I bounce around from machine to machine and even device to device but I always like to have software on all of them that I am used to and allows me to get my work done. Sometimes these features are built into the core of the OS that I am using at the time but that seems to be the exception, not the rule.

Here is the software I use to make the most of out Mac.

Lock Me Now – In a work environment you have to have the ability to quickly lock your device so you can run to a meeting. This has been built into Windows for years but it’s still a giant pain on a Mac. With Lock Me Now you can set a universal keyboard shortcut that does a quick and painless lock. To match what I have on Windows (Windows Key + L) I have mine setup to ⌘ + L.

Scroll Reverser – I love the “natural” scrolling on the trackpad of my MacBook Air but it drives me nuts when I plug in an external mouse. Scroll Reverser allows me to set the trackpad to “natural” scrolling and my mouse to “reverse” scrolling at the same time. This makes sure no matter how I choose to interact with my machine I won’t be ripping my hair out wondering why my mouse is going in the opposite direction.

Cinch – If you used Windows 7 or 8 for any length of time you will come to love window snapping. Cinch allows you to have the same exact functionality on the Mac. It’s a paid app but well worth the few bucks as I use it every day and wouldn’t be able to function without it.

TrashMe – I know that uninstalling things on a Mac should be as easy and just dragging it to the trash but there is always just a couple extra things that stick around and sometimes cause issues. TrashMe does a system search to make sure everything is cleared out and your good to go. I got this app when it was free, not sure if it’s worth the new cost though.

Microsoft OneNote – Feel free to accuse me of being a company man, I’m fine with that. OneNote is hands down one of, if not the, best note taking and storage apps out there. No matter what device I go to, desktop or mobile, I know that I can get to my notes and edit them. Now that it’s free to me this is a no brainer for everyone.

OneDrive – Again being a company man. But with the combination of Office365 and OneDrive I know that I have the full office suite and all of my files anywhere I go. A free OneDrive account gets you 15GB of storage while a Office365 subscription gets you 1TB.

Image Credit: iMacLand

Ninja Edit (Feb 2023) - Removed link to Lock Me Now as it is no longer available.