Pimp my Mac #1

I have pretty much made the switch from PC to Mac. I held on for a while, living in both worlds. This week, I am transferring all my personal files off my PC in my office (bedroom) and sending the PC to my daughter’s room. And I’m giving my Toshiba laptop to my son. That leaves me with a Mac Pro and a Macbook Pro.

I have always been a fan of the underdog, doing my best to utilize the really good programs that don’t carry the Big Dog names (ala, Adobe, Macroshaft, etc). I figured I might as well share the programs I really like. Thus, Pimp my Mac #1.

It was hard to choose where to begin, but for this entry we start with Pixelmator, an excellent image editor designed for the Mac. And that’s one of the first things you notice when you open the program. You think, “Wow… this is so Mac.” The architecture of the program is just pretty. It’s the kind of thing you find only in the Mac world.

The program is available as a direct download and has a free 30-day trial. Afterward, the costs is only $59 and well worth it. I use Pixelmator 90% of the time, only opening Photoshop when I have to. For seriously advanced editing, Photoshop is still the way to go. But for everyday image editing, which I do a lot of as a web designer, Pixelmator is great.

I won’t go into details on the program since the website is very good and provides an in-depth overview. I will say if you are short on bucks and need a good image editor, terminate Photoshop and pick up the Pixelmator. Now read that last sentence again with a Schwarzenegger accent.

By the way, you may ask what I plan to do with the kid’s current computers if they are both getting my old ones. Ashley’s Dell may get set up somewhere in the house as a backup for my wife. I may have changed to Mac, but she’s not going quietly. In the spirit of going with the underdog, as I mentioned earlier, Austin’s Dell will soon become a Linux box. Ubuntu awaits.

And he smiles.