by Dan Gayle
Associate Editor

Linotype FontExplorer X – http://www.linotype.com/fontexplorerX

Let's get this out right off the bat: I am a font nerd. I love fonts. I have lots of them. I know more about them than most.

You should use this program to manage your fonts because it is awesome.

A lot of my type designer friends use it because: a) Mac's Font Book program is worthless; b) FontExplorer X is free, whereas other professional font management applications cost a bundle; and c) it packs almost exactly the same features as the aforementioned expensive programs, and is extremely versatile and stable.

Adium – http://www.adiumx.com

Adium is a free Instant Messaging program for Mac that can connect to AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and others. It's skinnable, pluggable, and has an adorable duck. Need I say more?

Those stupid winks and nudges from Microsoft Messenger don't work, but is that a bad thing?

Google Earth – http://earth.google.com

It's amazingly addicting, but also useful. I recently planned an entire trip to Vancouver, BC using only Google Earth. You can see the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, and Downtown Seattle in 3D!

As an added side benefit, weirdoes from the internet have discovered numerous places around the globe where nude sunbathers were captured in all of their naked goodness!

NeoOffice Aqua – http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/index.php

It's still in Beta phase, but dammit, it's good enough. I officially have zero Micro$oft applications on my computer, and NeoOffice Aqua is now at the point that I feel no shame in using it.

What OS X really needed was a killer spreadsheet application. This isn't it, but hey, at least it's free.

The Unarchiver – http://wakaba.c3.cx/s/apps/unarchiver.html

OS X's built in zip utility is ok, Stuffit Express is fine, but The Unarchiver is best. It will open a ton of different compressed files, and integrates nicely with the operating system.

Unison – http://www.panic.com/unison

Usenet is totally old school, but it doesn't have to feel like it. Unison makes an attractive solution to browsing Usenet newsgroups, and makes a great tool for downloading information. It will automatically group .par files together and assemble them together for your downloading pleasure.

Transmission – http://transmission.m0k.org

The most simple and direct BitTorrent client for OS X. Want a fast download without having to think about it? Transmission is for you. For a complete rundown of Bit Torrent technology, check out Slyck.com.

Handbrake – http://handbrake.m0k.org

From the same developer as Transmission comes this great utility for ripping your DVDs to MPEG format for viewing on your iPod. SCC art history teacher Keith Takechi uses this to rip sections of movies to show to his class on the big projector.

Make backups of your favorite movies simply and cleanly. Additional Hint: If you're going on a trip and are bringing your laptop, do yourself a favor. If you plan on watching a DVD, rip it to your hard drive the night before. Playing it from disk will suck your batteries dry in less than an hour, but this method gives you extended viewing time.

Text Wrangler – http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler

Who needs Dreamweaver? Buy yourself a copy of Headfirst Labs' "Head First Html with CSS and XHTML," download Text Wrangler, and soon you'll be on your way to your blackbelt in webmastery. It unfortunately won't teach you mad hacking skillz.