For my first post, I figured I would re-visit a blog post that I wrote a couple years ago.  Everyone who knows me is well-aware that I’m a Mac fan.  Considering how much time I spend at my computer, it’s important to me to have apps that help me stay productive (or sometimes, take a break and have fun).  So here’s my list of the ten best apps for Mac OS X.  Some of them are from my old list, and some are new.  Enjoy!

• 1Password: This is by far one of the most useful programs I’ve ever had. 1Password stores all of your passwords, credit card information, and identity info (name, address, phone number) in a super-encrypted database on your Mac. Then when you need to access it, simply type in your “master password”, and you’re off and running. No more fumbling for the wallet to find a credit card when you’re making an online purchase, or trying to remember the password to a website you signed up for 3 months ago. It even includes a browser hotkey for automatic logins to your favorite sites, and integration with iPhone so that you can take your passwords on the go (and still keep them encrypted and safe).
• Adium: An instant messaging client similar to Trillian for Windows. It allows you to connect to all the major instant messaging networks in one program, and offers an extremely customizable interface. (free!)
• AppZapper: Billed as “the uninstaller Apple forgot”, the purpose of this simple app is to remove applications from your system. Most people just uninstall their Mac apps by dragging them to the Trash, but this can leave behind preference files, library files, and other unwanted junk. AppZapper takes care of these forgotten files too, so that your system stays lean and clean.
• Cyberduck: An FTP/SFTP client with a simple, easy-to-use interface. (free!)
• Fluid: There are some websites out there that feel more like applications than they do websites.  GMail and the whole suite of Google Apps are good examples of this.  You may want it to be in its own window, you may want to monitor its status outside of the browser, etc.  The makers of Fluid came up with a concept of SSBs, or “site-specific browsers”, to address this need.  Fluid allows you to easily create an “app” out of any website, allowing you to add it to the Dock for easy launching.  Even cooler: it’s completely scriptable, so you can do things like having your GMail SSB update the Dock icon with an indication of how many unread messages you have.  Try doing that in Safari or Firefox!  (free!)
• Growl: This little app lives in your System Preferences and stays out of the way until a compatible program sends it a message, which it then displays in whatever method you specify. Display buddy notifications from iChat, see when your downloads have completed in Cyberduck, and more! (free!)
• Hazel: This nifty Preference Pane/menubar app lets you monitor files/folders based on specific criteria, and then automatically take action as soon as those criteria are met.  For example, I have a rule that monitors my Downloads folder for any new downloaded music, adds the files to a specific playlist in my iTunes library, and then trashes the original.
• Notebook: If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for new ways to keep yourself organized.  Notebook is one of the coolest ways to do this that I’ve ever found.  It presents a familiar notebook/binder-like interface (complete with ruled pages and customizable color tabs) where you can take notes, make to-do lists, etc.  And it’s all automatically indexed, so that you can easily find specific words or topics, just like in a reference book.  I use this a lot to keep track of client projects and it works very well.
• PTHPasteboard: Have you ever wished that you could hold more than one image or piece of text on your clipboard?  With PTHPasteboard, you can!  This app will hold a customizable number of clipboard items for you, and let you browse through them to re-paste at any time.  You can even assign a shortcut key to bring up the clipboard list.  I just recently got this app, but now I’m wondering how I ever lived without it.  (free!)
• TextMate: If you write code of any kind (HTML, PHP, Java, etc.), you will appreciate the simplicity and power of TextMate’s interface.  Syntax highlighting, shortcut keys/macros, and the ability to easily search within an entire application project are just a few of the features I love about TextMate.

There’s my list.  Now I’d like to ask all the Mac users out there: what apps are must-haves for you?