If you’ve just got yourself a new Mac and totally clueless what to install, this article is for you. If you are looking for alternatives for some applications you are currently using in your Mac, the following list might come in handy too. This week, we’d like to showcase you a list of useful yet free applications you can install for your Mac. Full list after jump.
Productivity
Provides a streamlined, easily accessible interface to add and check off your tasks, while remaining poised to melt into the background at a moments notice.
Keep record of customers, contact persons and important events related to them.
A Mac app to collect notes and tasks.
Hides all the icons and leaves nothing but the pure wallpaper
Easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere.
Allows you to sync your Facebook events with iCal.
HimmelBar provides an icon in the menu bar to quickly access your installed applications by scanning standard locations such as local, user, network and developer applications.
Simple way to track your time.
Simple-to-use mindmapping applications for the Macintosh that help to visually collect, classify and structure ideas as well as organize, study and solve problems.
Designed for the sole purpose of renaming a list of files.
Fast way to open applications.
Allows you to tag your files and bookmarks, freeing you of the strict hierarchy of the Finder’s folder structure.
A unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data.
Sticky Notes Manager for your Mac Desktop.
Time and activity analytics application that automatically keeps track of where you spend your time on your computer.
Help you keep all your documents, text messages, contacts, calendar entries and events and other stuff well organized.
Simple Mac to-do list application.
Helps you to concentrate on your current task and activity.
Todos shows you all your applications in a complete dock.
Tools and Utilities
Helps you to keep all applications, widgets, preference panes and application plugins installed on your Mac up to date.
Mac’s application to burn discs, with a lot of advanced options.
Font management tool.
Help you find and purchase items on eBay.
Small application that lets you quickly and easily set a custom icon for one your drives either from an ICNS file or any old image file that Mac OS supports.
Powerful general purpose text editor, and Unix and server administrator’s tool.
Full-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database programs) for Mac OS X.
An Editor for Text, HTML, LaTeX, C++, Java, Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP, and more…
Readers
Read PDF files with this Adobe Acrobat reader.
RSS reader for Mac by NewsGator
A great RSS reader for Mac whom recently made free.
Powerful email application from Mozilla.
System
AppCleaner is a small application which allows you to thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps.
Caffeine is a tiny program that puts an icon in the right side of your menu bar. Click it to prevent your Mac from automatically going to sleep, dimming the screen or starting screen savers. Click it again to go back. Hold down the Command key while clicking to show the menu.
Clone, synchronize, backup. Schedule and forget it.
Allows you to enable and disable the hidden functions of Finder, Dock, Dashboard, Exposé, Safari, Login window and many Apple’s applications.
Allows you to save all of your documents in a specific time interval or by changing the frontmost application.
Growl lets Mac OS X applications unintrusively tell you when things happen.
Highly configurable widget that lets you monitor every aspect of your Mac, including CPU, memory, disks, network, battery, temperatures, fans, load & uptime and processes.
Easily customize your Mac’s login screen.
After clicking on MacLoc, it will appear that you’ve logged out, however upon entering your username and password, all open documents and applications will be right where you left them.
Provides detailed information on every Apple Macintosh computer ever made, including items such as processor speed, memory, optical drives, graphic cards, supported Mac OS versions, and expansion options.
Allows you to verify the Startup Disk and the structure of its System files, run miscellaneous tasks of system maintenance, configure some hidden parameters of the Finder, Dock, Dashboard, Exposé, Safari, Login window.
A program for removing unnecessary language resources from Mac OS X, in order to reclaim several hundred megabytes of disk space.
Lets you hide the Dock and menu bar for every Cocoa application you choose.
Application that can warn you of some hard disk drive failures before they actually happen.
Tweak your Mac’s dock.
Chat Clients
Free instant messaging application for Mac OS X that can connect to AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more.
Advanced IRC, SILC & ICB client.
Gabtastik lets you keep chat sessions open on your OS X desktop outside of your regular web browser, using minimal screen real estate and system memory.
Think of it as Mac’s MSN Messenger.
Skype for Mac.