A few of my favorite free apps for mac.

I thought some of my fellow macusers might find this post informative. A few of these applications are quite common but several of them are hidden gems and it is my hope that perhaps you will find them as helpful as I have. Some of this is no brainer stuff if you aren't already using some of these I suggest you have someone next to you smack you and then quickly find your nearest broadband connection to remedy the problem.

1. Adium: This is simply the best instant messaging client out there. it allows you to connect to all chat services at once combining them into one window. If you aren't using this then please download it promptly your life will be forever changed. No longer will you need 6 chat programs open at once. Say goodbye to MSN, Googletalk, Yahoo, AIM, Facebook, and the list goes on. Your life will be in harmony and its freeeeeeee! Download!

2. Seashore: Have you ever been frustrated with the lack of a paint program in OS X? Have a quick little snapshot you need to crop and rotate? Want to do a little doodling? Then Seashore is for you while not an advanced paint program it is quite sufficient and will definitely rival MS Paint. By far it is the best program I have found for mac. Download!

3. Cyberduck: Is pretty much the best application for doing ftp transfers. Yes I know it has a sort of gayish name but it really is a great app. It is very much equal to its paid counterpart transmission and I highly recommend checking it out before forking over the cash for a paid app. Download!

4. Fugu: This application is very similar to Cyberduck however there are some very important differences. Mainly these are in regards to sftp vs ftp for a full rundown of the differences this is an excellent article. Also you can download it here. Download!

5. Flock: Introducing The Social Web Browser! This browser is by far my favorite browser it is fully supported and works just as well as firfox but with a few nice bonuses. What really makes this browser stand out from the crowd is the social part of it. This browser allows you to integrate all of your social networking into one place youtube, myspace, facebook, flickr, gmail, blogger, livejournal, photobucket. You name it and it works. Also searching for photo's in Flock will blow your mind and simply make searching in gmail images look old fashioned. Just try it you won't be disappointed. Download!

6. TextWrangler: Now perhaps your average person doesn't need to use a text editor on a regular basis, but for me its crucial. There are many good paid apps out there that are brilliant text editors. However in the free world TextWrangler is very hard to beat. Coming to use from Bare Bones the same people who gave us BBEdit TextWrangler rules the world of free text editors with poise and finesse. Perhaps you may not use it every day but the application footprint is very small and it never hurts to have a good text editor in your arsenal of apps. If your a programer or someone who does any command line work at all then this app is simply essential for your life. Download!

7. Keyboard Cleaner: Ok so this app is definitely not essential but it is very cool. I use it on a regular basis so I thought I should throw it in here. Have you ever wanted to just give your keyboard a good scrubbing while you were watching something on your laptop or doing something important and didn't want to switch it off? If yes then this application is for you simply pop it up and scrub away while your keys are all locked down and safe. This app isn't something you would search for but something I think we can all appreciate none the less. Download!

8. Magic Number Machine: Forget to bring your TI calculator to class? Need to compute some quick equations in notebook notation? Look no further! While the default OS X calculator has some nice gadgets if you switch between modes it is nothing compared to MNM. If you pull up MNM next to your default calculator it will make you feel like you've been using an abacus all these years. Download!

9. VLC Player: This one should speak for itself if you have a computer any computer mac, microsoft, or linux bassed you need this software. If you haven't heard of it download it anyways you'll need it someday. This program just save you loads and loads of frustration. The only free media player that will literally play anything you throw at it. While it is primarily used for videos and dvd's it is also quite effective for playing music as well. Download!

10. Schoolhouse 2: "With the ability to sort and organize your assignments, exams, and projects quickly and easily Schoolhouse is a must have for any student on-the-go. The power of smart notebooks allow you to interact with your work as simply as your iTunes library.

Classcasts give the ability to publish your assignments to the web automatically for anyone to subscribe to. A newly redesigned grading system allows you to chart your scores over the course of the term to keep an outlook as you go. All of this works to ensure you will never be in the dark at the end of the semester." This is a must for any college student and perhaps even some high school students with macs.

If you tried this under Schoolhouse using Leopard OS X 10.5 and were discouraged because it only ran in Rosetta then it is time to try again! Schoolhouse 2 is out and it is better than ever! With full native support for 10.5 and a host of new features this app is an essential. Download!

11. Transmission: Simply best, and fastest torrent down loader for mac. The end. Download!

12. Think: Now this is one cool app. If you use your computer on a regular basis you know how easy it is when your sitting down for a big project to get distracted. You intend to start that research paper but instead you read digg articles for 3 hours... Think is designed to help specifically with this problem this program blocks out everything but the current application your using enabling you to easily focus on that one task you need to accomplish. Switching between apps is as easy as just holding the command + tab key. This app is a must for all of my fellow procrastinators out there. Perhaps a few less cram sessions are on the way. Well lets not get to ambitious but for now this will certaintly help. Download!

13. Skitch!: I love this application. I have only recently discovered it a few days ago myself and I simply love it I can't say enough about it. However I'm sick of talking so you'll just have to have a look at my expression when I discovered Skitch to see just how awesome it really is. It is an amazing little app that you will find yourself using more and more. My only grievance with Skitch is the terrible them choice of hearts and pink! Ugh. Well we can't win them all and it more than makes up for this minor defect. Download!

Well friends I hope this was at least interesting if not helpful. There were several more apps I wanted to include but I didn't want this to get to long. Also I realized many of them I actually payed for so perhaps I'll do another list sometime with payed apps that are well worth the money. Until then Smile! Your a MacUser!!!!