This year will go down in history as the year that the makers of Windows PCs retaliated. Intel’s Lunar Lake platform was a response to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, which launched the AI PC era.
For the first time in almost ten years, I’m tempted to go back to Windows. The app gap is still an issue, though.
Many of my favorite programs are now available on Windows, but I still use some of the best Mac apps every day, which prevents me from adopting Windows completely.
PDF Expert
The Readdle app is one of them. As the name implies, it offers professional tools for PDF manipulation.
Saved signatures can be used on any device by syncing them with your iPad, iPhone, and Mac. As a result, adding a signature using the Apple Pencil on an iPad and utilizing the same signature on your Mac or iPhone is simple. Additionally, it’s simple to fill out a form, annotate a PDF, and alter its contents.
You fill out and sign a lot of PDFs, and you can usually do it faster on my iPhone than on a computer. The application that I’ve been missing the most from PCs is this one, which was among the first apps I installed on my Mac.
Parcel
Parcel, an Apple-only software that also features a web interface, comes in close second. In a nutshell, it’s the greatest method for tracking any package, anywhere in the globe.
While the web interface offers many of the same functionality for a PC user, it lacks several essential components. Rather than requiring you to visit a website, the native Mac app provides desktop widgets, all the information you need, and the ability to get updates.
Despite being a fairly basic program, it functions almost flawlessly, making it the perfect background tool.
Additionally, Amazon offers automated delivery tracking, which immediately broadens its appeal to hundreds of millions of potential buyers. It also uses few resources, in contrast to other programs.
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Alfred
On a new Mac, turning off Spotlight in favor of Alfred is another of the first things you do. It’s the perfect way to quickly complete tasks, search for information, launch an application, or even shut down my Mac with a few keystrokes.
Alfred is essentially a more feature-rich version of Spotlight on the Mac or Windows Search on the PC. Its user interface is straightforward, with a plethora of customization possibilities for actions or outcomes. It also learns your usage to make sure the shortcuts it suggests are the ones you use most often.
You like that there are no ongoing fees, unlike many other programs. The best app you can get is available for a one-time charge of $10. Think of Alfred as having shortcuts to almost everything on a Mac. Unfortunately, this one is probably never going to be available on Windows.
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Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro X is a video editing program. Importantly, even if there are Windows-based competitors such as DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere Pro, the Final Cut Pro collection has thousands of motion graphics, templates, and typefaces that I would have to purchase again for Windows.
However, Final Cut Pro has trapped me into using a Mac, at least for editing videos while docked at my Mac, even though both of those tools are also available on the Mac. Even if iCloud Drive works well on PCs, its integration is greater on Macs, and features like AirDrop make it difficult for me to give up a Mac, at least for some of my uses.
MindNode
There are several Windows-based alternatives, but since you also use a Mac, iPhone, and iPad, you would like MindNode to be cross-platform. This is especially true when it comes to the iPad and Mac interaction, since you frequently create mind maps on the Mac and then edit them while on the move using the iPad.
There are other alternatives to MindNode, and it’s not the most user-friendly program. In certain respects, several of these might be superior, particularly now that MindNode has shifted to an annual subscription plan. It remains my preferred medium for creating these intricate designs, though.
