Here are a few of my favorite Mac applications. These are mostly generic applications useful to most people using a Mac. I do of course have plenty of task-specific and domain-specific applications I use, but those are a topic for a later post.
Clipboard (cut-and-paste) history
There are many applications that do this, or do this as part of doing all kinds of other application-launching tasks, but this simple utility is the one I’ve used forever. I cannot imagine how people use Macs (or any computer) without a clipboard history.
Online backup
This is a straightforward and reliable backup tool that let’s use use backends like Amazon and Google for data storage.
Sure, I have a nice little Time Capsule for local backups, but repeat after me “It’s not backed up until it’s offsite”. And using something like Amazon’s Glacier storage means it can be economical to back up large data sets.
Retina Mac Display Resolution Setting
Yes, the Settings app lets you set display resolutions, but with nowhere near the level of control that this utility provides.
Disk Usage
If you want to see what is using up space on your disk, this tool is a beautiful way to do it!
Disk Cloning
So there are really three pillars that make up a comprehensive backup strategy.
- Local and very frequent – Time Capsule
- Offsite – Arq
- Local and immediate restoration – Carbon Copy Cloner
Carbon Copy Cloner is the tool to use for making a bootable backup, or when migrating to a new hard drive.
If you are in a situation where waiting to restore from a Time Capsule, or offline, would result in excessive downtime, a CCC backup is the fastest way to get things working again.
Monitor Everything
When you want to go many many steps beyond Apple’s Activity Monitor, iStat Menus is there.
Incredible detail and monitoring of your network connection, voltages, temperatures, memory, CPU and more.
Maybe it’s just my love of gauges and dials, but I really like knowing whats going on inside the shiny box.
Other Tools
In no particular order, here are a few other tools that I find useful, but not everyone will:
- Simplenote by Automattic
- The Unarchiver by Dag Agren
- Transmit by Panic
- VLC
Muddlin' Through 