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[skellington]

So partytrick now has her MacBook...

Any software that is absoutely essential for us to download (or buy)?

We've got firefox, skype and open office currently.

What's the best IM (AIM) client?    Any other cool add-ons?  (The cat-on-keyboard detector?  :-)

Comments

[cymrullewes]

That's for other people...

[strega42]

Scott's opinion is Pidgin for chat clients.

Other than that... what's she doing with her MacBook? If she's not doing any graphics editing, she won't need Gimp or Inkscape, for example...

[strega42]

I'm still stuck on Windows (financial reasons, blah) but I'm in love with Open Source. If she wants an email client, I'd recommend Thunderbird. Scott says the only thing he'd PURCHASE for a Mac (unless you're doing professional video editing etc.) would be iLife. Although he's not really impressed with iChat.

If she is wanting to do professional level graphics, then he says Photoshop is worth the money. Aside from that, he says if it's a new Mac, it's pretty much got everything she'll need except what's already listed above.

[johnkzin]

The OS X version of Pidgin is "AdiumX" (www.adiumx.com), which is a fairly good IM client. But, if you only want to do AIM, then the Mac version of AIM might be the right way to go.

For open office, I'd actually recommend Neo Office over Open Office proper, since, last I checked, Open Office requires you to run/install X windows on top of OS X.

And I'd agree with the above person who suggested using Thunderbird for email. Between Thunderbird, Firefox, and Adium, you should be pretty well covered for day to day use and such.

To keep up with various new software releases and such, I'd get used to looking things up on Version Tracker. Great site for finding apps, and hearing about the latest updates.

[alethia_juturna]

I use the Mac Mail client and love it. Also iChat for AIM. A stupid program called Foto Trimmer for basic basic image editing.