[IxDA Discuss] Tips, help for UX guy with shiny new mac.

[Mary Austin-Keller]

To add to this thread, here are a couple that have not been called  
out explicitly:

* Adium - instant message client that is really good, and not just  
because the sound of a quaking duck in a quiet office is hilarious  
(you can turn that off)

* Synergy - if you have multiple computers on your desk, this free  
utility is great.  I have both a mac and a pc.  I share my Mac's  
keyboard and mouse with my PC using just synergy software installed  
on both machines.  What makes this even more awesome is that you can  
copy and paste text between the two machines using just the normal  
copy and paste shortcut keys (ie, text on the clipboard is shared  
between multiple machines).  For those on PCs only, you can  
supposedly copy graphics as well.  It takes a bit of work to get it  
installed, but it's worth it.
http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

There are a bunch of hacks, utilities and more that will make your  
mac more useful, depending upon your needs.  I personally found  
MacWorld's "Mac Gems" section to be very helpful and full of neat  
little tricks.  You can check them out on the web at www.macworld.com  
or you can get a subscription for less than $10 a year (they used to  
give free subscriptions to new mac owners).  Oddly enough, you can  
also find some neat shareware and freeware on Apple's site, http:// 
www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/

Cheers,
~Mary


>
> So, I know Windows users have all sorts of rituals around new  
> machines,
> preference tweaking, what to install, must haves, etc... I was  
> wondering
> what the Mac equivalents are especially in regards to UX and design
> work. What's the first thing(s) I should do, etc. Good Web sites?
> Freeware? I'm literally starting from scratch so, no tip/advice is too
> basic. I am getting OmniGraffle, so, looking forward to toying with
> that.