kpbook: Must-have PowerBook software

Contributing Writer Rod Hagen

So you have just received your brand new PowerBook. This Notebook sports one of the best, and most user friendly, Operating Systems (OSs) on the planet. In addition, iLife 2004 is bundled for free, and this gives you: iPhoto (for your digital photography), iMovie (for your digital camcorder), iTunes (for the music you love), Garage Band (for the amateur musician) and iDVD (for editing your DVD). Also, Microsoft Office 2004 Test-drive is included (a one month free trial version for you), giving you a taste of one of the world’s most popular Office application suites, though you will, of course, have to purchase the full version when the trial expires. So, the question is: which applications (commercial and freeware) should you put on your Hard Drive (HD), to get the most out of your PowerBook. This FAQ doesn’t encompass every application out there; well there are hundreds and hundreds to choose from.

We can break these down into four main groups:
1. Productivity applications and Office suites.
2. File management and other task applications to streamline OSX even further.
3. Games.
4. Miscellaneous (this includes everything else).

1. Productivity
1. Word processors and Office Suites

Working with words
Having just bought your brand new PowerBook you are bound to need some method of writing text. Fortunately, along with OSX is included the Text Edit application, a very underrated “basic form? of the word processor. It allows you to apply basic formatting, and can even save in rtf or MS Word format so that you can share your work with others. If you haven't already done so, take a look at it. For some people it may be all that you ever need (and can be found a in your Applications folder). However, there are many Mac Word Processors and Office Suite applications available, and these are dealt with below.

1. Appleworks
http://www.apple.com/appleworks/

Appleworks is an extremely capable program that integrates word processing, spreadsheet, database, drawing, painting and presentation capabilities. At around half the price of the academic version of Microsoft Office (and less than a quarter the price of the "Standard" version) it is well worth considering. It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of Word or Excel in the word processor and spreadsheet departments, but it will do everything that most users will ever require. In other areas (drawing, painting, database etc.) it provides facilities that MS Office can't match. It is also very efficient. It takes up less than one tenth of the hard disk space consumed by Office. It could certainly find a place in many small businesses too.

2. MS Word / MS Office
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/

The "Industry Standard", when it comes to word processing, is Microsoft Word, usually bought as part of the MS Office 2004 Suite (a 30 day free "trial" version can be downloaded from Microsoft). The Office suite for the Mac comes in various configurations, but all include a copy of Word, together with "Excel" spreadsheet software, "PowerPoint" presentation software and "Entourage" email and contact management software (the Mac equivalent of "Outlook" for the PC). Unlike the PC version, Office for the Mac does not include the "MS Access" database program however. The "professional" versions also include a copy of Virtual PC.

MS Office for the Mac is a very good suite: powerful, well integrated, and with excellent cross platform compatibility. If you regularly exchange documents with PC users in a commercial or a large educational environment, then you will probably want to get hold of a copy of MS Office. If money isn't an issue then MS Office is an obvious choice. It’s not cheap unless you qualify for an educational discount though, and other alternatives exist which will do the same job just as effectively, and more cheaply, for many users.

3. NisusWriter
http://www.nisus.com/Express/




NisusWriter has been a favorite word-processor for a dedicated group of Mac Users for two decades. Many people refused to update to OSX based Macs simply because they were worried about losing the use of this program. Many linguists, and others whose work required effective multilingual and multi alphabet compatibility, regarded it as the only program worth considering. The latest edition NisusWriter Express2.1 brings the features that they loved into the OSX world. NisusWriter is an excellent word-processor for everyday use too, and great value - costs even less than Appleworks (though it lacks Appleworks spreadsheet and drawing features). You can download a free demo.

Another word-processor targeted at users with multilingual requirements is Mellel
http://www.redlers.com/mellel.html

4. Mariner Write
http://www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=12

A word-processor getting some good reviews that again will do the job for most people. Some people have suggested that problems can occur when importing MS Word documents with paragraph styles or MS Word documents with in line graphics. Efficient RAM use and a small HD footprint are features of this one.

5. Final Draft
http://www.finaldraft.com/products/fd-features.php4

For the aspiring writer in you. As well a being an all round Word Processor Final Draft caters for specialist script writing: movie scripts, television episodes, stage plays… etc. It combines powerful word processing with professional script formatting in one self-contained, easy-to-use package. This versatile application is quite affordable too, allows imports from MS Word, and has a multitude of templates and features (e.g. SmartType and Collabowriter) that takes the chore out of script writing and editing.

6. OpenOffice
http://www.openoffice.org/

You can't beat the price of the open source software OpenOffice - It's free! The Mac port has been available for some time now, and does a pretty good job. Installation can be fiddly, though and involves things like conversion of all your Mac fonts to True type and the use of Apple's X11 software. You can also run into problems moving material from application to another, because of differences in the way clipboards are treated under X11. Some people love it, though. A related, Java based, project called NeoOffice/J may also be worth a look.
http://www.neooffice.org/

Spreadsheets and Databases
For most new PowerBook owners spreadsheet, database, or statistical analysis applications are must-have applications. Your PowerBook does come with the 30 day MS Office Test-drive, which will give you a taste for the ever popular Excel spreadsheet 9though no database is provided), and you will also find the application Calculator can handle rudimentary data analysis. What follows is a more comprehensive list of options for you.

Spreadsheets

1. Microsoft’s Excel (part of MS Office)
2. Appleworks

As with the word-processing components of these suites (see above), the MS Office product has many powerful features, and is the Industry Standard, though Appleworks will be more than adequate for many users, and will save you some dollars into the bargain.

3. MarinerCalc
http://www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=14

From the same people who produce MarinerWrite this application is another viable alternative. However, though, that a combined package of MarinerWrite and MarinerCalc will cost you almost as much as an Academic version of MS Office, and quite a bit more than Appleworks.

4. BC Calc
http://homepage.mac.com/gotterdamn/
If you want a very basic and free spreadsheet then take a look at BC Calc.

5. FlexiSheet
http://www.materialarts.com/FlexiSheet/
FlexiSheet is another Open Source free program, currently only in its beta stage. An interesting project that gives you some useful ways of looking at data. Worth trying if you are adventurous. Certainly worth looking out for when the full version is released.




6. Mesa
http://www.plsys.co.uk/mesa.htm
Mesa is another low cost spreadsheet that provides a subset of Excels features.

7. Open Office
This application suite also provides you with a free database (see above). Though as with Mesa, providing only a subset of Excels features.

Database Software
1. Appleworks (see above)
This Suite provides a basic non-relational database facility that is useful for dealing with simple information. It is easy to use and may be all that you need for simple tasks. Another option, if your needs are simple, is iData2.
http://www.idata2.com/index.html

2. Filemaker Pro
http://www.filemaker.com/
For more serious requirements though, you need a database with relational capabilities. The long-standing favorite for this in the Mac world is Filemaker Pro The program is available for both Macs and PCs, although the company itself is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple. A demo version is currently shipped with new PowerBooks. It manages to fulfill the needs of both database developers and end-users like me.

It’s not cheap, but, for many, Filemaker is a must-have application. It can be used for integrating a wide range of file material: maps, documents, photographs, bibliographic data and field audio recordings. I use it for accounting. I use it for contact management and a host of other things too. A highly recommended application.

3. 4th Dimension
Geared a little more towards database developers than end users, but still a powerful tool with a long history in the Apple world as well as on PCs, 4th Dimension is an alternative for database work on the Mac. Not as user friendly as FilemakerPro, but those who work with it say they wouldn’t use anything else! Worth looking at.

4. Panorama
http://www.provue.com/
Another option that has received some very positive reviews from many PowerBook owners is Panorama. This is both very fast and user friendly. Earlier versions suffered a bit from clunky interfaces and very limited web publishing and multi-user capabilities though. For many people it is the database software of choice.

Statistical analysis
http://www.jmp.com/index.shtml
For some there may be a need for a powerful statistical analysis application, above the level of many spreadsheet applications.
In this instance I would recommend jmp, a powerful professional statistical analysis package. This includes a variety of powerful statistical platforms and features (e.g. Poisson distribution, Six Sigma Calculator and cluster analysis, to name but a few).

Graphics and miscellaneous
http://www.endnote.com/
http://www.apple.com/macosx/applications/photoshop/
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/adobephotoshopelements.html
http://www.macgimp.org/
http://www.apple.com/keynote/
Along with many Office Suites comes some form of slides and presentation application. PowerPoint, part of Office 2004 (see above), is a standard slides and presentation application for many. One of the strongest features of PowerPoint is its effortless integration with Excel and Word, and this can take the pain out of making “professional” presentations. Keynote is
Apple’s alternative to PowerPoint, and integrates well with Appleworks. This is a great and reasonably priced alternative to MS PowerPoint. However, for free Open office contains Impress, allowing you to create Presentations. Using Impress you can both import and export your current MS PowerPoint presentations into this application. Finally, if you are need a powerful graphics application then Photoshop is for you, or if you only dabble then Photoshop Elements may be your preferred option, I, myself, use Photoshop CS, and find this powerful-application more than fills my needs for a Graphics application on my PowerBook. If Photoshop is too expensive for you then why not try the free application MacGimp.




Also, while Preview fills the needs for many, for a some Adobe Acrobat Standard will provide you with an powerful application for saving important documents and data in the .pdf/ file type of choice. Finally, to round off our selection of Office-type applications I would recommend Endnote v8.0, for pro-style referencing. The new version now integrates seamlessly with MS Word 2004.

2. File management and other system related tasks
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/macjanitor.html
http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/brickhouse.html
http://www.charlessoft.com/
http://www.macosxcocktail.com/
http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/index.html
http://www.bresink.de/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html
http://www.macstumbler.com/
http://www.chimoosoft.com/apgrapher.html
http://binaervarianz.de/projekte/programmieren/kismac/

OSX gives you many system management tools and utilities. However, a popular application is DiskWarrior, which claims to be the only disk repair utility program where there is never a risk of losing directory data and, thus, never a risk of losing access to your files. Other popular system tasks / maintenance applications are MacJanitor and Pacifist. For your Firewall (ipfw) Brickhouse is another popular utility, that allows its management. It even allows for Airport management, if you are into wireless networking. A general purpose OSX tweak application is to be found in Cocktail. SideTrack provide a custom driver utility if you are unhappy with the built-in OSX Trackpad driver. If you are concerned about the temperature of your PowerBooks internal components the Temperature monitor will give you a report of them. Don’t panic, though, the PowerBook is a well-maintained machine, and you’ll only usually hear the Fan come on if you are performing intensive tasks. The PowerBook comes with Airport-built in these days, so here are three applications which are very useful for wireless networking: Kismac, Macstumbler and AP Grapher.

3. Games
http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2002/06/warcraft3/
http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2003/07/neverwinternights/
http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2000/04/diablo2/
http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2004/04/facesofwar/
http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2004/03/unreal2004/
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/

PowerBooks can handle a wide variety of games. For the strategist in you Warcraft 3 is a popular choice. For the Role-player there is Neverwinter Nights or Diabalo2 , and for fans of first person shooters then Call of Duty is a popular choice. However, a word of caution, some of the most graphically demanding games (for example Unreal Tournament 2004) may not play so well unless you turn the graphics settings down. Finally for those who want to enter an online world of adventure then World of Warcraft is for you.

4. Miscellaneous
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/nicecast/
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/
http://www.apple.com/logicexpress/
http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/

This combines everything else in an assortment of nice applications. For those of you who surf the Internet, but don’t like Internet Explorer or OSX's built-in Safari then Mozzila’s Firefox could be the choice for you. For me I find it phases me out less when I have to switch from my PowerBook to a PC. If you own an Airport Express, or are a fan of internet radio, then NiceCast is a must have application, allowing you to stream any audio from any application on your PowerBook to your Internet Protocol (IP) address of choice. Similarly Wiretap is a useful little utility allowing you to capture any audio playing on your PowerBook, very useful if you are a fan or talk radio (e.g. BBC World Service), and want to record your favorite audio programs For the musician in you OSX iLife 2004 has Garage Band.




However, for those who take it a little more seriously then Logic Express 7 is a great application. Similarly for the video buff in you Apple’s Final Cut is used by many on their PowerBook. Finally, for those of you who have just switched from a PC, but still have some all important PC applications to run, then MS Virtual PC can smooth your transition over to the world of Macs.