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Here's a list of software recommended for use at UNC CH. Please keep in mind these are just recommendations based on personal experience.
Operating Systems
From Apple
From Others
- MachTen, a BSD unix that runs as a virtual machine under MacOS.
- LinuxPPC
- YellowDog Linux
- NetBSD for Macs
- Debian PPC port of Linux
- MKLinux.
- BeOS. Although Be has discontinue support for Mac system, BeOS does run on PCI macs prior to the B&W G3.
- Windows and OS/2. There are two ways to approach this, using a software emulation package such as RealPC or VPC (see the page on enhancing VPC's performance) or use of a hardware card, such as Orange Micro's (although this product has been recently discontinued).
CAD, 2D, and 3D Design Software
- Archintosh is a good resource if you're into CAD and design work.
- Strata's Studio Pro
- Adobe Photoshop is the standard. See Photoshop Web Reference for support for version 4.x.
- MicroFrontier makes some very nice and inexpensive software (their Colorit! and WWWArt programs are what I used to make many of the graphics embellishing these pages)
- Maxon makes 2D and 3D software.
Database
- Filemaker is really good. The learning curve is shallow, its relational, has a simple web interface (that can be beefed up), and is a great choice for cross platform workgroups. You can get a database up and running fast, and edit layouts while users are logged in. Newer versions are supporting ODBC.
- 4D is a very powerful database engine.
- If you're thinking of a web front end, check out the Extending Webstar pages.
- For the more advanced user, WebObjects with an SQL backend (such as Openbase) is a good choice, but it's not cheap.
- Valentina is a new and apparently fast DB, with an SDK version.
File Conversion
- Maclink comes in a stripped down version with MacOS 8.x, but the full blown package is a good choice if you need to be able to convert lots of files to and from Windows native formats.
- Graphic Convertor is a great shareware program for manipulating and converting graphic files among a variety of formats.
- Stuffit Expander is the best utility for unpacking a wide variety of file types.
- See Eric's Cross Platform Page for info on translation issues.
Networking
Client Software
Most network related software for the Macintosh can be found at MacOrchard, its a great resource! If I don't provide a direct link for a program, go there and you'll find a review and links to download the program.
FTP
- Fetch is the premier FTP client for Macs. Features include drag and drop interface, auto de-binhexing, and mget and mput. They also have a carbon version compatible with OS X.
- NetFinder is another good FTP client, it emulates the Finder interface to provide drag and drop services for FTP.
- Mirror/NetClone is a nice little application for updating files based on time/date stamps. It supports local drives, ftp, and http, so it's a good way to update web pages or sync files to a server (in fact, that's what I use to update these web pages). It's free for non-commerical use, but development on it has recently been discontinued.
Terminal Services
- F-Secure is an SSH terminal program that provides encryption. It's not free, but a must have if you administer servers across a network. It also allows you to tunnel other clients through a secure connection.
- NCSA Telnet is a very good VT100 terminal emulator, it's another "must have." A recent descendant, Nifty Telnet, included some nice enhancments.
- Nifty Telnet is also a good choice.
- tn3270 is a 3270 emulator for the Mac. Its what you'd use to access MVS systems such as those run by AIS.
- MI/X, although strictly speaking a server program, provides X services to unix clients so you can run graphic unix applications. It's free for the Mac. More info on X-windows here and from the X.org site.
WWW Browsers
If you're looking for older browsers, try evolt's archive.
- iCab is a new player in the browser market. Its small and fast, check it out!
- Netscape's Communicator for web browsing. It also supports IMAP and POP mail services.
- Internet Explorer is quite good, and runs in less ram than Netscape.
- Cyrusoft's Mulberry is another good IMAP email client, it's free to UNC CH affiliates via an ATN site license. If you're setting up a lab, it's a good choice in that it allows configuration via an admin tool of a "kiosk" version that doesn't store personal settings in the System Folder.
Usenet News
Don't forget that both Navigator and Internet Explorer support news....
- MT Newswatcher is a threaded news reader based on code from the famous John Norstad. It's got a simple interface, and one nice feature is it can store it's .newsrc file to a server. So you can keep it and unix news readers like Tin in sync. And it's free!
- MacSoup is a good news reader and has an off line mode.
Miscelleny
- VNC allows access to desktops from other platforms, an interesting approach to remote admin. It's slow, but not bad for what it is.
Troubleshooting
- MacTCP Ping and Whatroute are two must haves for debuggin network problems, you can get them from Macorchard.
- Etherpeek, from the AG Group, is a nice sniffer program. It's not cheap, but you can download a demo to try it first. It also has a free client that can be used to collect packets that you use Etherpeek to analyze later. So you can get a user or consultant to collect a packet stream with the client, and send the trace back to you for analysis.
Server Software
- Netpresenz supports FTPd, HTTPd, and Gopher services. For only $10.00 as shareware, it relies on existing Appleshare permissions and is a good choice for low to moderate load sites. It will also automatically binhex files with resource forks, so it make administration much easier.
- AppleShareIP 6.x is good if you want to run file and print services from a Mac. It supports connectivity over IP.
- If you like Unix and Macs, you'll like MacOS X
- Netatalk is a Unix Appleshare server, you can't beat the price! See Andrew Snell's Netatalk page for more info.
- Also check out Xinet's K-AShare.
- Webstar is the best choice for moderate volume web services under MacOS. For larger sites, try Apache under OS X (or any other unix).
Filesharing over IP
- Dave from Thursby allows Mac users to connect to NT/95/98 workstations and servers or other platforms running SMB/CIFS file services. It runs over IP, so it is a good alternative to Appletalk based file services for many situations.
- OpenDoor's Shareway runs on a Mac and acts as a gateway for Appleshare services run on Appletalk to IP. It's a good choice if you want to allow access to your Appletalk servers (such as the personal file sharing built into MacOS, or Novell 3.x and 4.x) over IP, to allow access via the internet or across an Appletalk firewall.
IP Server Software
- Webstar is the most popular web server for the Mac. Its fast, but chews up ram and cpu cycles, a good choice if you're running a site with moderate volume.
OS X Server is Apple's *nix based operating system, it comes with Apache and Web Objects in addition to Quicktime Streaming server and AppleshareIP services.
Personal Productivity: Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation
- Appleworks is a good choice for the home, combining different functions (including a drawing program and database).
- Corel's WordPerfect version 3.5 is a very nice word processor, and it's a free (although big) download!
- Microsoft's Office 98 runs much better than it's predecessors, mainly because it was developed in Cupertino by a team with many programmers hired away from Claris and Apple. The new agreement UNC-CH signed with Microsoft allows all affiliates to obtain this software for free (or just the cost of the media), contact ATN Software Distribution for details. And Microsoft does have a Mactopia site, with information on their products for the Mac, a good place for add ons, patches, and updates.
- SAS runs well on PowerMacs. See Metalab's SAS for the Macintosh for more information. Their Statview 5.0 recently received the Macworld's Editor's Choice Award.
- Scriptware is a word processor for editing scripts (but it ain't cheap!)
Screen Savers
- Seti@home: help in the search for intelligent life.
Scripting
MacOS comes with an easy to use and fairly powerful scripting language, Applescript. This part of the system is typically underutilized. Here are some sites that might interest those using Applescript.
System and Disk Utilities
- Alsoft: Font and Drive optmization and repair
- Symantec, makers of Norton's Utilities (disk and file recovery, antivirus, and disk defragmentation software). UNC has a license for their antivirus software.
- FWB. Hard drive formatters and utilities, and software for your non-apple CD ROM.
- LaCie. Hard drive formatters and utilities (Silverlining), and backup software (Retrospect).
Video Editing
- iMovie.
- Final Cut Pro is a good choice if you have a B&W or a G4.
- Abode Premiere, although expensive, is the defacto standard.
- EditDV
- Strata's VideoShop
Web Page Development
- Claris, oops, Filemaker's Home Page is a nice web editor, it's what I use to make these pages. If you want a simple WYSIWYG editor with clip art, give it a try.
- BBedit is also good, especially if you lean towards editing HTML in raw format.
- Macmade for those "made by mac" graphics.
Misc
- Lego Mindstorm info for Mac users.
- Sherlock Plugins via Apple and Apple Donuts
- Classic Mac Software
- Looking for Control Strip additions? Try Control Strip Outlet.
- Looking for a util to make X-faces (those graphics in usenet messages), or for a process monitor for MacOS? Look no further.
Shareware
You can find a lot of great programs at low cost distributed as shareware. See the Shareware section on the Purchasing page for sites, and please, pay those fees!