Okay, before I spend hours and hours looking, maybe you could help me specifically. I have these applications that I use on a regular basis. I need to know if there is something similar (or better) on the Mac. Most of what I suggest here are free.

  • VSO image resizer – I right-click on an image on my desktop and it opens VSO and with one click it will create a copy of the image in any size I specify. Very handy for adding images to the blog. I use it all the time!
  • Hoversnap – It runs in my task tray. I hit print screen and it creates a jpeg of my desktop. I hit alt-print screen and it creates a jpeg of my active window. I hit control-print screen and it creates a marque drawing tool that I can highlight any space on my desktop and it makes that into a jpeg. Again, it’s handy for blogging and I use it all the time.
  • Windows Live Writer – I use it to blog and I love it. It’s better than using a web application. What is good for the Mac?
  • DVDFab Decrypter – I use this to rip a DVD to my computer. I then use handbrake (which was originally Mac) to export video tracks to MOV, MP4 or whatever other file I need. I know handbrake can rip the DVD, but it won’t rip some copy protected DVDs. DVDFab always does. Anyone have any ideas on what I can use to rip DVDs without the copy protection getting in the way.

Well, those are a few. Here’s the real deal. I’ve got XP running on the machine and I could easily install all of this on the XP OS… but that isn’t the point of having a MacBook Pro, is it?

Thanks for your help. Oh and please do make suggestions of things I don’t know about that you absolutely love. I do have Adobe Creative Suite 3 as well as all the Office Suite, so I’m good with all of that… but I need more!