MAC OSX Applications with same functionality as Windows ones

[Ruba]

Hi there, how is everyone doing? After years of waiting and waiting I finally went ahead and got an iMac a few weeks ago. I've been using Windows all my life. I love the UI and ways things work. Now I know why Mac users say "uff!" when they use Windows. So far I haven't had any issues with OSX so far but there a few questions I wanted to ask about. They are mainly apps which I am accustomed to using on Windows and was wondering if they have the same versions or other applications with the same functionality on OSX.

1. Acronis TrueImage/Norton Ghost (I've heard of Carbon Copy Cloner)
2. Alcohol 120%
3. AnyDVD (Does Handbrake even come close to this?)

These are the main ones I can remember off the top of my head. Would really appreciate if anyone you help me out. Thanks very much.

[Giaguara]

Hi Ruba,

I'm more often searching the other way around the applications - how to get something or some functionality at work in Windows when I know exactly what and how to get it for OS X at home. If you know what you are looking for, one great site for looking all mac applications is versiontracker - select your operating system, and put keywords and it will find you the applications, the ratings users have given those applications, when it was last updated, the license type, so it's possible to see fast which are freeware.

I would guess that the TrueImage would be a disc cloner - at least the counterpart on Mac OS X side, Carbon Copy Cloner would do that. It works, a definitely cool utility to have.
Alcohol? Hm. You can burn DVDs in Finder, and in Disk Utility, (and in iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD etc) but if you want more functionalities, Roxio Toast has been traditionally The program for disc burning in OS X.
Handbrake does the ripping... it may look simple but it works, is easy to use, and is free - can't beat the price. I remember that there were a few other applications for the same purpose in versiontracker, but those weren't freeware (at least a few years back when I last was searching). Maybe give it a try The compression rate is good, and it has presets for AppleTV and iPod as well.

[Ruba]

Thanks very much Gia. I'll definitely have a look at that site.

I'm using CCC right now to make an image of my disk. I hope it goes the way I am thinking it works (not the UI, the way the program works). I just wanna have this backup before I upgrade to Leopard.

Alcohol is just such an excellent tool for creating 1:1 copies and AnyDVD lets you make exact backups of your discs.

I am a Windows techie so I've been on it forever. I like Mac a lot so far. Everything just seems more efficient and well-oiled. Even software that I use on Windows seems to work better on Mac.

Thanks again.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by Ruba

... They are mainly apps which I am accustomed to using on Windows and was wondering if they have the same versions or other applications with the same functionality on OSX.

...

Giaguara makes an incredibly important point. Think functionality rather than a specific title. MacOS X provides a lot of functionality within the OS, its utilities, and bundled applications. Don't make the mistake that a lot of switchers make. That is to try to beat MacOS X into a misshaped version of Windows. In addition to VersionTracker.com, search MacUpdate.com, and Pure Mac.com. As always, Google is your friend. If you really want a Mac version of your favorite Windows app, then you may also visit the developer's website to see if it has a MacOS X version.

[Lt Major Burns]

SuperDuper! is like a much more polished version of CCC, but comes as shareware as a result. it is better though, and is updated often.

[Ruba]

Thanks very much for your help and advice guys. It has been really helpful.

MisterMe, I understand what Giaguara meant now, thanks for clarifying that. And I am not really meaning to turn OSX into "my new Windows" but there are some things on OSX that I just don't find that adequate and a lot of it is because I just don't know much about it yet. I found Mail to be terrible compared to Thunderbird. To elaborate on the example of TrueImage, one of the main reasons I love that application is the ability to boot from a disc image and restore the OS from the image that you created. Is it possible to make an image of the disk using the Disk Utility and then holding the "Option" key while you boot and restoring the hard drive from the image?

Next on the list to try is Quicksilver.

[Mikuro]

Handbrake is great, but only if you're looking to convert the DVD to MPEG4 (like Divx or something). If you're looking to make an exact copy, you can copy the DVD straight to your hard drive with MacTheRipper. You can then burn the resulting VIDEO_TS folder to a new DVD using Roxio Toast. There are probably some free burning apps you could use, too, but I don't know which ones support burning UDF (video DVD format) off the top of my head. Edit: Looks like Burn can. I don't know about all the others, though.


There's no way to boot from a disk image in OS X. You can, however, restore a disk image to an actual disk in Disk Utility. Select the volume and go to the Restore tab. Naturally you can't restore over your active startup disk, so you'll probably want to boot from a CD or external HD first.

I've not sure if anything on OS X offers an imaging method equivalent to Alcohol 120%. I've heard Toast 8 can at least read Alcohol's files, so maybe it does. (I'm still using Toast 6.)

[Curiosity]

If you like Thunderbird, there is a version of it for Mac. I use it and like it.