All new Macs come with great bundled software. Between the iLife suite, Safari, iTunes, and TextEdit, plus the ability to access and use cloud applications for free, almost all of the most basic modern computing needs get met for most users.

That said, having used four different Macs over the past seven years, there are several applications that don't come with OS X that I find myself immediately loading onto a new Mac. Most of these are big-name apps that you've probably already heard of, but it's still pretty amazing how much extra functionality you can eke out of a Mac with only ten additional programs, and all of them (save the last one) are free.

Whether you're buying a new Mac for a relative this holiday season or getting a new one for yourself, these are ten applications you should download as soon as that shiny new machine loads the desktop for the first time.

For the past several weeks I've noticed some rather strange behavior with Adium, the free and open-source multiservice IM client. On random occasions I suddenly appear invisible or offline to contacts in my buddy list while logged into my AIM account. And I'm not alone. Not a day goes by that I don't find myself asking a friend or co-worker why they are not online, only to learn they share the same problem. Either that or they're all making this up in effort to avoid conversing with me -- I have that effect on people.

The only cause to this problem, or pattern to its occurrence, I can come up with is a loose theory that it happens during periods of inactivity. My hunch is that when you appear "idle" AIM somehow misinterprets this as a disconnect. Locally you remain logged in, but AIM thinks otherwise. Luckily I may have discovered a workaround.

Launch iChat (quitting Adium is not required) and go into Preferences. Click on Accounts. Make sure your AIM account is selected, then click on the Security tab. Changing any of the settings in this options panel, then returning them to their original state, somehow magically vexes the problem, at least so far as I can tell.

I don't know whom to point fingers at in this case; AIM or Adium. Both begin with the letter A, so that makes each of them equally culpable in my opinion. Wherever the guilt may lie, I just want the problem fixed ASAP.

Reader Josh sent along this little note -- nothing too important, just something for you to file away for future reference. He just wanted us to point out that way, way down in the stats for Adium, the IM client for everyone who's not using iChat, there is one surreptitious listing for a "MacBookMini."

Now, I assure you, we're thinking the exact same things you're thinking: these stats are totally bunk, anyone can edit their computer ID to be listed as anything they want, and one stat on Adium's page does not mean that Apple is coming out with some sort of revolutionary miniature laptop. And we agree with you -- it's almost certainly nothing of consequence. Or, that is, we would completely agree with you, except for one thing: it's happened exactly this way before. A little computer called the MacBook Air first showed up in Adium's stats, and people argued those exact same things at the time, and it all turned out to be real.

You might say that makes it doubly likely for someone to tweak their computer's settings to show up as some legendary Apple test machine, and again, we'd agree with you. But it's a big world out there -- unless you work at 1 Infinite Loop, you have no idea what Apple is testing and working on right now. Like I said, we just thought we'd let you know. Just in case.

In a recent blog entry, Adium developer Zac West discusses the progress of integrating Twitter into the multi-service instant messaging client's already abundant offerings.

"The current base of Twitter clients often leave something to be desired, behave in a weird way, or just add an additional application you need to keep open," West explains before detailing how Matt Gemmell's MGTwitterEngine is being used to provide Twitter for Adium.

The concept is quite different from existing clients, but makes perfect sense for Adium. Twitter feeds can be followed or unfollowed by adding and removing them from your contact list. If you IM them, it'll send them a direct message. Your Twitter feed comes displayed in a group chat that you can keep open or closed as you need it. It's also very easy to reply to random Twitter links that you can find online.

West hopes to build in additional features such as autouploading an image to TwitPic when it's dragged into an IM window. I would love for some of the additional features that are found in TweetDeck, such as TweetShrink and translation at the click of a button, to be added as well.

Read the full details, complete with screenshots, on the official Adium blog.

Does anyone still actually use AIM to sign in to their AIM account? I've found the AIM Express client useful occasionally when I happen to be on a strange computer (though nowadays I mostly use the AIM iPhone client when I'm AWOL), but on the desktop it's been Adium for longer than I can remember.

Still, if you'd rather do the official way, AIM for Mac 1.1 is out now. There are a few bugfixes -- ICQ accounts had an issue signing in, apparently, and there were a few font and display issues fixed. And there aren't too many new features, though you can now leave notes in "Edit Buddy" fields and the Buddy List search got improved. Unfortunately, it looks like, according to the screenshot they posted, the Buddy List will also blur out all the names on your Buddy List, which seems really inconvenient.

The app itself is still in beta, though you can't really go wrong with instant messaging -- either your messages get through or they don't, right? You can download it now, or if you're already using the 1.0 client, you'll get notified automatically.

Disclaimer: TUAW is owned by Weblogs, Inc, a division of AOL. We were kidding about that blur thing, AOL -- we know it's just for the screenshot.

Late yesterday evening, users of the latest build (1.3.2) of the Adium multiservice chat client found themselves unexpectedly at a loss -- connections to Microsoft's MSN IM service stopped being accepted as of about 8 pm Pacific Time, according to a post on the Adium blog. The cause appears to be some kind of change on the server side that is blocking Libpurple (the underlying Adium communications library) clients using version 15 of the MSN protocol, so Adium isn't the only app affected.

Users are advised to either roll back to Adium 1.3.1, which uses an older library that's still working, or use the official Messenger 7 client instead. The Adium team says they'll update the post when they have more details. Update 4pm ET: Reports are that Adium's MSN connectivity is working again.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

[via SmokingApples]

Have you ever wanted to open iChat or Adium to check a chat log, account setting, or other information, but didn't want to connect to your instant messaging services? Rob Griffiths at Macworld offers a great tip on how you can easily do this, and it won't annoy your online buddies with incessant signing on/off.

Before clicking on iChat or Adium, hold down the shift key and continue holding it until the application launches. When the app opens, none of your accounts will be logged in. You can then manually login to individual accounts as necessary. Try it and see!

New to the Mac? Welcome back to our Mac 101 series, which explores the basics of Mac OS X, provides tips and tricks, and dives into key features of Apple's bundled tools.

As a Mac user, you've got several options for chat clients -- Adium, Fire and IRC are all worthy -- but in this post we're going to focus on Apple's iChat.

Create an account

When launched for the first time, iChat will prompt you to create an account. You've got five options, namely

• MobileMe
• AIM
• Jabber
• Google's GTalk
• Jabber

Make your selection and enter your information. If you're new to instant messaging, simply click the "Get an iChat account." Now your account is ready to go.

Among my favorite features of some of the non-Apple chat clients: tabbed windows. This allows you to collapse all of your open chats into a single window. That way, there's no need to have two or more windows open. Here's how to enable this in iChat.

From the Preferences window, check the "Messages" tab. Next, select "Collect chats into a single window." That's it! Now, iChat will list all of your open chats in a drawer along side your chat window. To move from one to the other, just click your chat partner's name.

It was just last week when our favorite multi-service instant messaging client was updated. Now Adium has been updated to 1.3.1. While there aren't any major new features in this version, some big bug fixes improves the application's usability.

Here's some of the major bug fixes in this version:

• Facebook timing out when attempting to connect is now fixed
• Avatar not updating in open message windows after change is now fixed
• Stopped Adium from crashing when updating an account password

You can read the full release notes here, and get the new version by downloading it from Adium's website, or by opening the application and going to Adium > Check for updates.


Thanks, Eric!

Multi-service, open source and free chat client Adium received a new point release tonight, with new features and a redesigned interface for viewing contact information.

Adium 1.3 features the following goodies:

• Get Info Window is now called the "Contact Inspector"
  
• The aforementioned Contact Inspector has a newly redesigned interface that allows for faster retrieval of contact information
  
• Facebook chat is now integrated into Adium 1.3
• Standard contact window list now features a search box (found by pressing command + F)
• Improved MSN support with personal messages
• Speed improvements
  
• Multiple bug fixes
  

To download this new revision of Adium, just visit the Adium website and click the download link. If you would like a complete list of all the changes in Adium 1.3, just visit the Version History page.

Adium has a sweet new beta version available this morning. If you don't automatically see 1.3b2 when you check for updates, then make sure you've enabled "Update to beta versions when available" under the General tab in the Preference pane.

Several new features have been added, including:

• Enhanced psychic abilities -- it opens a chat window as soon as a contact begins typing a message

• Filtered search in the Contact list

• Apple Address Book integration (access under Advanced tab in Preferences)

• Integration with Facebook chat (enable in the Accounts tab under Preferences)

• The latest Growl and libpurple updates

• Additional information (such as "Last Seen" and Apple Address Book notes) added to the Contact Inspector

Fixed issues include the linkification of enclosed URLs, a memory inefficiency, and a pesky tendency for closed chats to suddenly reappear. All told, there are more than 150 improvements and enhancements to Adium, one of the hardest working chat apps out there.

Adium, the tasty multi-client Mac chat app, is about to get even tastier: developer Evan Schoenberg announced today on the Adium blog that he's adding Facebook Chat to the ridiculously long list of instant messaging protocols already supported by the app. He even included a screenshot of the new protocol in action, seen on the right.

No word on when the new release will be available, unfortunately, but you can keep track at the Adium blog.

Thanks, Chris!

According to a recent post over at the Adium blog, Chris Forsythe, the lead project manager, has decided to say goodbye after 3 years in that position with the Adium project. According to the post, Chris managed the Adium website, support network, and forum.

Eric Richie, another member of the Adium team, volunteered for the new position. In the past, Eric wrote the in-application help for Adium and maintains the Adium TicketTaskForce.

Chris is involved with some of the best applications on the Mac, a sampling of them: Growl, Perian, and Saltatory. We at TUAW wish Chris the best of luck in the future!


Thanks Chris!

Personally, I'm an Adium user at heart -- iChat is super nice (especially for a built-in chat program), but it just doesn't have the features and customizability that that Adium does. But if you have to use iChat for whatever reason (easy video conferencing comes to mind) despite your love for Adium, then this mod, sent to us by reader Philipp, will probably come in handy.

It's called iChat Pro, and it basically simplifies your iChat window, squeezing out the borders and cutting the buttons at the bottom. I don't think you can change the colors and design of the display the way you can in Adium (it's been a while since I used iChat, and a quick browse through the preferences didn't reveal any options for that), but at least it looks a little more professional than the, let's admit it, a little goofy, default iChat GUI. iChat Pro is a free iChat mod from Infinise Design.