The Wonderful Environs of the Mac
One of the things that really amazes me the Mac is the shareware and freeware apps that can be found. There is an abundance of high quality freeware and shareware software that I haven’t seen on any other platform.
I remember when I was on Windows, shareware just wasn’t worth it. Most of the time it was pretty garbage and you could just give the bigger, better titles a quick torrent. There were some good apps, like Trillian and Firefox, but there was no shareware that offered unique functionality and was designed well.
Linux also didn’t have much high quality shareware or freeware for the simple reason that its emphasis and philosophy were different. Yes, Linux has spawned a lot of very good software, but I’d say much of it isn’t very polished and because of the nature of open-source software, it’ll stay that way. It’s constantly undergoing through enhancements, which doesn’t give it a chance to really shine. Again, there are exceptions.
The emphasis of Mac development is on design, whether you’re developing shareware, freeware, or open-source. At WWDC, Apple holds their Design Awards. The thing that Mac apps all hold in common is that the GUI is always well done. This is largely because Apple is really good at supporting the developers on their platform with tools and resources. Heck, they included Xcode, which is three gigs of Mac development goodness on the first Install Disc. Just look at the difference in the GUI between some multiplatform open-source apps.
A lot of the top applications that users recommend for new users is shareware and a free alternative. For FTP, there’s Transmit and Cyberduck; for RSS, there’s NetNewsWire; for instant messaging, there’s Adium; for playing any sort of media you could think of, there’s VLC; for completely changing the way you use your Mac, there’s Quicksilver and Growl; for cataloging your books and movies, there’s Delicious Library. There’s AppZapper for a better uninstaller, there’s Acquisition for P2P, there’s Transmission for BitTorrent, and plenty of shareware editors, all with their own following.
One example is Quicksilver. I’d read about it some time ago and wondered what it was. Quicksilver’s site says that it is “a unified, extensible interface for working with
applications, contacts, music, and other data.” At its most basic, it’s an app launcher. With more advanced configuration and usage, it’s another way to control your computer. There is nothing quite like it and it is absolutely beautiful. Seamless integration with the OS. You really have to use it to realized what it is.
If I had the money, I would really consider buying some of these should the need arise. If, one day, I started buying lots of DVDs and books, Delicious Library would be at the forefront of my mind. In fact, the quality of OS X is making me consider buying Leopard if there were anything that pushed me to upgrade. From what we’ve seen at WWDC today, there’s nothing yet that makes me want to upgrade, but should one of those top secret features appear, I may just drop the $100 instead of grabbing a torrent, because unlike Windows, I think OS X is actually worth the money.