Essential Freeware for Your Macintosh

So you just got a shiny new Mac? Excellent, one of the first things you will learn is that there is an unbelievable amount of quality freeware available for it. So much, in fact, that it can be kind of overwhelming. This is a list of the best, most essential freeware available.

Adium

Adium is, bar none, the best instant messenger client available for the Mac. It supports AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Jabber, Bonjour, GoogleTalk, Apple .Mac, SameTime, Groupwise, QQ, Gadu Gadu, and Live Journal Talk. In other words, everything. It is highly customizable, from your contact list style to emoticons to message style. The only downside is it currently does not support video chat, but it is on the developer's to-do list. Check out AdiumXtras for your customization needs.

Transmission

Transmission is a lightweight but feature-filled torrent client for the Mac. It has a simple, intuitive interface, but if advanced customization is needed it is simple to change. The beta versions are introducing new features such as selective downloading.

Max

Max is a program used to rip audio CDs onto the computer. Although iTunes does this as well, Max uses a special encoder to get the best possible quality to file size ratio. It has many presets already built in (such as the popular -V0 preset, for those who are already experienced encoders). Max will produce a higher quality rip with the same ease of use that iTunes provides.

Firefox

Firefox is the most popular third-party browser. It supports a near-endless supply of extensions that allow users to add any functionality they need. It also runs faster than Safari, which comes with Mac OS X. Since it is open-source (which means anybody can develop for it), specialized versions such as Flip4Mac

Flip4Mac lets you play Windows audio/video files, such as .wmv, seamlessly on your Mac. It integrates into the operating system, so you can play these files in Quicktime or players such as...

NicePlayer

NicePlayer is a simplistic video player that runs fast and efficiently. It has plugin support, so you can add any functionality you need. The program is still in beta, so there are a few bugs. In case you have a problem playing a certain type of video, there's always...

VLC

VLC is the Granddaddy of video players. It supports nearly every format on the planet. The interface can be a little clunky, but it's one of those things you always need to have around.

Xee

The image-viewing program that comes with the Mac, called Preview, is not always efficient. Xee allows users to use the scroll wheel on their mouse to quickly scroll through images in a folder, and supports resizing that doesn't recompress images.

Quicksilver

Quicksilver is one of, if not the, most useful pieces of software available for the Mac. It allows users to quickly launch any application by pressing a trigger key (such as ctrl + space) and the first few letters of the program. It also supports plugins that interface with other programs, like iTunes.

iSquint

iSquint is a fast, easy to use, iPod video converter. It lets you convert any video (from a wide variety of formats) into a format that your iPod can view.