Mac related questions!

well, basically, i got my new macbook white this afternoon, and i already have some questions that i feel somebody around here could answer.

first of all, for MSN messenger... which client do you recommend?
i'm using Microsoft Messenger, but it's pretty old i reckon, maybe there are some other newer/better clients

then, which (free)unzipping program equals to windows' winrar? i read there's this sprindy thing, but it's not free, and figured there was something else...

would you recommend i get some app to run any windows on top of Mac OS? if so, which one?

and then, (not THAT important) is there any must-have app i should download?

thanks in advance!

MSN Messenger: I personally use Adium (mainly because I have multiple accounts across different platforms) but Microsoft Messenger on mac is featureless and buggy.

You can get RAR Expander for RARs; however, I use StuffIt mainly (could be the one you're trying to refer to?)

As for running windows alongside OS X. If your computer can handle it and you want quick and easy switches or to run them at the same time.. sure, go virtual. If you're after speed and efficiency just dual boot with Bootcamp.
For virtualization software I have Parallels as I had initially had tried VMWare Fusion and was unhappy with it.

Must have app is GrabUp (if you're on 10.5) or I suppose you can use TinyGrab (10.6) but I have issues with the way they handle the uploads (might have changed since I last looked) such as your images go through their server not straight to your own.

Regards,
Jeff

Originally Posted by juan-i well, basically, i got my new macbook white this afternoon, and i already have some questions that i feel somebody around here could answer. first of all, for MSN messenger... which client do you recommend? i'm using Microsoft Messenger, but it's pretty old i reckon, maybe there are some other newer/better clients then, which (free)unzipping program equals to windows' winrar? i read there's this sprindy thing, but it's not free, and figured there was something else... would you recommend i get some app to run any windows on top of Mac OS? if so, which one? and then, (not THAT important) is there any must-have app i should download? thanks in advance!

For messenger purposes, I use Adium.

For unzipping I use The Unarchiver

As for "must have" apps, then I would venture along the lines of:

* TextMate / Coda / Espresso for development
* Microsoft Office for Mac / Pages for presentations, documents etc
* Tweetie as a twitter client
* Spotify
* NetNewsWire for RSS feeds
* Transmission as a Bittorrent client

thanks guys, really appreciate it! i'll be deffinitely having a look tomorrow when my mac is done recharging. i was told to leave it off and recharging for around 24 hours :P

and jeff, i have been using grabup on windows, and started to get some problems with the uploads, so i changed to screensnapr, which is in me opinion, better, one of the reasons being you can upload snaps to your own server automatically...

repeat-x, does The Unarchiver handle .rar files as well?

thanks again guys!

Sun VirtualBox - Virtualization
TextMate - Editor
ForkLift - FTP
1Password - Password Management
Toast - Disk Authoring
PathFinder - Finder Replacement
Stuffit Expander - Unarchiving
Thunderbird - RSS
Songbird - Music

Originally Posted by juan-i thanks guys, really appreciate it! i'll be deffinitely having a look tomorrow when my mac is done recharging. i was told to leave it off and recharging for around 24 hours :P and jeff, i have been using grabup on windows, and started to get some problems with the uploads, so i changed to screensnapr, which is in me opinion, better, one of the reasons being you can upload snaps to your own server automatically... repeat-x, does The Unarchiver handle .rar files as well? thanks again guys!

Indeed it does

juan-i -- I have the Pro version of GrabUp which allows to go to your FTP. My apologies. Still very much worth it imo if you're on 10.5.

hehe it's all good jeff

i'm on 10.6 though, so i guess i'll stick with screensnappr