::Moving away from Apple software:: [/tech/mac] (14:25)

I've found myself using Apple produced software less and less as time goes on. When I first moved to OS X a few years back, the bundled software really made the experience. The way iChat, Mail and AddressBook work together, for example, was too much for this long-time UNIX user to pass up. It was amazing. But as time goes on, I'm finding myself slowly tossing out the Apple apps.

The first to go was quicktime. That was easy. Quicktime doesn't play very many of the files I see on a regular basis. Requiring quicktime pro just to go full screen on what you can watch is ridiculous. Moving to VLC was an easy choice.

Moving off of iChat was harder. I love iChat. It looks great and works great, but Apple refuses to support other messaging protocols. I'm an Adium user now. Adium doesn't look as nice and tabbed chat windows annoy me. I also prefer the tradition clean iChat view without groups. I can't reproduce the experience in Adium, but at least I can do Yahoo, MSN and AIM all in one nice application. (bonus points to Adium for its use of growl - I really like that)

I haven't moved off of iTunes yet, but I've grown frustrated with it. It's a great MP3 player, but managing podcasts and other temporary content is a pain. I'm holding out to see the new podcasting features in iTunes, but I've switched to using VLC to play streaming content. Although I still buy a lot from ITMS, I've get most of my music from emusic. Their previews come in the form of m3u files. If iTunes grabs them, they get saved to the library and it's a pain to delete. Podcasts loaded from NetNewsWire have the same problem. Content gets into iTunes fine, but it's a real pain to get it out. This is the only of the iLife apps that I use. Since I don't need any of them, I haven't had to find alternatives for them.

I'd really like to find a good alternative to the Apple DVD player. It works really well, but I can't go full screen on a second monitor and still work on the first. As soon as another application gains focus, DVD player leaves full screen mode. That's not very well thought out. An even worse problem I've encountered is that the Apple screen grab tool won't do screen captures when DVD player is running. This limitation is absolutely maddening as I often leave a paused DVD in while working. I'm lucky that I still have a copy of Snapz Pro around from a project I worked on before. It's a bit of an overkill for simple screen shots, but at least I don't have to kill the DVD player just because Steve is afraid I'm going to screen capture one of his Pixar movies.

And then there's Mail. I can't give up Mail. People tell me to try Entourage. I can't yet. It's the one sacred Apple application I'm not emotionally ready to part with. I'm getting close, though. Apple mail can't seem to function for more than a couple hours without taking one of my mailboxes offline for temporary connection problems. And, the interface doesn't work well for users with multiple email addresses. I'm constantly sending work email from my home address. There's a lot more that I don't like, but on the whole it meets my needs well enough. It'll be the last Apple app to go.

No, I take that back. The last Apple application to go will be Keynote. I'm not letting go of that one for anything.