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• Aperture/iPhoto: Photo management software is a nice thing to have around simply to de-clutter your files and keep things even marginally organized. Both iPhoto and Aperture have easy automatic uploads from digital cameras and camera cards. Both also offer great organization methods such as tags and folder separation by event, date, or other parameters set by the user. Currently, I use Aperture, mainly due to the fact that I received it for free and it’s significantly more powerful than iPhoto. The upside to iPhoto is that it comes standard with iLife, (a must for Macs). 

• Microsoft Office 2008/iWork: An office suite is more or less necessary for any plausible function on a computer in modern times. Both Microsoft and Apple offer their spin on the programs, Microsoft with more performance based tools and Apple with more creative based. My overall perception is this: if I want an extremely easy way to create a certain type of spread sheet and make it really ridiculously good looking, I would use iWork. If I want to do something quickly that’s compatible with multiple platforms and is easy for most anyone to understand, I would use Microsoft Office 2008.

• OmniOutliner Professional: I have a programming friend who suggested this for it’s ease of use and quick handling ability. He was absolutely right. OmniOutliner Professional succeeds in what every office suite has currently failed to do: provide a note-taking tool that is amazingly in-sync with speedy typers, a fast and small program, and an extremely easy interface.  I could not believe, once trying the program for myself, that I had ever used anything else to take notes. I can nail out any type of notes at all now, ranging from science and mathematics to social sciences, in half the time I was able to before. Plus the files are small, quick to open, and easy to organize.

• Mail: When I first got my Mac, I was completely satisfied with what Gmail had to offer. My account was doing fine, I was using free space with a free account on an easily accessible server. I soon realized that I was toting my Mac with me everywhere and I wanted to utilize every possible feature I could to get my full money’s worth of experience. My friend convinced me that I needed to integrate my Gmail account with Apple’s Mail and within 10 quick minutes I had inbox and outbox fully integrated and working beautifully. This is the greatest Mail client I have ever used.

• Bento: If you’re like me and need to manage 10-200 customer files, their contact info, purchase and sale history, and many other such things, Bento is the easiest way to accomplish this. As stated by someone else… Bento is the “database for the rest of us”. Basically, if you’ve got no clue how to use a database (like me), this program is for you. It’s amazingly easy and the streamlined interface makes things look beautiful and simple, as everything Mac should be. 

• Transmission: I have friends who swear that Azureus is the greatest torrent program available for Macs but I assure you, they are gravely mistaken. Transmission is the most simple possible interface you could ever hope to have as far as torrent programs go. Transmission does what it is meant to do without frills, advertisements, or anything else. It’s small, streamlined, and beautiful.

• iFreeMem: I don’t know if it’s a gimmick or what it’s supposed to really do or how it does it, but this program makes your RAM usage drop nearly in half. It’s wonderful to run before and after using huge programs like an office suite or recording software. It honestly does clean things up and makes your computer run more smoothly after a short blip in productivity.

• AppDelete: In case you haven’t figured it out already, I’m all about simplicity and appealing looks. This program is so simple and clean looking I don’t even know what to say. It does what it’s supposed to: cleanly and promptly delete programs, widgets, preference panes, files, etc. in an efficient manner.

And these are the programs that I cannot live without! They are the most simple, streamlined, and beautiful programs that I use on a daily (if not hourly) basis. They have made all the difference in my Mac-use experience and I would recommend them to anyone for any purpose!