Free and open-source software is good for you and good for the world. This is the best free Mac software that we know of.

Web Browsing

Mozilla Firefox The premier free, open-source browser. Tabs, pop-up blocking, themes, and extensions. Considered by many to be the world's best browser.

Download Page The premier free, open-source browser. Tabs, pop-up blocking, themes, and extensions. Considered by many to be the world's best browser.

IM - Instant Messaging

Adium Connect to multiple IM accounts simultaneously in a single app, including: AOL IM, MSN, and Jabber. Beautiful, themable interface.

Download Page Connect to multiple IM accounts simultaneously in a single app, including: AOL IM, MSN, and Jabber. Beautiful, themable interface.

Application Launching

Quicksilver Quicksilver lets you start applications (and do just about everything) with a few quick taps of your fingers. Warning: start using Quicksilver and you won't be able to imagine using a Mac without it.

Download Page Quicksilver lets you start applications (and do just about everything) with a few quick taps of your fingers. Warning: start using Quicksilver and you won't be able to imagine using a Mac without it.

Email

Mozilla Thunderbird Powerful spam filtering, solid interface, and all the features you need.

Download Page Powerful spam filtering, solid interface, and all the features you need.

Utilities

The Unarchiver Uncompress RAR, 7zip, tar, and bz2 files on your Mac. Many new Mac users will be puzzled the first time they download a RAR file. Do them a favor and download UnRarX for them!

Download Page Uncompress RAR, 7zip, tar, and bz2 files on your Mac. Many new Mac users will be puzzled the first time they download a RAR file. Do them a favor and download UnRarX for them!

DVD Ripping

Handbrake DVD ripper and MPEG-4 / H.264 encoding. Very simple to use.

Download Page DVD ripper and MPEG-4 / H.264 encoding. Very simple to use.

RSS

Vienna Very nice, native RSS client.

Download Page Very nice, native RSS client.

RSSOwl Solid cross-platform RSS client.

Download Page Solid cross-platform RSS client.

Peer-to-Peer Filesharing

Cabos A simple, easy to use filesharing program. Gnutella network.

Download Page A simple, easy to use filesharing program. Gnutella network.

SolarSeek Soulseek filesharing for Mac, in a simple, solid client.

Download Page Soulseek filesharing for Mac, in a simple, solid client.

Transmission Very nice torrent downloader.

Download Page Very nice torrent downloader.

Running Windows Software on Macs

Q Emulator Run Windows programs on your Intel Mac at near native speed. Works on G4 / G5 Macs too, but much slower.

Download Page Run Windows programs on your Intel Mac at near native speed. Works on G4 / G5 Macs too, but much slower.

Podcasting

Juice Solid podcasting client.

Download Page Solid podcasting client.

Video Player, Torrents, Podcasting

Miro Beautiful interface. Plays any video type (much more than quicktime). Subscribe to video RSS, download, and watch all in one. Torrent support. Search and download from YouTube and others.

Download Page Beautiful interface. Plays any video type (much more than quicktime). Subscribe to video RSS, download, and watch all in one. Torrent support. Search and download from YouTube and others.

Telephone

Telephone A great "SIP" client. Call regular phones from your Mac. 100% free and open source.

Download Page A great "SIP" client. Call regular phones from your Mac. 100% free and open source.

Financial Transactions

Bitcoin A "peer-to-peer" digital currency so you can buy things without paying transaction fees.

Download Page A "peer-to-peer" digital currency so you can buy things without paying transaction fees.

Video Converter, iPhone Converter

Miro Video Converter Convert any type of video to mp4 or theora. Convert any video for use with iPhone, iPod, Android, etc. Very clean, easy to use interface.

Download Page | Mac App Store (free) Convert any type of video to mp4 or theora. Convert any video for use with iPhone, iPod, Android, etc. Very clean, easy to use interface.

Video Playback

VLC Plays more video files than most players: Quicktime, AVI, DIVX, OGG, and more. Pretty good interface.

Download Page Plays more video files than most players: Quicktime, AVI, DIVX, OGG, and more. Pretty good interface.

MPlayer The interface and buttons are not as nice or as Mac-like in feel, but it may play even more video files than VLC.

Download Page The interface and buttons are not as nice or as Mac-like in feel, but it may play even more video files than VLC.

Perian A plugin that allows quicktime to play additional video formats. (Included in Democracy Player.)

Download Page A plugin that allows quicktime to play additional video formats. (Included in Democracy Player.)

iPod Ripping

iPodDisk Copy music off your iPod in the finder, like a regular disk drive.

Download Page Copy music off your iPod in the finder, like a regular disk drive.

CD / DVD Burning

Burn CD and DVD Burner. Burn any video to a disc that plays in your DVD player!

Download Page CD and DVD Burner. Burn any video to a disc that plays in your DVD player!

Privacy

Vidalia This

Download Page This TOR frontend keeps you anonymous on the web using military-grade techniques. For use with Firefox see: TorButton

Word Processing / Office Suites

LibreOffice Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with and a free replacement for Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Friends don't let friends pay for Microsoft Office.

Download Page Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with and a free replacement for Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Friends don't let friends pay for Microsoft Office.

AbiWord A word processor. Leaner and quicker than OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.

Download Page A word processor. Leaner and quicker than OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.

Wifi Scanning

KisMac The best wireless scanner for Mac. Find wireless access when you're on the go.

Download Page The best wireless scanner for Mac. Find wireless access when you're on the go.

Sound Recording

Audacity Simple sound recording tool.

Download Page Simple sound recording tool.

Graphics, Photo, Publishing

Gimp.app Photo editing application that rivals Photoshop in features.

Download Page Photo editing application that rivals Photoshop in features.

Formulate Pro An easy way to fill-out (or sign) PDFs that Preview can't edit.

Download Page An easy way to fill-out (or sign) PDFs that Preview can't edit.

Inkscape Vector graphics application (requires X11).

Download Page Vector graphics application (requires X11).

Scribus Desktop publishing. Complicated install, but a nice app.

Download Page Desktop publishing. Complicated install, but a nice app.

FTP / SFTP

Cyberduck Very good all-around ftp program.

Download Page Very good all-around ftp program.

OneButton FTP Simple, fast FTP, with a focus on "advanced queuing".

Download Page Simple, fast FTP, with a focus on "advanced queuing".

Fugu Not as polished as Cyberduck (and only for SFTP) but has a side by side interface showing your files and the remote files.

Download Page Not as polished as Cyberduck (and only for SFTP) but has a side by side interface showing your files and the remote files.

HTML / Text Editing

Blue Griffon Visual tool for making websites (WYSIWYG html editor), comparable to Dreamweaver.

Download Page Visual tool for making websites (WYSIWYG html editor), comparable to Dreamweaver.

IRC

Colloquy Great IRC client.

Download Page Great IRC client.

KVIrc A cross-platform IRC client that's free and open source.

Download Page A cross-platform IRC client that's free and open source.

Web Development