So, what cool stuff can I do on OS X?

[anguilla1980]

I have the new OS X Sierra and I'm trying it out. Last time I used a Mac OS it was like 17 years ago to play Myst lol. I live in a Windows world otherwise.

 

So, what kind of cool stuff can I do on OS X? I went through the app store and it's missing a bunch of apps I normally use like Skype, uTorrent, FileZilla, Steam, etc. Just wondering what kind of cool stuff there is out there I've never heard of. I'm still deciding if there is a point in having OS X as an alternate OS.

 

Also, is there a trial download for Office 2016 for Mac? I only see a trial for o365 for Mac.

 

Thanks!

[Jim K Global Moderator]

The trial for Office 365 includes Office 2016.  30 days to try it out.  I do not believe there is a "trial" for just Office 2016 anymore (unlike previous version).

 

https://products.office.com/en-us/try

 

Sorry, I can not be more helpful ... 

[T3X4S]

10 minutes ago, Jim K said:

The trial for Office 365 includes Office 2016.  30 days to try it out.  I do not believe there is a "trial" for just Office 2016 anymore (unlike previous version).

 

https://products.office.com/en-us/try

 

Sorry, I can not be more helpful ... 

Pretty sure that is correct.  Just install O365.  Click on the download options and select 2016 & 64-bit (May not even be an option for 2013 anymore)

[anguilla1980]

Thanks, looks like they require a credit card though so I'll skip Office for now.

[T3X4S]

Other than cool things to do on a mac - I am not the person to answer - I was hoping to see a bunch of answers, because I am thinking of getting an MBP to fart around with.... I hear the caramel macchiato w/ whip, half-decaff, double caff, lite w/ ex caramel tastes better with a mac.

[TheReaperMan]

install windows on it. 

[T3X4S]

5 minutes ago, TheReaperMan said:

install windows on it. 

LOL - 1st order of business - install Boot Camp

[TAZMINATOR]

20 hours ago, anguilla1980 said:

Thanks, looks like they require a credit card though so I'll skip Office for now.

Nothing is wrong with it. You can cancel the trial before they charge the fee to your card. If they did, you can get your money back as soon as you contact your bank about it.

 

If you wait after the trial expires, you will be charged and that's your responsibility. You have to watch out for it. You can cancel a day before it expires. So you won't be charged.

 

The office is great on Mac.

 

 

20 hours ago, T3X4S said:

LOL - 1st order of business - install Boot Camp

This or Parallels

 

With Parallels, you are able to switch OS without restarting.  

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

If you have been a Windows user from Windows 7 on then HyperDock is a must have OSX app. It enables an Aero Snap like ability - to drag an app to the left / right of the screen and have it resize to take up 50% of the screen. Or drag an app to the top of the screen to maximise it.

 

You can create Virtual Desktops then use gestures on the track pad to swipe between both desktops seamlessly. This is great on the MacBook Air as it makes multitasking quite usable, even on a small 13" screen.

 

Skype, uTorrent, FileZilla and Steam all have native OSX apps, just not on the store. if you have an Office 365 subscription Office on the Mac is pretty good these days, i'd use Outlook over the OSX Mail app personally.

 

I do like iMovie on OSX, its pretty powerful for your basic video edits and very user friendly.

 

Finder (the OSX equivalent of Windows Explorer) is not really that great to be honest. I do keep meaning to try out something like Commander One to see if I like it any better.

 

From my point of view, as someone who has used Windows for the last 20 years and OSX for the last 5, I do think OSX is pretty nice. Both Windows and OSX have pros and cons, i'd never say either is perfect.

 

I am platform neutral though you could say, i'm not locked in to either the Windows or OSX ecosystem. I use Office 365 for email hosted on my own domain, Dropbox for Cloud Storage, Google Chrome to sync my browser over Windows, OSX, Linux and Android then multi platform apps like 1Password for password management. My phone is an Android, so again i'm not tied in to either Windows or OSX.

 

If i had to choose it would be Windows on the desktop, where i do any productive stuff. However OSX on a Laptop for how the hardware and software really do work together for a great overall experience.

[Elliot B.]

↑ You. I like you. Quality (and, most importantly, fair) post

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I switched to Mac 100% once I got past the "OK so show me something cool" stage.  I use it the same as I used my PC, it doesn't do anything that my PC didn't do - I simply prefer the OSX workflow.*

 

* Once you let go of preconceived ideas of how it "should" be done, and embrace the new workflow, OS and so on.  Let it be what it is, not how you want it to be because you're more used to Windows.

[T3X4S]

On 4/26/2017 at 4:44 PM, anguilla1980 said:

Thanks, looks like they require a credit card though so I'll skip Office for now.

Dude - office is $6.00 / mo.  seriously ?

[anguilla1980]

7 minutes ago, T3X4S said:

Dude - office is $6.00 / mo.  seriously ?

Yup, I don't see a point in paying a penny until I know I'm going to use the OS. I have an owned full version of Office 2016 Pro on my PC.

[TAZMINATOR]

1 minute ago, anguilla1980 said:

Yup, I don't see a point in paying a penny until I know I'm going to use the OS. I have an owned full version of Office 2016 Pro on my PC.

You have a month to play with it before you could start paying.    Plenty of time.

[+virtorio MVC]

Download, install and learn how to use Alfred

[T3X4S]

23 minutes ago, anguilla1980 said:

Yup, I don't see a point in paying a penny until I know I'm going to use the OS. I have an owned full version of Office 2016 Pro on my PC.

Oh - OK that makes sense - even though its cheap - no reason to pay if you aren't going to use it... my bad.

[dadwacker]

Guess you could always edit videos and music without outsourcing the software.. Umm other than that if you like to play the latest video games you probably can't on a mac although steam has a few source games supported.
It's not like the phone sector where everyone bends over backwards with their wages for apple, in the computing world they suck ballllls but its like hey if the nokia 3310 does the job for you why get a smart phone right? 

[RangerLG]

Coming from Windows, I like Transmission on my MBP better than uTorrent.

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

On 2017-04-26 at 5:21 PM, anguilla1980 said:

I have the new OS X Sierra and I'm trying it out. Last time I used a Mac OS it was like 17 years ago to play Myst lol. I live in a Windows world otherwise.

 

So, what kind of cool stuff can I do on OS X? I went through the app store and it's missing a bunch of apps I normally use like Skype, uTorrent, FileZilla, Steam, etc. Just wondering what kind of cool stuff there is out there I've never heard of. I'm still deciding if there is a point in having OS X as an alternate OS.

 

Also, is there a trial download for Office 2016 for Mac? I only see a trial for o365 for Mac.

 

Thanks!

its being years after my 3 year stint with mac OS .  

 

Transmission - instead of utorrent.   

Perian - for all your codecs need to watch anything on mac.

Unarchiver

 

sorry i cannot suggest more cool stuff.  but the 3 things that i suggested are a must for mac

 

 

and the usual suspects for mac/win:

 

VLC Media Player

Skype - of course it is avail

Picasa

Dropbox

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/45uyb7/i_compiled_a_list_of_the_best_mac_apps/

[adrynalyne]

Build iOS apps.

[DevTech]

5 hours ago, Nefarious Trigger said:

I switched to Mac 100% once I got past the "OK so show me something cool" stage.  I use it the same as I used my PC, it doesn't do anything that my PC didn't do - I simply prefer the OSX workflow.*

 

* Once you let go of preconceived ideas of how it "should" be done, and embrace the new workflow, OS and so on.  Let it be what it is, not how you want it to be because you're more used to Windows.

That's just "Stockholm syndrome" in action.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome

 

If you pay $ for your personal computer then it should operate exactly how you want it to. 

 

Same deal when Windows users tell other Windows users that "Glass" is bad and ugly and should never return to Windows. Choice is always good. Preference settings for choices are always good. Hacks for choices are always good.

 

People that want Windows to act like Linux should get their wish as much as it can be granted ("Ubuntu Bash Shell on Windows 10")

 

People that want Windows to act like a Mac should get their wish. (http://www.windowsxlive.net/macos-transformationux-pack-4-0-released-support-all-windows-10-versions-with-bugs-resolved/)

 

People that want to become Zombies and follow "The One True Way" should start a religion, not a computer company.

 

 

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

7 hours ago, DevTech said:

That's just "Stockholm syndrome" in action.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome

 

If you pay $ for your personal computer then it should operate exactly how you want it to. 

 

Same deal when Windows users tell other Windows users that "Glass" is bad and ugly and should never return to Windows. Choice is always good. Preference settings for choices are always good. Hacks for choices are always good.

 

People that want Windows to act like Linux should get their wish as much as it can be granted ("Ubuntu Bash Shell on Windows 10")

 

People that want Windows to act like a Mac should get their wish. (http://www.windowsxlive.net/macos-transformationux-pack-4-0-released-support-all-windows-10-versions-with-bugs-resolved/)

 

People that want to become Zombies and follow "The One True Way" should start a religion, not a computer company.

 

 

No, it's not Stockholm Syndrome at all.  You've drawn a false parallel.

 

And sure, you can use any computer as you wish - I am arguing that the better usage experience comes when you use it the way it's designed to be used.  You pay your money to buy the tool for the job, not a tool for another job that you want to use anyway.

 

Not further engaging you on this because the rest of the post is a bit of a rant about apple and so on.  Really just about some odd bias on your part than anything else.  Ta.

[Co-ords]

Pretty much anything really. The only thing I use my Windows bootcamp partition for are the few games that have not been ported to macOS. I love macOS. Everything really does just work on it!!

[anguilla1980]

I want to take the time to thank everyone who responded to this thread of mine. I have installed all of the suggested items to check out.

 

I also downloaded Tor and a few other apps I use on Windows.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited May 2, 2017 by anguilla1980