My real name

The Mac vs PC argument can go on forever and ever. So this is my take on it - or rather - my reasoning for never wanting to buy another PC again. My next computer will be a Macbook Pro, and I cannot see myself going back to using Windows on a daily basis. And you know why? It’s not because of the OS, or how nice it looks, but the apps.

Specifically, here are a list of apps that I use every day when on the Mac. I’ve yet to find a Windows replacement which I feel is as good. And for that reason, I could never use Windows for my web work. I would miss these apps too much.

1. Textmate. Yes, I know E-Text Editor on Windows supports bundles but it’s just not the sam. Textmate’s huge range of bundles built in, plus loads of fantastic extras by various people make it a clear choice for development.
2. Ecoute. This is what I use to listen to music. It sits on your desktop or in the menu bar and lets you play from your iTunes library without having to have iTunes loaded. I’m not iTunes’ biggest fan and this app is well worth the $10 it set me back.
3. Forklift - my FTP app of choice. It just works. And I won this in competition on a blog, makes it even better!
4. Shovebox - a little app that sits in your menu bar until needed. When you do, hit a shortcut of your choice and it brings up a box for you to type a quick note, then hit enter to save. Whenever I have a blog post idea, I put it in there. Much easier than writing it.
5. Tweetie - in my opinion the best Twitter client out there.
6. Coda - when I’m not in a Textmate mood I switch to Coda and it’s simply fantastic. Built in FTP, a fancy CSS editor mode, some great addons.
7. 1Password - like any geek I’m signed up to loads of services and remembering passwords is a pain. This is where 1Password comes in to play.
8. Some of the in-built Mac apps I like are: 
   Finder - just works. Some people don’t like it, but for me it’s superb.
   Expose/ Spaces - can’t imagine living without it now, to be honest.

If you’re on a Mac, which apps do you swear by? If you’re on Windows, do you know alternatives to the above or have a comment about Macs? Let me know!