I have really been enjoying this iMac. In fact, I have plans (hopes, perhaps) to get another in the next year or so for Tami to replace the older one she has now.

There are so many useful applications for this thing, and it seems that each week I find another. Here are some of the ones I use regularly:

• NetNewsWire – This is an RSS reader that allows organization of feeds into as many folders as you want. I love the ability to navigate it all with the keyboard, and the ability to open web pages in tabs along the edge of the window is great. I can quickly scan through a list of feeds, popping the right arrow key to open the post in another window if I see something I want to read. I only have about 60 feeds, which is a small list compared to some hard-core junkies out there, but NetNewsWire makes it easy to buzz through them regularly.
• QuickSilver – It may be possible to use a Mac without this tool, but I can’t imagine why you would want to. I barely even touch the capabilities of this little gem, but still use it constantly through the day. Control+space, then type a few letters and hit enter, and any app, url, or document on the system or in my shortcuts will open. I can move files with a few keystrokes, append text to files, look up contact addresses, and perform actions within application menus, all with no mouse.
• Snap Pro Z – Screenshots or screen movies with no hassles.
• 1Password – Sure, Leopard has the keychain, but it’s not easy to update, I can’t access it from both Safari and Firefox, and I can’t store non-password items in it like bank account details, work passwords, etc. 1Password lets me organize by category, and I can store anything that needs fully secure storage. And it will automatically generate passwords for me according to my preferences (length, number of letters/numbers/special characters, etc.) when necessary.
• PandoraBoy – I love Pandora, but having to keep Firefox or Safari open to run it bugs me. PandoraBoy lets me launch directly into the Pandora “mini” player, and still provides the standard mini-payer interface, with access to channels, voting, and song details.

I have a bunch more (Parallels, Skype, Flickr Uploadr, Onyx, TextWrangler, MacSword, and others), but that’s a good start.

Tags: mac