from win xp to mac osx

[zerosk8]

Hello! I'm a new Mac User. I own a MacBook Pro. Actually I find a little hard to start using MacOSX to do some things I've always been used to do under Win XP. What I would like to do is to know which applications fot OSX can be suggested to substitute the following windows-based programs:


--> Cool Edit Pro / Adobe Audition: to edit sound files (merging, cutting, apllying filters, multi-truck editing, etc.).


--> Gordian Knot: Convertind a Mpeg/DVD clip to DivX/XviD.



--> VirtualDub/NanDub: easy and fast cutting/recompression of avi files.



--> Magic DVD Ripper: Rip DVD (works also with the latest Sony Copy Protection).



--> MediaMonkey: Handle mp3s (Auto renaming, change bitrate with one click, does various operations for multiple files).



--> MicroAngelo / Picture2Icon: to create icons from pictures.



--> Replay converter: convert flv (flash videos) to avi or what else.



--> WinRAR: create zip and rar archives.



--> FlashFXP: FTP manager.



--> MSN Live Messenger: Chat with MSN supporting video and audio conference. Actually I'm using Mercury, which supports video but not audio, and I dont like its interface that much.





The only program I'm forced to use in windows is 3D Max (& VRay), which doesnt exist for mac osx. I'm using boot camp to do that. Is there an easyer way to do it and maybe save sone disk space? I know about parallel desktop, but I suppose it would run Max much slower, and file sharing seems a little hard to me...



Thank you in advance, I hope you will answer me, so I can finally get rid of windows... )



Alberto

[albloom]

You'll find a wealth of apps at http://www.versiontracker.com/
Many you can try out before buying or are free.

Let's see if I can help a bit:

--> Cool Edit Pro / Adobe Audition: to edit sound files (merging, cutting, apllying filters, multi-truck editing, etc.).

Audacity (freeware) or Amadeus Pro ($40)

--> Gordian Knot: Convertind a Mpeg/DVD clip to DivX/XviD.

VirtualHub ($23) is my choice for ease of use.

--> VirtualDub/NanDub: easy and fast cutting/recompression of avi files.

AVI's are tricky. And I don't do video editing outside QuickTime Pro.

--> Magic DVD Ripper: Rip DVD (works also with the latest Sony Copy Protection).

MacTheRipper is the gold standard here. You need to go to
ripdifferent.com and join the forums. In the MTR forum are
instructions on how to donate (any amount) to get the latest
version 3.0, which does a pretty good job on Sony. Your
donation also entitles you to the forthcoming 4.0, which is
awesome.

--> MediaMonkey: Handle mp3s (Auto renaming, change bitrate with one click, does various operations for multiple files).

Dunno.

--> MicroAngelo / Picture2Icon: to create icons from pictures.

On a Mac, copy the picture, do a get-info (command-I) on the
file, hi-lite the existing icon, and paste. If you're just looking to
have a pic file's icon being that pic, it's a "view" option.

--> Replay converter: convert flv (flash videos) to avi or what else.

VisualHub, or the freebie iSquint. Don't convert to AVI. It sucks.

--> WinRAR: create zip and rar archives.

ZIP? That's the "create archive" on the file menu.
UnZIP? Double-click the ZIP archive.

RAR? Stuffit Deluxe.
unRAR? Stuffit Expander (free). It doesn't handle some RARs,
so I keep a few other apps handy: Gumby, RARExpander,
unRarX.

--> FlashFXP: FTP manager.

Most FTP is handled within web browsers. If you want a
dedicated app, try Fetch. Works well, and the dog is cute.

--> MSN Live Messenger: Chat with MSN supporting video and audio conference. Actually I'm using Mercury, which supports video but not audio, and I dont like its interface that much.

Dunno. I don't chat. But iChat (comes with OSX) claims to do it.