Essential Free Software for Mac OS X: My Personal Top 10 Indispensables (plus a few handy extras)

I realised when I was getting my system back to normal (HD faliure – probably post on this at some point) that I have not written any posts about any of the really great freeware I use on my Mac.

Crazy!!!

I realise that a lot of people do these top ten lists for interesting software or fun software for Macs.  And a lot of them list programs you have to pay for.

My list is for USEFUL SOFTWARE I USE ALL THE TIME. 

And of course all software listed here is 100% FREE SOFTWARE.  

There is NO payware or shareware included.

So here’s my up to date list of all the software I consider indispensable for my happy Mac life.  These are vaguely in order of how often I use them.

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How to Stop Downloaded Files Opening Automatically

So I thought I’d write a quick post about this as it was a problem when I installed Firefox on my new system.  Basically what it boils down to is this:

Safari = Evil

Seriously.  Don’t ever use a browser that does things like this by default.  But I digress.

o 

So, I had my Macbook Pro back all fixed and such and I installed Firefox and everything was working fine.  And then I downloaded a couple of pdfs using Firefox and they opened themselves automatically.  And it kept happening.  Whenever I downloaded a file, regardless of type – pdf, mp4, png or whatever, it would open automatically. 

Now, I do NOT like my computer to open things without me asking it to.  EVER. 

I assumed the issue was with the browser I was using, so, naturally, I was looking for a solution in the Firefox preferences.  I should have remembered that this had never ever happened before in all the ten years I have been using Firefox. But thinking logically, if you were having problems with files automatically opening after being downloaded using a browser, you’d think the problem would be with the browser, right?

WRONG!! 

The problem is NOT with Firefox!!  It is with Safari!!!  Stupid stupid Safari.  If you have Safari installed it is causing this problem!!!

But yes, rant over here’s the fix. 

How to Use the Extras on the Kobo Touch

I mentioned previously that you can write notes and play Sudoku on a Kobo Touch.  And a request came up about how exactly you find the Sudoku and other extras. 

So, here we go. 

1.)  Press the Home tab and from there choose Settings. 

2.)  At the bottom of the Settings Menu choose Extras. 

3.)  You have three options:

a.)  Launch Sketchbook

– you can use this to write quick handwritten notes with your finger. 

b.) Launch Sudoku

– yes, you can play Sudoku

c.) Launch Browser

– use your Kobo to browse the internet (you have to have your wireless enabled) 

o

When using the Sudoku you have four different levels of difficulty to choose from: SIMPLE, EASY, MEDIUM and HARD. 

To change the difficulty simply click the third (lowest) button on the bottom right of your Sudoku game screen.  This is also the button you use to quit in the middle of a game, although I usually just use the HOME button.