A quick description of some of the tools I use the most in my iBook:
iTunes - Back in the days when I used Windows there was Winamp. After some time I switched to Red Hat and I discovered mplayer. Nowadays, I still use mplayer a lot, but all of my musics are organized and played from within iTunes, which is a great tool for this effect (not perfect, but very good indeed).
Desktop Manager - People have told me, when I switched to a Mac, that I would never have to use multiple desktops again, since I'd now be able to see all my windows at the same time, just a little bit minimized so they'd all fit the screen... those people have clearly never used a dozen or two terminals, browser, music player, mail viewer, talker and others at the same time. Desktop Manager is a *must*, for me. YMMV.
QuickSilver - I don't think I make as much use of it as possible, but it's a great utility. Just type Control+Space and start typing the name of the application you want to start. Wonderful for launching applications you don't really want to have on the desktop or in the dock.
Sidetrack - This little one allows me to use my touchpad in the same way (actually, in an even better way) I used it in my Compaq.
Firefox - Need I say more? Some people keep telling me how great Safari is... Nope, Firefox for me, please. The power of its extensions is too good to be thrown away.
Adium - The first messaging program I used in this iBook was Proteus. It has some serious flaws... Now I'm using Adium, and so far... so good.
and regarding mail... well, even though Mail has the advantage of integrating with the rest of the system, its power is still faaaaaaaaaaaaaar behind the one of Mutt :-)
There are more, but I'll leave them for another entry :-)
Re:dozens of terminals?
cog on 2005-05-26T14:49:07
The reason why I use "dozens of terminals" is the same why I don't use screen:-) Memory issues
:-) Even though I have a to do list, I won't look at it unless it is open and in a desktop I'll pass by, from time to time (and even then...)
I use a script I made some time ago to keep track of the money I spend... but I forget to note things down unless I have a terminal with it...
And so on, and so on...
So what I'm left with is a terminal for each of (might be missing something):
- to do list
- yapc to do list
- the next report for yapc
- upcoming events
- expenses
- email (I use Mutt for personal mail)
- MOOsaico
Plus:
- one terminal for each writing project I'm doing (usually three to five)
- a couple of terminals for whatever project I'm working on
- two or three more terminals if I'm working on one of my modules
As you can see, I'm already at about fifteen, and I haven't listed everything, just what came up to my mind O:-)
Yes, I know it's weird, but it works
:-)
John
