I made the switch from Windows to an amazing Apple MacBook Pro. Gone is the "blue screen of death" and constant support to the entire family when Windows, Outlook or a favorite game misbehaves due to an updated "patch" from Microsoft.

Below are the tools I added during the transition to a Mac:

• Office
• OpenOffice
• Can read and write those old MS Office Word, PowerPoint and Excel files
• Easily create read only PDF files for email etc.
  
• Multimedia
• ReduxEncoder
• Excellent tool for batch converting Videos to MP4 (H.264) format
• I converted those old MiniDV AVI files to MP4
• My Settings:
• For Standard Definition AVI files:
• 
  
• For Widescreen AVI files:
• 
  
• Printer Drivers
• Download Canon Printer Drivers
• For other printer and scanner drivers, see the Apple Support Site
  
• To access a remote Windows Printer:
• Open System Preferences -> Print & Fax -> Click on "+"
• Right Click on Menu bar and select "Customize Toolbar"
• Drag the "Advanced" icon onto the menu bar
• Select Done
• Click on "Advanced"
• Type: "Windows"
• Device: "Another Device"
• URL: "smb://servername/printername"
• Replace servername and printername as applicable
• Name: Enter a local name for the printer
• Location: Suggest entering the servername
• Also checkout the Gutenberg Printer Drivers, they really do work
  
• Utilities
  
• Disk Inventory X - Display disk utilization in a graphical view
• gedit Text file editor
  
• Virtualization
• VirtualBox
• In case you still need an old Windows app