nice and easy.

* 1.83GHz or 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo
* 13.3-inch (diagonal) TFT glossy widescreen display
* Apple Remote with Front Row
* Up to 2GB memory(3)
* Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
* Slot-loading optical drive
* Up to 120GB hard drive(3)
* Built-in 54-Mbps 802.11g AirPort Extreme wireless
* Analog and digital audio in and out
* FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 ports
* iLife ’06, Mac OS X Tiger

Over the years that line has been getting a little blurred. Mac users are dual booting Windows and OS X, while Windows users are conceding that Macs are a viable alternative to PCs. I can think of a few reasons why this may be the case. PCs have moved away from the conventional beige box look to more sleeker designs. Even Windows got a coolness upgrade with XP. I need not mention the arsenal of apps that run on Windows. On the flip side, Macs have been beefing up their performance and are now in direct competition with the once all powerful PC. Especially now that they are using Intel’s Core Duo processor. More and more third party companies are writing applications for Apple’s as well. Gone are the days when a program would only run on Windows (including games).

As a PC user, sometimes I feel like I fell fast asleep, and when I woke up, I was the only one without a Mac. What happened to our hardnosed “Macs Suck” attitude? To tell you the truth, I never thought Macs sucked. I never really had any opinion on them at all, but I have always been curious about them. Have you ever asked a Mac user how they like their computer? Do it, and then watch the result. Their eyes gloss over and they begin telling you all the fabulous things about their beloved Apples as if they’re talking about their very own children. Steve Jobs must be doing something right to evoke such a reaction.

So I figured it was time I gave OS X a spin. That’s right, I’m jumping on the band wagon. Okay, maybe that’s not the only reason. With the impending demise of Microsoft over the next decade (yes, that’s right, impending demise), I thought it would be a good idea to tuck as many operating systems under my belt as I can. I’ve already mastered all the various versions of Windows (toot toot), and I’m fairly proficient with Linux — OS X just seems like the next logical step. Not to mention Macs are just so damn cool looking.

I didn’t want to dive into a $2000 Apple. Luckily, a friend of mine was able to commandeer me an older iMac G4. I plan on beating the crap out of this thing. The first thing I noticed when I booted it up was how closely OS X resembled Kubuntu (a version of Ubuntu (a distribution of linux) that uses KDE instead of Gnome). I realized that OS X is basically a pretty version of Unix (BSD, in fact), but what I didn’t realize was how much of the functionality is the same, let alone the visual aspects. Needless to say, I was extremely happy to see this, familiar ground and all.

Oh, and one last thing. I am in the market for a new, slightly more portable laptop. I currently have a Dell Inspiron XPS. I love it. It’s fast, it’s powerful, and it’s huge. It’s way to big to lug around. So I decided to take a look at some of Apple’s notebooks, only I couldn’t justify spending all that money on a laptop that I wasn’t sure I would even like. The iBooks are nice and small, but again, I don’t know if I could justify buying a new laptop with just OS X loaded on it. The Macbook Pros look nice and they can dual boot OS X and Windows XP (sweet), and I really like Intel’s Core Duo, but they’re still a little larger than I actually wanted. Enter the Macbook. It’s about the size of an iBook, with the dual boot capability of the Macbook Pro. Nice, huh? The problem is they don’t exist yet. The rumor going around was that Apple was going to announce it’s new laptop two days ago. Alas, no such announcement has been made. But hopes are still high that an announcement will be made by the end of this month. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.