Like Windows, OSX does have a built in compression program which will create a zip file of any files or folders you've selected. However, like the one built into Windows this is a very basic version without really any added features. For full control over creating and decompressing archives you need a program such as StuffIt.

Stuffit comes in two versions for the Mac (there is also a Windows version). There is Stuffit Deluxe which you will need if you wish to create archives and there is also a free decompresser. Why would you want to pay for a zip program when there is one already in OSX? The same reasons really that just about everyone who has a PC has a copy of WinZip and/or WinRar installed. Stuffit allows you to encrypt your archives for added security, it can create self extracting archives, you can view thumbnails of jpeg files without having to unzip them first and it supports 21 different compression formats such as TAR, RAR and Stuffit's own format.

Stuffit Deluxe
Free Stuffit Expander

You may have switched from a PC to a Mac but the fact is that you will still need to share documents with other PC users and one of the most popular PC programs out there is Office and if you want to be able to view and send documents in the Word format or spreadsheets than you don't really have much choice but to buy Office 2004 for the Mac. The only real other option to Office is iWork which includes two applications, Pages which is a kind of a mix of Word and Publisher and Keynote which is the equivalent of Powerpoint. Both of these programs are very good at what they do and are incredibly easy to use but the fact that they are not cross platform compatible means that you would only ever be able to share their documents with other Mac users.

Office 2004 has the main Office programs like Word, Excel and Powerpoint and even comes with a Mac version of Windows Media Player but whereas the PC version of Office uses Outlook as it's e-mail client, the Mac version uses a program called Entourage. The other main difference between the PC version and the Mac version is that the Mac version doesn't include programs like Access, Publisher, InfoPath, OneNote, Project, Sharepoint Designer and Visio. If you have an Intel Mac than one thing to bare in mind is that Office 2004 is not a Universal Binary and as such runs under Rosetta on these machines however Office 2004 is still fast on these machines but Microsoft are developing a new version of Office for the Mac, Office 2008 which will be a Universal Binary and is scheduled for release in the second half of 2007.

A quick word on Entourage. Like Outlook and Outlook Express there are those people that like it and there are those that really don't like it. Personally speaking I quite like it but then I only have simple e-mailing needs and so haven't delved deep into what Entourage can or can't do and what it does well and what it does badly. If I had to find fault with it I would say that it is a little more 'clunky' than Outlook in that you can't quickly empty any folder other than the deleted items folder and the ability to categories your e-mails according to the sender or subject is basic to say the least but then isn't probably that important to a lot of users. I would say that it is better than Mail the built in e-mail client of OSX.

Office 2004

Mac's by default come with the Safari browser which is fine for viewing most sites on but due to the way Safari renders pages it can cause some websites not to be displayed correctly. Now to be fair this is something that has been a problem since the birth of the Internet which is why web designers still have to check their websites in several browsers both on the PC and the Mac to see how they are rendered, it's just that Safari seems to have more than it's fair share of problems.

If you've used a PC there's a fair chance you will have used or at least seen the Firefox browser and this is also available for the Mac. Firefox, in my opinion, is the best browser out there for either the PC or the Mac as not only does it conform to the W3C specifications of rendering web pages better than most other browsers it is also hugely customisable, very fast and very powerful. One of my favourite features is the built in spell checker that checks your spelling as you type in the same way that Word does. Type a word incorrectly and it highlights it instantly, right click on the word and you can then select the correct spelling or add it to your dictionary. There are hundreds of Extensions for Firefox which add other capabilities like Aadvark which shows you divisions, styles etc used on a webpage which can be incredibly useful when designing websites, through to RSS readers, image viewers, games etc etc.

Firefox

How do you describe a program like Quicksilver? It's kind of like having a third and fourth hand, it's like Spotlight on Acid and it gives Finder a good slap around the head. To quote the Quicksilver website it's, "A unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data." That really is the only way of describing what Quicksilver does in a nutshell but to see everything you can do with it you will just have to try it. Basically it's one of those programs that once you try it you'll never want to be without it again. What Quicksilver allows you to do is instantly find any application, file or folder just by typing it's name. So lets say you wanted to launch Firefox but didn't have it's icon in the dock. With Quicksilver all you would have to do is type Fire and it would instantly find every application that contained that word along with any folders documents and even any favourites/bookmarks, music, playlists in iTunes, albums in iPhoto etc, the list is almost endless. Obviously this could bring up a very long list but Quicksilver is intelligent and organises it's results so that the most likely result comes first but, most importantly, it learns from you.

Quicksilver isn't just about finding files though because once it's found them you can do all kinds of things like copying them to another folder or drive, renaming them, getting their info, set comments, archive, e-mail and do anything and everything that you could possibly need to it. But it doesn't stop their you can add entries to iCal without having to open the program just by typing something like "Meeting next Monday lunchtime", you can upload photos to Flickr and do hundreds of more things all without having to use the mouse or launch the respective applications.

Quicksilver

The Wikipedia widget gives you the power of Wikipedia on your dashboard. Just enter the subject you want to search and the entire Wikipedia entry is displayed. Like the Dictionary and Thesaurus widget that comes with OSX which I'm also a big fan of this widget can be stretched to fill your entire screen if you wish. If you click on any of the links in the Wikipedia widget then your browser opens and takes you to the relevant page. I find this is really useful way to quickly find out information on any given subject without the need to open a new browser window or tab.

Wikipedia Widget

The Internet has not only brought about online shopping but International online shopping and often it can be cheaper to buy something from a different country than to buy it from your own due to the exchange rates. However as the exchange rates are constantly changing knowing exactly how much something costs requires a constantly updated currency converter. The reason why I like this one is that it can convert 170 different currencies and allows you to instantly see the price of something in 4 different currencies.

Currency Converter

Most radio stations now also broadcast over the Internet. This widget allows you to access their feed from your Dashboard and works with feeds in the Real Media Format and Windows Media Format. All you have to do is to enter the URL of the feed into the player, select the feed format and then enter the name of the radio station and you can add as many stations as you like.

Radio Tuner