If you’re new to the Mac or been around for a while and are just looking for something new, then there are two sites you need to check out. The first is a great starter. 10 Apps Every New Mac User Should Download is an excellent list put together by Paul Stamatiou. The list has basically everything you’d need such as web browser, e-mail, instant messenger, ftp/sftp client, back-up and text editor to name a few. I found a lot of my favorites on the list that I already use but did find a couple of other applications I hadn’t seen before. So even an old dog like me found something useful.

The second list is one that has many of the applications Paul has but then there are a whole slew of other titles he doesn’t. There’s also one other difference, every application here is free. It’s all open source and hence the name, Open Source Mac. The sites slogan reads, “Free and open-source software is good for you and good for the world. This is the best OS X software that we know of.” It has my favorite ftp/sftp client, Fugu, as well as the awesome VLC. Man, without VLC, I could had never watched Chris Pirillo on Call for Help when I yanked the video off of my ReplayTV back in the day. VLC is powerful…and free.

The list goes beyond Paul’s with a lot more categories. With RSS readers, audio editors, graphics editors, IRC clients, and even office suites, this should be your second stop on your trip of hunting for the best in OS X apps. And don’t let the free price fool you, I’ve used a lot of these programs and some of them beat out the commercial competition! This is all good stuff and it all deserves to be on any Macintosh Hard Drive.

[tags]mac,os x,freeware,open source,software,10 apps every new mac user should download[/tags]