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iBook Update

I thought I would post a follow-up to my post about my new iBook. It has now become my main computer at home - usurping my aging Dell laptop - and I use it for everything from just browsing the web to developing my web site and Firefox extensions.

I was the victim of Apple upgrading the specs on the iBook, although not the only one, with both Dunstan Orchard and Richard Rutter getting caught out this time and Dan Cederholm mentioning this previously. Despite this I'm still extremely happy with my purchase.

And so I thought I would list the software that I have installed and recommend if you have Mac OS X:

  • Firefox is the first thing I install on any new machine and my iBook was no exception
  • Quicksilver is a fantastic application launcher that is not only slick, but free as well
  • Fire is an open source multi-protocol instant messenger client. I am keeping my eye on the Proteus beta, but for now Fire is my favorite
  • Synergy is a simple controller for iTunes that is well worth the 5€ (Euros) price
  • Cyberduck is an open source FTP client. I have yet to find an FTP client that I really like, but Cyberduck seems to be the best free option
  • SubEthaEdit is a very cool collaborative editor. I have not used the collaborative features yet, but it works well just as a standard editor as well
  • Menu Calendar is a small application that provides instant access to a calendar
  • CronniX is a graphical front-end to the UNIX tool 'cron'

Update: I have just installed Konfabulator which allows you to add various widgets to your desktop. My favorite widget? The iTunes remote that announces a song change using the Mac OS X speech technology.

Related posts:

  1. Switcher
  2. Mozilla Update Relaunched

3 Comments

Categories: General.

By Chris Pederick
— April 26, 2004 at 13:46
Comment Feed

3 Responses

  1. For a free SFTP client, try Fugu — http://rsug.itd.umich.edu/software/fugu/

    For a com­mer­cial FTP app, I really like Inte­rarchy — http://www.interarchy.com/

    For text edi­ting I use jEdit which is actually writ­ten in Java and runs on many plat­forms — http://jedit.org/

    Pete Prodoehl — April 27, 2004 @ 09:34 —

  2. I’m also using my Power­book as my main com­pu­ter but I highly recom­mend Adium for your mes­sa­ging. I pre­fer it over fire.

    Tom Becker — May 27, 2004 @ 08:52 —

  3. I actually did not like Adium as much as Fire — I can­not remem­ber why. But I have now switched to Pro­teus which, while not free, I pre­fer over everything else I have tried.

    Chris Pederick — May 27, 2004 @ 09:06 —