Favorite Mac Tools

I fancy myself a “Power User” since, as I say in my intro, “I’ve been using computers since before they were small enough to fit under your desk or in your hip pocket.” I have written complex analytical programs to solve scientific problems, crunched billions of numbers to create simulations, crafted computer-simulated 3D scenes for feature films, and woven numerous Web sites.

Most of the time, I have worked on specialized systems, some of them using obsolete or bespoke operating systems (who remembers RT-11 or System360?) but the past twenty years or so I have owned computers built by Apple. I won’t get into “Religious Wars” about which operating system is superior; this is everyone’s personal preference. But I find myself spending more time being productive and less time fussing with trying to keep things free of evil crap than people who use a certain OS from Washington state. And I am happy to use superior programs which I find available only on MacOS. Among these are my “Swiss Army knife” text-editor, BBEdit, and a marvelous collaborative tool from some German proframmers who call themselves “Coding Monkeys” - SubEthaEdit. Using SubEthaEdit, you can share live documents on the network and allow others to view and even edit them. This happens without needing to host a Web site, or needing to share your entire disk or even a subfolder.