5 Apps That Need a Mac Port Now
I love my Mac, don’t get me wrong. I gripe about it from time to time, but I gripe about all of the things I love. It’s part of my nature.
That being said, the most frustrating thing about using a Mac is not anything Apple does, but rather, the imaginative ways that developers screw you over. Not only is the library of freeware a lot less robust on Macs, but developers seem to treat their Mac versions like red-headed stepchildren, waiting unbearably long to release their apps on non-Windows platforms.
The problem is that Macs are insanely popular with the risk-taking geeks that like to try out new software, so releasing an app for the Mac is not long longer an option, it’s a requirement. Still, many developers, including some I respect, are dragging their feet in getting their applications into our hands.
So here is my top five list of applications that need a Mac port, but seem to be sitting on it as their Windows counterparts move forward.
5. Spicebird
Spicebird is, for all intents and purposes, a double insult. Not only does it not have a Mac version, but it DOES have a Linux one. I like what Spicebird is trying to do, combining email and IM makes perfect sense and basing it on Thunderbird, which is a solid mail client, makes it even better.
The problem is that there is a Mac version Thunderbird and the technology that they use for IM connectivity is open source as well. There is almost no practical reason that there should not be a Mac version.
Some time ago I spoke with the developer and it was confided in me that none of the people working on it have a Mac so they can’t release one. So, if you’re a Mac open source developer looking for a new project, get over there.
The only reason this one doesn’t rank higher is because it is too new to get really excited about.
4. Google Pack
Ok, you’ve gotten a bright, shiny new Mac. Now you need to go out and install the essentials. Quicksilver, Growl, etc. It’s a pain, but on Windows Google has solved much of the problem with a program called Google Pack that sets up your computer with the essentials for Windows.
It’s a neat idea, but where is the Mac version? Sure, Macs are easier to set up but it would still be nice to just run a program and then have it all appear, especially when you have to set up a new computer for family members.
Sure, Google Pack is not the most beloved application on Windows, but it is the idea that counts in this one. I’d like a little help with this and I’m not sure why Google hasn’t done something similar for the Mac yet.
Of course, this isn’t Google’s only appearance in this list…
ThumbsPlus 7
This one is less for me and more for my friends that work more heavily with images. Personally, I get by fine with the image tools on the Mac, but others I know struggle because they don’t have access to ThumbsPlus.
Thumbsplus is a super-powerful image editing application that is aimed at manipulating a large number of images, say a new set you’re planning on uploading into Flickr, and is much more efficient than iPhoto or similar applications on the Mac.
I personally have not much use for this app but, this one is for my artist friends!
Digsby
What makes the case of Digsby worse than the others it the tease factor. Since the launch of the Windows application, there has been a place to click to download the Mac version, the only problem is that no such version exists and you get directed to leave your email so they can notify you when it becomes available.
What Digsby does is provide multiprotocol IM functionality, similar to Adium, and then combine it with email and social networking alerts. It also has a really neat docking feature and, in its latest incarnations, seems to be very CPU and RAM thrifty.
Though I don’t know if it would replace Adium or not, I can’t compare the two side by side, it is easy the best IM client for Windows, trumping Pidgin, Adium’s cousin, easily.
It’s time for the tease to be lifted, let us have our Digsby!
1. Google Chrome
This was predictable, I admit, but nothing else really could be number one. For Google to release Chrome, a truly revolutionary browser for many reasons, only on Windows is an insult (or an embarrassment if you ask Sergey Brin), and to then take it out of beta without having even publicly tested a Mac version is an outright indignity.
To make matters worse is that we all know a Mac version is being developed but hasn’t been released to the public, even as a pre-beta. Instead, Google has pushed an unfinished and untested beta on Windows into production and left the Mac users wondering where there browser is.
Though I grant that Chrome has a slew of problems, it is still the first major evolution of the browser since Firefox and it has a great deal of promise to revolutionize at least certain aspects of the browsing experience. In fact, its effects can already be felt in feature updates in Firefox.
That being said, not having a Mac version leaves Mac users on the sidelines of this and essentially makes it so that our voice does not count. That really irritates me.
But more than that, I’m upset that Chrome has become my default browser on my Windows computer, much like Digsby is now my default IM client, but I can’t use either on Mac without trickery.
That, my friends, sucks. Pure and simple.
Final Thoughts
Yes, there are tons of great ways to run Windows apps on the Mac. Either through Boot Camp or Parallels, but is any of these Apps really worth putting Microsoft Windows (probably Vista) on my Mac and running it? I don’t believe so.
None of these apps, alone or in unison, justify the headache, expense and hard drive space it would take to run apps on my Mac or, worse yet, abandon it altogether. No, for me, the Mac is still the best but it would be nice to get a little app love once in a while.
Then again, we’re the only ones who can run Skitch…
