We love what Microsoft's done with Windows 7, but when we boot into Windows after spending a good amount of time on a Mac, here are 10 applications we sorely miss.
Note: In almost all of these cases, we're not saying that "This exact application should be ported to Windows." What we are suggesting is that there's a need for a particular kind of application, and that this application, on OS X, fills exactly that need. Also, for most purposes, we stuck with free applications. For a counterpoint, check out these 10 Windows apps that should be on Macs.
10. NetNewsWire
Most Lifehacker readers prefer to read their RSS feeds using Google Reader, and Reader is a great webapp, but if you'd prefer an offline-friendly, desktop alternative, we'd rather have something likeNetNewsWire than any other desktop newsreader we've used on Windows.
9. GarageBand
Windows has no great, free audio recording and editing application that can hold a candle to GarageBand. Sure, there's Audacity, the open-source audio editing app we know and love, but it's not the friendliest of applications, and it certainly doesn't have the range of GarageBand. While GarageBand technically isn't free, since you do have to pay for updates to iLife, GarageBand ships for free on new Macs by default.
8. Skitch
We take far more screenshots around Lifehacker HQ than most people, and while you'll find no shortage of Windows screenshot-taking applications, we've yet to find anything as simple, effective, and attractive asSkitch. Where most screenshot applications have extremely ugly call-outs, Skitch pays close attention to the way screenshot annotations look, so you're actually proud to share the attractive screenshot you just snagged. Oh, and as icing on the cake, Skitch supports one-click screenshot sharing online.
7. Fluid
Fluid is a site-specific browser (SSB) that creates a standalone desktop application from any web site—effectively turning your favorite webapps into desktop applications. That may not sound all that impressive, especially since Windows users have the Mozilla-built Prism, but Fluid's robust support for user scripts and ability to hook into the Dock system notification tools like Growl put it head and shoulders above Prism in our experience.
6. Growl
It's not exactly fair to putGrowl into this category, particularly because at least two projects (Growl for Windows and Snarl) have tried really hard to gain traction on Windows systems, but unfortunately neither seem to have caught on in a really significant way. This likely has something to do with the fact that Windows has its own (weak) notification system built in out of the box, while OS X does not. As a result, users and developers interested in a nice, unified notification system have incentive to use Growl. Still, we'd kill for a Growl on Windows that works as well and enjoys the near universal adoption Growl for Mac does.
5. Adium
Adium is an open source, multi-protocol chat application that's actuallybased on Pidgin, a chat app for Windows and Linux. The difference: Adium is about a thousand times more attractive, configurable, and fun to use.
4. Cyberduck
When you go looking for a solid free FTP client for Windows, you generally end up using FileZilla. And while FileZilla is certainly functional, it doesn't have close to the impressively broad range of functionality and user-friendly good looks of Cyberduck.
3. Preview
OS X's default image viewer, Preview, is lightning fast, opens nearly any image file you throw at it—from PDF to JPG to TIFF and well beyond (see the full list of supported file types here)—and on top of it all, provides a relatively impressive advanced feature set. And while there are plenty of solid PDF tools for Windows, we'd kill for something as simple and lightweight as Preview, built into Windows 7, that also supported, say, quickly viewing a folder's worth of images.
2. Any Sort of Mac-on-Windows Virtualization
It's not Microsoft's fault that there's no good way to run OS X or OS X applications seamlessly on your PC in the same way Mac users can run Windows operating systems and applications within OS X, but that doesn't change the fact that if you could do so, it could nearly render this entire conversation moot.
1. Quicksilver
Steve Jobs can crow all he wants about how great OS X and Apple's hardware are, but Quicksilver is the Mac application that got me to buy my first Mac. Sure, Windows has plenty of application launchers, but this deceptively powerful application for keyboard shortcut lovers puts almost any action you'd want to quickly perform on your Mac at your fingertips, and we'd kill to see a solid, stable, and functional alternative for Windows.
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