Mac apps you have to have

The latest issue of Mac Life magazine had a cool collection of 30 great Mac apps that “you’ve never heard of.” Well, that wasn’t quite right, but there were several great finds. Considering how many blog readers I get who are Macs, I figured I might share those finds plus a few of my own favorites.

  • Yojimbo – a great “collector” app that I use daily to keep track of all the misc. stuff I collect, from links to serial numbers, to images, etc.
  • Think – Blacks out the desktop with a user selectable level of transparency so you can block all the other stuff on your computer and focus on writing that TPS report.
  • Desktop Curtain – In my post about giving a great presentation, I mentioned that you should clear off your desktop to make it look a little more professional. This app does that for you by overlaying your desktop with a single image. Much easier than actually cleaning off the desktop!
  • App Zapper – They call it the “Uninstaller application that Apple forgot”. It fully removes installed applications, including those pesky preference and cache files that deleting the xyz.app file leaves behind.
  • Anxiety – a cool app for tracking the Mail and iCal tasks in one place.
  • DeskLickr – Easily update your desktop image with a great photo from Flickr. Some really great content that just appears. Very cool.
  • Caffeine – This tiny app is brilliant and simple. It adds an icon to your menu bar that has two settings: on & off. When on, it prevents your screen from dimming.

That’s my list of “things you might not be using but should be”… what are your favorites?