MacOS as My Daily Driver & Apps I Rely On
There is a thread on Reddit about MacOS being a daily driver and how it compares to Linux. I wanted to comment on it, however, it did not allow it; probably due to the formatting I was placing. So I will provide my response here.
Here is the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1gmsoyz/linux_users_who_have_macos_as_their_daily_driver/
My response:
MacOS is amazing. I also was skeptical coming to it from something as customizable as Windows and Linux. However, MacOS not being customizable is an old tale. Its 2024, there exists an app for everything now. You can highly customize MacOS to be your daily driver. In fact, I got used to it & now I prefer it over anything else. The extra keys give me more options and hotkeys. Also, the additional gestures on the mouse pad provide for a very efficient experience.
Here is a list of the apps I use and have installed. Sidenote: I used ChatGPT o1 to organize them and provide summary of each app.
Summary of Recommended Mac Apps
Package Managers and Tools
- Homebrew: Package manager for macOS to install software via command line.
- ngrok: Securely expose a local server to the internet.
Remote Access and File Transfer
- TeamViewer.app: Remote access and support tool.
- VNC Viewer.app: Remote desktop application using VNC protocol.
- AnyDesk.app: Fast remote desktop software.
- Microsoft Remote Desktop.app: Access Windows PCs remotely.
- Tailscale.app: Zero-config VPN for secure networking.
- IPMIview: Access Java IPMI consoles. GitHub Link
Cloud Storage and Synchronization
- Dropbox.app: Cloud storage and file sharing.
- OneDrive.app: Microsoft’s cloud storage service.
- Google Drive.app: Google’s cloud storage solution.
Communication Tools
- Zoom.us.app: Video conferencing platform.
- Slack.app: Team communication and collaboration.
- Microsoft Teams.app: Chat-based workspace in Office 365.
- Webex.app: Video conferencing and online meetings.
- Discord.app: Voice, video, and text communication platform.
Office and Productivity
- Microsoft Office Suite:
- Word.app: Word processing.
- Excel.app: Spreadsheets.
- PowerPoint.app: Presentations.
- Outlook.app: Email client.
- OneNote.app: Note-taking application.
- Google Workspace:
- Google Docs.app: Online word processing.
- Google Sheets.app: Online spreadsheets.
- Google Slides.app: Online presentations.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader.app: PDF reader and editor.
- Obsidian.app: Note-taking and knowledge base tool.
- Paste.app: Clipboard manager. (Activate with Control + Tilde
^); Navigate pinboards withCMD + ]andCMD + [)
Development and Programming
- Sublime Text.app: Text editor for code, markup, and prose.
- VSCode: Source-code editor.
- Cursor: Source-code editor with a pinch of AI. Fork of VSCode
- Xcode.app: Integrated development environment for macOS.
- Docker.app: Containerization platform.
- PowerShell.app: Task automation and configuration management.
- BBEdit.app: Professional HTML and text editor.
- Warp.app: Modern terminal with AI assistance.
- iTerm.app: Enhanced terminal emulator.
- Meld.app: Visual diff and merge tool.
- DiffMerge.app: File comparison and merging tool.
- Sublime Merge.app: Git client.
- Charles.app: Web debugging proxy application.
- Postman.app: API development environment.
Networking and Security
- Wireshark.app: Network protocol analyzer.
- KeePassXC.app: Secure password manager.
- ngrok: Secure tunnels to localhost.
- Tailscale.app: Simplifies VPN networking.
Browsers
- Google Chrome.app: Fast, secure web browser.
- Microsoft Edge.app: Web browser with Chromium engine.
- Firefox.app: Open-source web browser.
File Management
- Cyberduck.app: FTP and SFTP client.
- Commander One.app: Dual-pane file manager.
- ContextMenuLite.app: Enhances context menu (compare files, copy paths).
- NewFileMenuLite.app: Quickly create new files. (Set to open and start on login)
Compression and Archiving
- The Unarchiver.app: Extract various archive formats.
- Archiver.app: Compress and extract files.
- iZip.app: Zip and unzip files.
Multimedia
- VLC.app: Versatile media player.
- IINA.app: Modern macOS media player.
- GIMP-2.10.app: Open-source image editor.
- Xnip.app: Advanced screenshot tool. (Save to drive and clipboard)
- IPEVO Annotator: Annotation tool for presentations.
Virtualization and Emulation
- Parallels Desktop.app: Run Windows and other OSes on Mac.
- VirtualBox.app: Open-source virtualization software.
Utilities and System Tools
- Magnet.app: Window management via shortcuts.
- Scroll Reverser.app: Customize scroll direction for mouse and trackpad.
- Stats.app: System monitoring in the menu bar. (Set to start at login)
- CheatSheet.app: Displays keyboard shortcuts for the active app.
- WidgetToggler: Manage and toggle widgets.
- xquartz.pkg: Enables X11 forwarding and applications.
Miscellaneous
- Bandwidth+.app: Monitor network data usage.
- Night Sky X.app: Astronomy app.
- qbittorrent.app: Open-source BitTorrent client.
- Steam.app: Gaming platform and store.
- Tablecruncher.app: Lightweight CSV editor.
- Keyboard Maestro: Automate repetitive tasks and workflows.
Additional Notes:
- Paste.app: Change activation shortcut to
Control + Tilde (^). Navigate pinboards withCMD + ](next) andCMD + [` (previous). - ContextMenuLite.app: Adds options like file comparison, copying paths, and contents to the context menu.
- NewFileMenuLite.app: Enables quick creation of new text and blank files; configure it to start on login.
- Scroll Reverser.app: Ensures mouse and trackpad scrolling behave intuitively.
- Xnip.app: Preferred screenshot tool with capabilities to save directly to drive or clipboard.
- IPMIview: Useful for accessing Java-based IPMI consoles.
- IPEVO Annotator: Helpful when built-in annotation tools in apps like Google Meet are insufficient, especially on single-screen setups.