Five essential apps for the Mac student
August 13, 2007
Classes are starting — if they haven’t already started — all over the world. And there’s no denying that the Macs have become one of the most popular options for students. Now that you’re armed for classes with that trusty Mac, you’re probably wondering from which software out there you’ll benefit the most. Here’s a short list featuring the five most interesting Mac apps gathered from all around. Also, it’s been taken into consideration that not all students have that much money to spend, which is why free solutions have been included for each app mentioned.
VMware Fusion. Most universities have that one piece of software that is required for X task, and it turns out it only runs on Windows. Well, lucky us, because now all Macs can run Windows thanks to their transition to Intel chips. VMware Fusion finally came out of beta, and is being reported as a faster and more stable alternative than Parallels Desktop — making it the popular choice nowadays. The software allows you to run Windows (and its apps) directly from Mac OS X’s desktop — unlike Apple’s (free for the moment) solution, calledBoot Camp, which requires a restart to change between operating systems.
iWork ‘08. Apple took a giant step in the good direction by improving its compatibility with Office documents — not to mention adding a word processing option to Pages, and a new spreadsheet app called Numbers. iWork has a user interface that ends up better for Mac users, and is cheaper at $79 than the outdated Microsoft Office 2004 (which is not a Universal binary until its next release). A free alternative is NeoOffice, an OS X-optimized version of OpenOffice — which incidentally, can also make a nice companion to iWork.
SmartBackup. Even though SuperDuper tends to be the most popular option, I’ve fallen in love with SmartBackup — everything from its interface, up to its one-click backup (and restore) solution is the best reason to trust your work to it. Never again will that important essay go MIA on you again. The recommendation here is just to get an external storage solution for your backups. But if you’re short in the means of getting your own backup software, iBackup is the best friend you’ll have.
Awaken. Throw away that old, makes-your-ears-bleed, screaming alarm clock — you’ve got a Mac now. What would be better than waking up to your favorite tunes that you have in iTunes? Even though Awaken may be the top-notch alarm clock app available for the Mac, not everyone wants to spend extra when you already have the plus-$1000 alarm clock hardware — so there’s always the free Aurora option.
Skim. Reader and note taker extraordinaire — more than perfect for those lessons you download in PDF files. There’s not much to add to this app, except that you’ll never trust Preview to your lesson files ever again. And yes, this one’s free.
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[tags]Apple,Mac,Software,Hardware,Education[/tags]
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August 13th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Don’t forget an assignment planner, such as the aptly-named “Assignment Planner!” http://assignmentplanner.burgundylogan.com/
I only had my Mac for the last half of my senior year, but this program saved me a few times.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Two others that save me from day to day are iFlash and OmniOutliner. iFlash is a great flashcard program and OmniOutliner is perfect for lecture notes.
August 13th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I second SmartBackup and iWork ‘08. Got SmartBackup in TheMacPak, and I think it is a great backup solution. iWork ‘08, with the release of Numbers, totally obliterates any chance I had of ever buying Office 2008.
In my experience, Parallels feels faster than VMWare Fusion, but I haven’t used it for Windows, only *nix.
Skim looks pretty nice.
August 13th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
I have both Assignment Planner and OmniOutliner, but recently replaced them with a good, old fashioned moleskine notebook. Shock!
Still, I believe students can benefit from either — it’s just a matter of taste.
August 13th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
You are talking crazy talk Frank. I can type a thousand times faster than I can write and, let’s face it, opening a macbook is so much cooler than opening a moleskin notebook. While I think you have a great site and find most of your comments semi-reasonable, you have crossed to the land of pure-loco with that last comment.
Also, I have finally exported a few files from Pages to Word, and wow have they come a long way. I think I can shout an amen to all of the iWorks 08 praise.
August 13th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Frank: would you say that a moleskine notebook is worth the cost? They are more expensive than your typical composition notebook.
August 14th, 2007 at 7:14 am
I’m not denying that students could use these apps — just that everyone is different.
If you use either of the apps discussed, it’s great! I’m sure it’s because they work for you. If not, I’m sure you have some suitable alternatives.
In my case, I have a reliable memory, and the moleskine is more than enough for my needs. I now also use my iPhone from time to time to write some events or notes, but I function efficiently without these apps mentioned. I can’t comment on the moleskine’s price, since I’m still on my first one. Yet again, most won’t notice the difference between it and a regular notebook.
And if you think I’m crazy, remember these words: “Here’s to the crazy ones.”
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Has nobody here heard of the Hipster PDA?
I totally agree with Frank, not that I am consistent with using moleskine notebooks. I am between using a moleskine, an N95 and a Mac OmniOutliner, converting from FreeMind.
A notebook and a pen is definitely more mobile than a macbook. I am also more free to jot my ideas in any sort or shape whatever, using text or graphics. If you imagine a teacher using a keyboard and projector for teaching rather than a black/whiteboard you will see what I mean. The moleskine is only marginally better than other notebooks if it makes you more comfortable , which is the case for me, and I am a postgrad student btw.
I have actually used before a Palm, an iPaq, and now the N95. Everytime I feel more happy with the notebook. For me the use of OmniOutliner (or FreeMind) complements rather than replaces my notebook.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
I’ve been meaning to try out the Hipster PDA for a while now, so now it’s as good a time as ever. Thanks for the reminder, Muhammad!
August 24th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Just saw this come up
http://www.mactoschool.org/
September 4th, 2007 at 5:14 am
In fact, I use both SmartBackup and SuperDuper. The former more often (as it’s quicker), for my user files (that are more critical), and the latter less regularly (because it takes so much time to figure out what files not to copy) to make a bootable clone of my system (which is less critical than my user files).