As I’m trying this new iBook + G5 setup I’m thinking about applications are absolutely essential to my day to day computer work. I figured I’d share the list as I decide what gets to stay on my tiny drive:

Quicksilver
Absolutely essentially. Such a powerful little tool, I’d be stupid not to include it. I can switch/launch applications, control iTunes, fire off AppleScripts – super handy, and free for now.

Adium X
I could get by without it and use iChat, but Adium does a much better job at chat than iChat, and it’s free.

Thunderbird
All my email and newsgroup browsing will be consolidated to Thunderbird 1.0 (which still has a few bugs, but far far less than the last version). Also free.

Smultron
A small and stable text editor with OK color syntax highlighting. I like it because I can open up multiple documents into a single window. I hate window clutter. Free.

Photoshop CS
Can’t live without it. I wish it were a bit smaller, and I wish you didn’t have to reinstall it to move it from one drive to the other. Not free.

Eclipse
Java IDE that is also my ColdFusion IDE. Very versitile with tons of plugins available. Free.

Affrus
Excellent Perl editor. Perl is still very new to me, and Affrus helps ease the pain with good syntax highlighting, code hints, and a debugger. I paid $99 for it.

Carbon Copy Cloner
I wouldn’t be able to do neat disk things without it. Free.

Tomcat
Great J2EE server. Easy to install, easy to develop for, and free.

ColdFusion MX
Easy to install as J2EE servlet running under Tomcat. Full featured developers’ version is free.

Also telling is what I left off the list. I’m not using Firefox at all lately – Safari does a great job for me. The only thing I could think of using Firefox for is if I wanted to use a lot of extensions, which I don’t typically use. I suppose it’s good to have to do browser checks with, but I don’t consider it essential for the Mac (though it is absolutely essential for the PC).

Expect to see the list updated as I make the transition to a new drive. I’m sure I’ve missed some things.