There Now. That's Better.....

Try "Crossover for Mac" instead of Parallals if you just need MS Outlook.

Must have apps? I am a big fan of TextSoap from UnMarked Software. It is real handy when you need to clean up text such as removing two spaces after a sentence stop, two returns to one return, remove all hyperlinks and so on. Sure you could do it using find and replace in InDesign, TextEdit, or other text editing program, but TextSoap lets you pick common changes via a list.

First app you install should be Quicksilver. I only use it for app launching, but it does tons more too.

If you're writing longer articles or books, you need Scrivener.

OmniOutliner should be installed already on your new MacBook - it's a great outliner app.

Then there's ComicLife, also pre-installed, which will eat several hours of your life if you let it.

There - I've given you material for about a half-dozen articles already !

First of all, DON'T install another browser than Safari. Only install Firefox if you really need it. I'm saying this, because most of the people don't really see the power of Safari.

Then, for making things easy:

- http://perian.org/ and http://www.flipformac.com (2 QuickTime extensions that will make sure that you can watch almost any video format out there)

- http://www.panic.com/transmit/ (if you make use of FTP)

- http://islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=21 (handy to keep track of battery performance, etc.)

- All the (basic) rest is already installed! iWork also is a must-have, although I'm not recommending buying it now, since a new version can come out anytime soon.

HTH...

PS: If you can convince your bosses of buying you a Mac, please try to convince them too that paragraphs and line breaks (in comments) are really nice :-)

6 months ago (right around the time I subscribed to this blog) I bought a black MacBook as well. These things are great. I too am a blogger and the following is a list of must have apps:
Newsfire (RSS)
QuickSilver (for everything)
Pages (not an app, but if you have it its great)
ecto or text edit (blogging)

Also, the black mac's can get a bit smudgy over time so if you figure out a good safe way to clean them let me know.

Finally, check out myblackmac.com for some more fun stuff to do exclusively with black macs. Good call with this purchase!

Quicksilver
http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/

Scot Finnie's account of his recent three-month Mac trial and conversion on 'Computerworld' was a very good read and referenced his software choices based on specific needs.

If you have not read this series then you might want to look at his list of Mac software as an interesting reference of things to try.

He posts a regular newsletter at his site. Here are links to the relevant issues:
http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/88.htm
http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/89.htm#alist
http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/90.htm#alist

Personally I would rather read Mac advise from someone that "gets" and uses at least Mac and windows, with BSD or Linux usage a huge bonus.

I have Macs at home and at work, and one of my indispensable apps is Yojimbo. When I first got it I used it for the things I bought it for: to keep passwords, serial numbers, credit card information, etc. It allowed me to keep everything in one app and have it available everywhere.

Now it's my general repository for almost anything of interest. Have a document that I'm going to need multiple places? I stick it in Yojimbo. Find a web page that I want to preserve? I stick it in Yojimbo.

Try it. You'll like it.

The newish product Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works great on black macbooks, and other stuff too. It's safe to use.

Get yourself multiple desktops with CodeTek's Virtual Desktop Pro. If you run lots of apps, you'll love it! It's like having multiple displays, without giving up all that desk space or spending all that money. I've even got it on my dual-screen G5, and since I use 5 virtual desktops, it makes my 2 screens effectively 10 screens. One warning, however: it will make it very hard to ever go back to a single desktop.

And I notice that your writing is sooo much better on the Mac! :)

(Humor, guys! OK? )

Some great free stuff:

OnyX - maintenance app
Pando - send encrypted mail (also good for huge emails)
Pac the Man X - Excellent Pac Man rehash
iSquint - excellent video conversion tool
BatChmod - file permission/trash empty utility
BwanaDik - menu bar IP status / indicator
iRecord - one-button movie creation using iSight (w/ sound)
StuffitExpander - still needed to expand stuffit files
AppleJack - maintenance app to use BEFORE you boot up, in single-user mode

Hey this website shows u how to use msn on ichat. not as good as adium but the integration with mail, address book is amazing.

http://allforces.com/?p=17&akst_action=share-this

oh do know that u can send sms and make calls via address book as well!

have fun!