"Photoshop" your photos without buying Photoshop. 100% free and open source, based on the open source image editor "Gimp".

Why install three separate instant messengers when you can connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo and GoogleTalk in a single, beautiful app? Plus it's 100% free and open source. Everybody needs Adium.

Miro can play any video format (much more than quicktime), download torrents, permanently save videos from YouTube, and watch video podcasts. Beautiful interface, 100% free and open source.

Quicksilver lets you start applications (and do just about everything) with a few quick taps of your fingers. Warning: start using Quicksilver and you won't be able to imagine using a Mac without it.

Convert any type of video to mp4 or theora. Convert any video for use with iPhone, iPod, Android, etc. Very clean, easy to use interface.

When you arrive at your friends house, just press the doorbell and it will text or call your friend. Knows where you are and who to ring.

Amazingly fast and powerful app for your todo lists. Perfect for use with Getting Things Done.

This is web software, but it will become as central to your work experience as any desktop app. Seriously, Basecamp will make you more productive and change the way your organization works. Try it!

Import the music you download direct to iTunes (and clean up the download files).

Low Battery is a simple, elegant app that lets you decide when to get a low battery warning, and safely sleeps or hibernates your Mac before it dies.

Keeps all of your Mac applications up-to-date, automatically. Still in beta, but so necessary.

Automatically backup your files and folders via the internet. Share them across your own computers or with others. 2GB free online storage, with more available.

Anybody who uses "Mail" for Mac needs this. After a few days of training, SpamSieve will obliterate junk mail and leave good emails unscathed. Free for 30 days, then worth every penny.

For most writing a word processor is overkill. xPad is the perfect simple alternative. Your notes sit in a sidebar and save automatically when you quit. Way better than stickies or TextEdit.

Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with and a free replacement for Microsoft Word documents. Also supports OpenDocument Format.

A full-screen writing space that eliminates distractions. If you use your Mac for writing, you have to try this.

Plays more video files than most players: Quicktime, AVI, DIVX, OGG, and more. Great for playing DVDs too.

Makes reading on your computer much more like reading a book. Drag or paste text into Tofu and it arranges everything in crisp, classy columns that scroll side to side (not up and down). Ergonomic reading for Mac.

The premier free, open-source browser, considered by many to be the world's best. Clutch for sites that don't support Safari. What sets it apart from Safari is the huge universe of plugins and extensions.

Based on the same Mozilla foundation as Firefox, Camino is a more native OS X app. Fast and simple.

Rock-solid anonymous web browsing for everyone. This TOR frontend keeps you anonymous on the web using open source software and military-grade techniques. To use with Firefox see: TorButton.

VPN service to protect your privacy and identity online.

Run Windows programs on your computer in their own window at full speed. You have a top of the line Intel chip; you deserve it.

Not as polished as Parallels, but 100% free and open source. Lets you run Windows on G4 and G5 Macs too (though this will be slow).

Burns to DVD, VCD, and SVCD. Take your downloaded videos and burn them to disks you can watch on regular DVD players. For VCD and SVCD you don't even need a DVD burner. Free and open source!

DVD ripper with MPEG-4 / H.264 encoding. The simplest way to save DVDs on your computer.

A rock solid torrent downloader. 100% free and open source (no annoying nags).

Integrated search makes this an awesome Bittorrent client, and makes you very happy to have a Mac.

Soulseek filesharing for Mac. Never be without music. 100% free and open source.

Get music off of your iPod onto any computer.

Copy music off your iPod in the finder, like a regular disk drive.

A great "SIP" client for the Mac. Make phone calls from your computer. 100% free and open source.

Talk with any Skype user for free. Buy some credits and you can call any number in the world, cheap. Perfect for when your cellphone is out of batteries... or on the other side of the room, lazy.

Use your Mac as an alarm clock and wake up to your favorite music. Wakes from sleep, so no need to leave your computer on all night.

Trouble finding good games for you Mac? Then turn it into a Nintendo64! MarioKart works great, even on a Powerbook G4.

Kick it old school with this NES emulator for Mac.

For anyone who ever wanted to make a remix, DJ a party, or play with beats. A great manual, good tutorials and a super slick interface make Live so easy to learn. Free demo (hint: use AudioHijack for saving).

iEatBrainz automatically adds the right song, artist, and album info to your iTunes music. No more messy iTunes Library.

Make a live recording of anything right now, without installing any new software. It’s completely free, offers good quality audio, and it’s easy to use.

The 3D map of the world that just gets better and better...and creepier. Total must-have.

The best wireless scanner for Mac. Find wireless access when you're on the go. 100% free and open source.

The slick integration of tabbed browsing makes this RSS reader our top pick.

Very nice, native RSS client. 100% free and open source.

The best FTP program for Mac.

Very good all-around ftp program. 100% free and open source.

A "peer-to-peer" digital currency so you can buy things without paying transaction fees.

Uncompress RAR, 7zip, tar, and bz2 files on your Mac. Many new Mac users will be puzzled the first time they download a RAR file. Do them a favor and download UnRarX for them!

Great IRC client. 100% free and open source.

A cross-platform IRC client that's free and open source.

An open-source visual development tool for building great-looking web and cloud applications.