After being a hard core Windows user for life, switching to Mac has been a super smooth process thanks in large part to these sweet applications, which just so happen to be free!

All are highly recommended. I’ll start with the best.

1. Xee - This is a lightweight and unbelievably fast image viewer and browser. Forget Preview, I have it set to open every type image related file by default. A perfect replacement for ACDSee, which is Windows only.
   Update: I forgot to mention the scroll wheel. The best part of this app is you can flip through a massive folder of images by spinning your scroll wheel.
2. NetNewsWire - For all your RSS feed reading needs. I’ve tried all the RSS readers out there, mac and pc, this one is my favorite. Not all the features of FeedDemon, but that’s not a bad thing, it’s simple, easy to use and customizable.
3. xPad - I take notes and make to-do lists in text files. Now with xPad, all my notes, ideas and to-do lists are in a single place and I can assign custom catagories to them. Brilliant. I only wish it were indexable by Spotlight or Quicksilver.
4. Adium - for all your chat needs. Customizable, skinnable, fast, I like it much better than iChat. Downside: no voice or video chat (see skype) and file transfer is broken.
5. Quicksilver - It’s not a replacement for Spotlight, even though the adapive search is much smarter, it’s also tool for quickly opening applications, moving files, opening contacts and completing simple tasks, like attach this file to a new email to this person, more info here. Lots of great plug-ins.
6. Disk Inventory X - Very useful to find out what is taking up the space on your hard drives
7. VLC - Use this to play any video file that is not Quicktime compatable. Specifically, .flv files and .iso files, which I have my ripped DVD’s bundled as.
8. Twitterific - A fantastic tool to keep up with your Twitter friends. I currently have mine turned off due to the massive distractions that is causes. But it sure is fun to have it turned on.
9. Skype - Video and audio chat. I like iChat, but I still have friends and family on Windows, so this is our only option. And it’s a dang good one, especially if you want to take advantage of VOIP.
10. Linotype FontExplorer X - Great font managment tool. Very iTunes like, you can rate and catagorize fonts then create smart folders of your customized sets.