Making the Switch need suggestions. OSX 10.9

[thorne]

Recently my laptop bit the dust and I replaced it with a Apple Recert macbook pro 17 2011. I wanted one I could swap the optical drive out of. I need some software suggestions. and wtf is up with these insane battery life.

 

Also has anyone tried crossover? Does it work well ?

 

My toy.

CPU i7 2.2ghz (Faster than my 960)

RAM: 16GB

Disk: SSD (Havent decided on size 128 or 250)

Disk: HD 750GB (For VMs and such)

Video: Radeaon 6750M & HD3000

Display: 1920x1200 17inch (ROM Editing on this thing is beast)

 

Here's what I've got so far:

 

Media Player: vlc

Browser: Chrome

Gaming: Steam

Video: imovie

compression: 7zip

misc: Fink(Apt-get)

Virtualization: VMware Fusion Latest

VPC: Windows 7 (tuning)

VPC: Linux (backtrack)

VPC: Windows XP (Picky Tuning software)

[unfunnyryan]

Why do you need crossover if you have VMware Fusion? It works better. Also try Virtualbox.

 

What kind of software are you looking for? The stock terminal app is fine. Cyberduck for ftp/sftp. Chameleon SSD Optimizer if you put in a non-apple SSD. iStat Menus. KisMac, LanScan, Wifi Analyzer are handy network tools. UnRarX for rar files.

[thorne]

Virtual box is ok, I've got it on my i5 ubuntu laptop. I just realized I have way to many machines.

 

does kismac still work I thought it broke at 10.7? I was hoping to use crossover to play DND Neverwinter and some other games. Vmware does dx9 i might have to give it a try

 

Looking for games or utilities...

[smokin5s]

use Parallels

[Littleguy]

Just enter your credit card that has the highest limit into the iTunes/App Store and Mr. Cook will make it all gravy.

[ForeverMaker]

soundflower will let you direct audio to/from any program. helpful for certain situations.

 

any video converter lite is decent for converting video formats. (free in app store)

 

picasa for OSX is better than iPhoto imo for basic photo management.

 

parallels to run windows.

 

transmission for torrents.

 

keynote for presentations.

 

android file transfer if you need to connect your phone.

 

aside from that I live and die in Creative Suite.

[acklac7]

utilities...

 

Process Wizard - Basically like "Task Manager" in Windows except it sits right in the quick launch tab at the top. Great for prioritizing programs that are putting a heavy load on CPU/GPU, or quickly ending them all together if they happen to freeze.

 

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/8056/process-wizard

 

OH and SMC fan control. One of the best things of owning a Mac: Guaranteed Fan Control Override.

Edited February 8, 2014 by acklac7

[lag wagon]

I pretty much miss using TextMate and Coda. (you have vi of course)

 

Adium for multiprotocol IM

[thorne]

Thanks for the suggestions. Is there any reason to use parallel over vmware?