My Favorite Mac Apps: Erica's Take

So Victor comes to us and says, "Quick, what are your favorite apps?" Without pausing to breathe or think, the words "Office CreativeSuite Quickeys" tumble out of my mouth. That's because these are the three software packages for Mac that I cannot live without. These three apps are where I spend 80-odd percent of my working life.

By the time I can pause and reflect, I realize that I have picked three apps that provide the least Mac-like user experience. With all the rich and beautiful OS X software landscape out there, I've picked the plain but reliable dinosaurs. They're ugly. They're ported (at least Photoshop and Office are). They work.

This isn't to say that I'd change my list upon further thought. Between Word, Excel, Illustrator, Acrobat, Photoshop, and Quickey's Macros (so I rarely have to actually touch a mouse, eek), these packages get the job done. Throw in the equally ugly Eudora mail program (the original, not the almost unusable open source update that's floating around) plus Apple's cadre of less beautiful utilities, namely Terminal, Safari and TextEdit, and we're talking maybe 90% of my work time.

Sure, I've used Apple's Mail, Preview, iPhoto, iWork, Pages and so forth but I always end up going back to the more capable name-brand power-houses. The user experience might not match the slick Apple software but my efficiency goes way way up.

As for the built-in Keyboard prefs or QuickSilver, QuicKeys gives me all the programming control I need for creating and executing my macros. If I'm going to do a job more than once, I'm probably going to write a macro, whether it's sorting my mail or writing my TUAW posts.

In the end, I'm really happy with my paleo-software. One of the big reasons that I'm still (still!) using my 733 G4 Mac as my primary computing machine is that I know I'll have to re-buy these programs should I switch fully to Intel-based computing.

Instead, I'll hang with my favorite dinosaurs and keep getting the job done.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/category/software/

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So Victor comes to us and says, "Quick, what are your favorite apps?" Without pausing to breathe or think, the words...

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Jon Hendry

Terminal is awesome.

It really makes you wonder why Microsoft has had such a sucky command line for *so* long. Not just the commands available, but the integration with the graphical interface, the default short scrollback buffer, etc.

August 28 2008 at 6:38 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Robert Nienburg

Erica, you just lost what little cred you had left.

A few suggestions:
1) Try new things. CS on a 733 G4? Seriously? You must cook dinner while filters run. Office? I guess after you spend enough time in a funhouse maze, the real world is hard to navigate.

2) Check your facts. Photoshop ported? Are you high?

3) Try new things. You should also cancel your AOL membership.

August 28 2008 at 9:17 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jash Sayani

I expected something like "HexEditor MD5-Checksummer Plist Editor" from Erica. :)

August 28 2008 at 7:37 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

aeschylus44

Yes, Erica Sadun is a hack, but so is Christina Warren. Don't just focus on Erica.

August 28 2008 at 4:17 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

michas_pi

I am happy when Erica posts because I get lulz from the shitstorm that ensues in the comments.

But I am also sad when Erica posts because she triggers a shitstorm aimed at her.

'Tis a dilemma.

August 28 2008 at 3:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

I thought this series was for iPhone apps. Or is Office available for iPhone now? Did I miss something?

kai cherry, your holier than thou posturing is just tedious. ES is by far the worst writer on this blog. I'm not talking about her programming abilities, or her penchant for promoting her own stuff on here, I'm talking about her ability to write. Some of the stuff tagged Humor is just cringeworthy.

August 28 2008 at 3:04 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

allan

People, please. TUAW seems to want bloggers that are utterly clueless. Missing the point on the "favorite" apps question is just another in a long line missteps. Safari a "utility"? A 733 G4? Oh, thats' so retro.

Where's the Erica-free feed?

August 28 2008 at 1:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to allan's comment

Kai Cherry

No, actually, I think TUAW wants bloggers that are pros at what they do and are insightful...not a bunch of Me-Too-Apple-RAWKS-and-Everything-They-Do-has-the-Midas-touch throwbacks to the Joe Ragosta Usenet days...

(Let's see how many of you youngsters pick up on that one...)

Take a poll of working pros...the list will be *very* close. If I need printwork or art assets...I am NOT getting them in Pixelmator...ya' dig?

If someone is writing a manual or a book...Pages is not the tool for the job. Pages is for making flyers and personal stuff. it is a long document disaster area.

Numbers? Try to run 5 years of sales figures thru that. We'll wait...

Safari? It leaks like a rickety boat. Of *course* it is "fast" if it caches a gig of crap. And don't EVEN get me started on the hundreds and hundreds of disk-wasting image cache files iChat pollutes the drive with.

Further...what does a web browser actually create? It is a utility for browsing and interacting with the web...it doesn't *make* the web. That would be *productivity*. It is a viewer, a utility.

Look, I've been a proponent of Apple technology since the Glorious 80's; Apple's stuff is by far the best *looking* and *approachable* stuff out there, and their pro tools are second to none. Well, from what I'm told, Aperture needs a bit more work, but other than that? They make the good stuff.

The consumer stuff is...very pretty but some people need to get the job done in a consistent, unobtrusive way. You know?

And *again* the Erica disrespect is almost mind-blowing to me. I wonder what would happen if Vic had everyone do a "what don't you like" piece to mix things up, because I assure you, the staff here does not even remotely think Everything Apple is fan-freakin-tastic...

For that we have...MacDailyNews. I think many of Tune in to the Sunday night show sometimes. It is quite entertaining and insightful.

Even more amusing is the rare time Erica DOESN'T write about the iPhone or programming, there is weeping and moaning too.

Put the Hateraideâ„¢ down people. Don't Hate, Congratulate :)

BTW...still waiting for that sort and filter on those sales figures...

;)

August 28 2008 at 2:37 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

alansky

You're using Eudora??? You MUST be kidding! It must be a bitch to find 8-track tapes!

August 27 2008 at 10:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to alansky's comment

MILE

LOL Yeah, welcome to the 21st century...! :)

Actually from what I've read over the last few weeks and especially this last article here makes me wonder if Erica is also blogging over on some Hamish sites...?! ;)

August 27 2008 at 11:09 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

MILE

Oh man, actually this article explains a lot...a lot...! Even though it's meant in a different way it kind of confirms many assumptions about its author...

Suddenly all the pieces fit together...! ;)

August 27 2008 at 8:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

steve ballmer

You people are sooo sad! Nobody uses this stuff!

http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

August 27 2008 at 7:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply