1. Tweetie

I’m a big fan of Twitter, obviously, and I have to say Tweetie is hands-down the best Twitter application that I’ve seen for the Mac. It’s got an absolutely beautiful interface and is completely free if you don’t mind a few ads. For you advertising haters it also has a paid version that is ad-free for $19.95. The program sits nicely in your menubar, and its icon glows whenever your timeline gets new tweets. It has support for multiple accounts and has a slew of other features, which you can find out all about here.

2. iSquint

iSquint is a very useful program for anyone with a large number of video files. Backed up your first season DVD set of CSI to your computer, but now aren’t sure what to do with all the avi files? iSquint will easily convert those videos to .mp4 format for easy importing into iTunes. This way you can access and play all of your video files right from Apple’s front row program. Useful! Development and distribution of the program have been stopped, but you can still find and download the program for free at sites like this.

3. Flip4Mac

Going hand-in-hand with video compatibility issues, Flip4Mac is a useful little application to install on any new Mac. In a nutshell, it allows you to play wmv files on your computer through Quicktime. That functionality speaks for itself. You can download the program for free here.

4. Candybar

I’m a big lover of customization. I switch out my desktop wallpaper at least once every couple weeks and am constantly looking for new ways to make my operating system experience as unique to me as possible. This is why I love Candybar, which will take and switch out any system or application icons on your computer with new ones of your choosing. Some of the best sources for gorgeous icons are deviantArt and the MacThemes forums. Not only that, but you can also customize your dock with some slick themes, from a sleek dark glass to some wood flooring. You can purchase Candybar for a cool $29 here.

5. AppZapper

When it comes to Apple, most of the time you don’t have to worry about leftover files when you install an application. You can just drag it and drop it in the trash. However with some larger programs, like the Adobe Creative Suite or the Microsoft Office programs, files get left over even after you drop the programs in the trash can. AppZapper is perfect for those programs. It finds and trashes all the files associated with a certain program, thoroughly removing it from your system. The program will end up costing you $12.95, but provides free upgrades for life. You can purchase and download the program here.

6. Audacity

I don’t do too much with audio. Sure, I’ll sometimes play around with Garageband, but that’s about the extent of my computer music-making activities. However in the past when I have worked with audio I’ve found Audacity to be one of the most useful applications around for cutting and splicing audio. With a simple interface that anyone can learn, this free program is a must for anyone, whether it be an aspiring podcaster or a curious audiophile. You can find out more and download Audacity here.

7. Growl

After Quicksilver, Growl is one of the most useful applications that you can add to your Mac. It’s an application that notifies you on screen of the different things taking place on your computer. Someone signs on to instant messenger? Growl will tell you who signed on. Download finished in Firefox? Growl will give you the heads up that it’s done. It does all of this in a small, unintrusive and stylistic window that fades in and fades out, staying as long as you set it to. In this way, it doesn’t get in the way, doesn’t get annoying, and helps you manage multiple tasks at the same time. You can download Growl for free here.

8. Notify

I hesitated to put Notify in this post, because it really is more of a menubar application. However the sheer functionality and use of the program warrants a place in this post. Notify is, at its heart, a Gmail inbox notification application. It sits in your menu bar and lets you know when you get new emails in your Gmail inbox. It supports multiple accounts, integrates with Growl, and has one of the most beautiful interfaces I’ve seen in a menubar application. You can find out more and download the program for free here.

That’s all for the basic Essentials series. Continued posts to this blog will be full of more useful programs, with upcoming posts featuring programs useful for Apple programmers and some of the top menubar applications out there. Look forward to a new post coming up in the next couple weeks!

In lieu of updating with the third part of the Essentials, I thought I’d post today on a great new program that goes hand-in-hand with a great online storage service. The program is called Dropzone from Aptonic Software, and it’s one of the best tools I’ve found that work right from your dock. The program requires that you purchase a $10 license fee, but it also has a limited 15-day trial, so it’s definitely something worth checking out.

What is Dropzone, do you ask? It’s a multi-purpose docklet that you can drop files on to to perform different functions. Let’s take a look at the program in action:

This is my personal Dropzone layout. I’m using the trial, so I can only have 5 different functions set up at any one time, however if you get the full version of the program you can have as many different destinations set up as you’d like. The way Dropzone works is relatively simple, and any user can set up their own Dropzone configuration. Dropzone’s site has a series of different plugins that can easily be downloaded and installed with just a few clicks.

With my current configuration I can easily zip a file and email it to someone, post pictures to TwitPic, change my desktop background, send something to my printer, or upload a file to my Dropbox folder, which I’ll talk about in a little bit. To perform any of these actions, all you have to do is drag a file onto the Dropzone icon and select which function you’d like to perform. It’s as easy as that, and a real time saver.

These aren’t the only functions that Dropbox can perform. To find out more about the different functions and plugins you can add to your own Dropzone configuration, check out their extensions section of their site here. Also if you have a particular function that you want to perform with Dropzone, but there’s not a plugin pre-made for you, don’t worry. If you’re a bit of a code monkey, you can have Dropzone performing just about any action you’ll need. Aptonic has provided a Dropzone Scripting API so that you can easily write your own extensions and plugins for the program.

Now for the online storage service that I feel goes hand-in-hand with Dropzone. Dropbox is an online service that can sync folders between different computers, and also provides an online backup of the files you keep in those synced folders. It’s an extremely useful service for anyone who uses more than one computer or has to access certain files while they’re on the go. The service offers 2 GB of free storage, but you can increase that storage space by paying a monthly fee: $10 for 50 GB and $20 for 100 GB.

This service really works well with the Dropzone program, especially if you’ve got a file that you need to quickly access while on the go. Just drop the file onto the Dropbox logo in Dropzone and it will automatically be uploaded and synced to the online service and any other computers you have Dropbox installed on.

To find out more about Dropbox and sign up for your free account, visit Dropbox’s site at  http://www.getdropbox.com/. To download and install Dropzone, visit http://aptonic.com/.

1. Delicious Library 2

For any of you out there with massive collections of books, video games, CDs, and DVDs, Delicious Library 2 is for you. Using this program you can catalog all of your different types of entertainment and keep track of who’s borrowing what. It’s easy to populate your library. You can either add entries manually or use the camera on your camera to scan in the bar codes. This works wonderfully most of the time, however sometimes it comes back with the wrong entry. But it’s easy to fix that by just adjusting the data by hand. I dont’ normally feature software that you have to pay for, but this is a trialware program that has a $40 license. It’s really the only usable program of its kind out there. You can find out more about the different features of the program and can download the trial here.

2. ComicBookLover

I love reading comic books, but the majority of my collection is digital to keep from cluttering up my room. For a while I used a program called FFview to read my comics from my computer, but then I stumbled upon ComicBookLover. This program is the iTunes of comics for your Mac. Using it you can organize your comics collection and read them in a very user-friendly viewer that accommodates for comics that are read both left to right and right to left. You can create your own “playlists” of comics and can enter in all kinds of different meta data for each issue, just like in iTunes. Like Delicious Library 2, this program is shareware, and will run you $25. You can find out more about ComicBookLover and purchase it here.

3. Firefox

I figured that this one would be a pretty obvious addition to any Mac, but just in case some of you haven’t switched over to Firefox, it really is worth it. With speed comparable to Safari and an extension library that’s chock full of useful add-ons, it’s one of the best web browsers out there, and my personal choice for use on my computer. There have been some complaints about the program’s large memory footprint, but with version 3.0 and 3.5 Mozilla has gone a long way towards reducing the impact that running the browser has on a user’s system. It’s definitely worth checking out, and can be downloaded here.

4. The Unarchiver

This application is fairly self-explanatory. For those of you who frequent sites that offer files compressed into different file formats, whether they be RAR files of zipped files, The Unarchiver is for you. It decompresses just about any compressed file you have. You can download it for free here.

5. Mac The Ripper

We all know that DVDs can wear down over time, sometimes getting scratches that prevent them from being played at all. To prevent losing your favorite movie to wear and tear, use Mac The Ripper. Using this program you can back up the full contents of any DVD (one you own, of course) to your computer, to be burned back onto a DVD when that copy of Fight Club finally breaks on you. The program no longer has an official website, but you can still download the program from MacUpdate here.

6. Handbrake

For those of you who want to take your DVDs on the go with you, Handbrake is just what you’re looking for. Using this program you can rip a movie from a DVD or other video file straight to iTunes format so that you can bring those movies with you wherever you want. It’s a great tool that really helps when consolidating your movie library. You can download the program for free here.

7. Toast

Toast is another program that requires that you purchase a license. However, as with the other shareware applications on this list, it’s well worth the price. Toast is the ultimate burning tool for your Mac. It can burn a wide variety of formats to CDs and DVDs, and can even take your video files and burn them to DVD with a pre-made menu. You can find out more about the program and purchase it for $80 here.

8. Burn

If $80 is too much to shell out for a burning program, then Burn is a great alternative. It has many of the same features as Toast, but can be gotten for the low, low price of free. Download the program and try it out here.

This is it for the second part of the Essentials series. Part three will be uploaded soon, and then we’ll be moving on to more specific program lists. Keep watching the blog for more updates and follow @macHackShack on Twitter!

1. Adium

Adium is the last IM client you’ll ever need on your Mac. It covers almost every type of messaging protocol you could imagine. AIM, MSN, Yahoo, GTalk, Facebook, you name it. In addition to being extremely versatile, Adium is also one of the most customizable IM applications I’ve ever seen. It’s quite easy to find message and contact list themes to fit almost any style you’d like. Don’t just take my word for it though, check out the site here.

2. Quicksilver

Quicksilver is one of those programs that should have been part of OS X from the beginning. The ultimate application launcher for Mac, Quicksilver allows you to bring up programs, files, and folders with just a few keystrokes. It’s a huge time-saver that is so lightweight and useful that you almost forget that it didn’t come preloaded on your computer. Check out the site here.

3. Transmission

Now I’m not going to be advocating piratous activities, but for those of you who do use torrents to acquire legal things, such as Linux distributions and the like, Transmission is the best application for your needs. Lightweight with a simple and easy to use interface, the program is perfect for everyone, from the beginner to the most seasoned of torrent hounds. And yes, I did make up the word “piratous.” Just wait, it’ll spread. You can check out Transmission’s site and download the program here.

4. GeekTool

Alright, Geek Tool might not follow the “everyday user” trend of this list, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be useful to you with a little bit of work. It’s a useful preference pane plugin that allows you to display different types of information right on your desktop. It runs in the background, and doesn’t even take up a space on your beloved dock. It comes with three default plugins: File Mode, which allow you to monitor your OS’s activity; Shell Mode, which allows you to launch custom scripts or commands; and Image Mode, which helps you monitor different parts of your computer system, like your CPU, Memory, bandwith usage, etc. You can check out the program’s website here, and there’s a good roundup of useful scripts for the program here.

5. Perian

So you’re a fan of movies? TV shows? Got some saved to your computer, but they’re in this strange .avi format that wont open? Worried about catching up with that latest episode of Entourage? Well worry no more. Perian is your one stop answer to all of your problems. Like Geek Tool, it’s a preference pane add-on and plugin for Quicktime that allows you to play all sorts of different video files that the program can’t normally open. Want to check and see if your file types are supported? Check out the details on Perian’s site here.

6. VLC Media Player

So you checked out Perian, but are still having issues playing video files? Then scrap Quicktime altogether. VLC Media Player is a great alternative to Apple’s built-in video player, supporting all kinds of different audio and video formats. It also takes input from the Apple remote, which is a big plus for me when I’m lying in bed and don’t feel like getting up to pause what I’m watching. You can find out more and download VLC here.

These are just a few of the great applications that make using a Mac one of the most enjoyable experiences one can have when using a computer. I’ll be updating this blog with more time-saving and useful applications whenever I see fit, so stay tuned! You can keep abreast of all of my updates by following @macHackShack on Twitter.