Tool For Drawing Over Desktop Mac

Excellent Vector Drawing Tool This is an excellent tool for vector graphics. I’ve purchased “many” graphics tools over the years and most of the time they get used for about a week then never again.

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The Rundown

  • Best Overall:XP-Pen Artist16 Pro 15.6 Drawing Tablet at Amazon, “With a host of creative features that make it an excellent all-around choice for most artists.”
  • Best Android:Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 at Amazon, “Featuring the best stylus available on mass-market devices.”
  • Best Drawing Pad:Huion H610 Pro Graphic Drawing Tablet at Amazon, “Narrow enough to perfectly fit on your desk with a keyboard, a space-saving plus for graphic designers.”
  • Best Budget:Monoprice 10594 Graphic Drawing Tablet at Walmart, “Not a top-of-the-line number, but more than eye-catching for the price.”
  • Runner-Up, Best Overall:Huion KAMVAS GT-191 at Amazon, “Gives you a massive amount of sketching real estate for the price.”
  • Best for Professionals:GAOMON PD1560 at Amazon, “Compatible with the latest Windows (7/8/10) and Mac OS systems, as well as most professional designing programs.”
  • Best for Windows Users:Microsoft Surface Pro 12.3 at Best Buy, “A standalone device that lets you do basically everything a laptop would allow you to do.”
  • Best Small Screen:Lenovo Yoga Book at Amazon, “Guaranteeing high-performance hardware despite its trim size.”
  • Runner-Up, Best Budget:Huion H420 USB Graphics Drawing Tablet Board Kit at Amazon, “With an active area of 4 x 2.23 inches and a resolution of 4,000 lines per inch.”
  • Best Apple Tablet:Apple iPad Pro at Apple, 'The user-friendly touch controls and lag-free connection to the Apple Pencil make for a very natural drawing experience.'
  • Best Paper-to-Digital:Wacom Intuos Pro Paper Edition at Amazon, “Allowing you to capture and upload pen-on-paper artwork into a completely digital form.”

Our Top Picks

Best Overall: XP-Pen Artist16 Pro 15.6 Drawing Tablet

4.4

The Artist16 is a drawing tablet by XP-Pen with an extra-wide viewing angle and a host of creative features that make it an excellent all-around choice for most artists. Featuring a 1080P FullHD IPS display, your creations will come to life in vivid color and definition. An extra-wide, 178-degree viewing angle gives you the canvas you need to realize your design. And with 2,078 levels of pressure sensitivity, this tablet will work for drawing, painting, editing, designing, sketching and animating without any trouble.

The Artist16 comes with two rechargeable pens, a black anti-fouling glove and an HDMI adapter. It has eight express keys to eliminate headaches, allowing you to focus on the creative element. The adjustable display stand will also give you the freedom and flexibility you need to get in the zone. Finally, the tablet is compatible with Sai, Photoshop and most mainstream design software.

Best Android: Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

4.4

Samsung equips their Galaxy tablets with the best stylus available on mass-market devices. The S Pen offers true-to-life pressure and sensitivity that rivals pens designed exclusively for drawing tablets. The pen never needs to be re-charged and can operate as a variety of drawing styles and devices.

In addition to a best-in-class pen, the Galaxy Tab S3 is an excellent all-around tablet. It has a vivid Super AMOLED display for deep contrast and extraordinary colors. It also comes with powerful Quad speakers tuned by AKG and a featherlight keyboard that can be attached to the tablet so that it operates like a laptop for word processing. It has a powerful 12-hour battery and a speedy Snapdragon quad-core processor.

Best Drawing Pad: Huion H610 Pro Graphic Drawing Tablet

4

Designed with office work in mind, this ultra-narrow tablet is wireless and fits perfectly on your desk with a keyboard, a space-saving plus for graphic designers. The tablet connects to your PC or Mac where it works on Illustrator, Maya and other graphic design software (you'll need Windows 7 to 10 or Mac 10.10 or above). It has a six-meter wireless connection distance and a 2500mAh battery that lasts up to 40 hours. The sleek design separates the touch and draw area, so you can work without worrying about your palm accidentally touching the screen. The device has six customizable buttons and 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity.

Best Budget: Monoprice 10594 Graphic Drawing Tablet

3

When it comes to functionality for your drawing tablet, it doesn't get much more nuts-and-bolts than this option from Monoprice. If you haven’t heard of the brand, then it’s worth taking a look, because tech heads swear by Monoprice for their cables, and in recent years we’ve been increasingly more impressed with the company’s ability to produce true quality products across the board. This drawing peripheral is no exception – it’s a serious workhorse for the visually inclined.

Let’s unpack the features: it offers a 10 x 6.25-inch drawing surface that sports a 4,000 LPI drawing resolution at a report rate of 200 RPS. There are 2,048 levels of pen pressure, rounding out all dimensions of accuracy for the drawing surface itself. These are certainly not top-of-the-line “premium” numbers, but are more than eye-catching for the price. There are 16 hot zones that can at the top of the drawing surface that can be assigned by you, plus further assignable expression keys that’ll let you do as much work as possible on the surface itself without the need to move to other accessories. It connects to the computer via USB and is compatible with basically any modern OS, and could even be modded to work on Linux.

Runner-Up, Best Overall: Huion KAMVAS GT-191

3.8

The 19.5-inch IPS, widescreen HD display offered by the Huion KAMVAS drawing tablet is the first thing you’ll notice when you pull it out of the box. And that’s for good reason — this thing gives you a massive amount of sketching real estate for the price. But the 72 percent NTSC color gamut gives you equally impressive levels of color representation, so you’ll almost forget that it’s just a peripheral.

As for the actual mechanics of sketching, there are over 8,000 separate levels of pen pressure, giving you extra z-axis precision when you’re trying to realize your art, and that physical flexibility is further extended with the ergonomically adjustable stand, allowing you to position the tablet at the perfect angle for whatever you’re working on.

The included PE330 stylus is rechargeable with two separate assignable gesture buttons, and this model is newly redesigned to be extra responsive when drawing on the display. It’s compatible with both Windows and Mac and further works with the Adobe Suite. This particular package comes with that aforementioned pen, plus a writing glove and additional pen tips to replace once they wear out.

Best for Professionals: GAOMON PD1560

Most artists will swear by Wacom as one of the most reputable brands in the industry, but GAOMON is just as respectable and the company's 15.6-inch PD1560 tablet boasts high-performance specs at half the price of a 13-inch Wacom tablet. Firstly, the screen features full 19020 x 1080 (16:9) HD resolution as well as bright, accurate colors. Secondly, the glass itself offers a smooth drawing experience and the pen features 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity for finessed and precise sketching. There’s also a useful “screen-flip” function to accommodate left-handed artists.

On the edges of the display, you’ll find the menu controls as well as 10 shortcut keys, ready to be customized according to your creative needs. Additionally, you’ll find an adjustable stand on the back of the tablet, offering maximum comfort while you work. Finally, the GAOMON model is compatible with the latest Windows (7/8/10) and Mac OS systems, as well as most professional designing programs, including but not limited to Photoshop, Illustrator, SketchBook Pro, SAI 2, and SketchBook Pro.

Best for Windows Users: Microsoft Surface Pro 12.3

4.1

Like a couple of the other tablets on this list, the Surface isn’t strictly a drawing surface – it’s a standalone device that lets you do basically everything a laptop would allow you to do. But the lines are getting blurrier and blurrier when it comes to the difference between tablets and laptops and drawing peripherals. The Microsoft Surface Pro line is the tech giant’s strongest tablet effort to date, and while the original Surface generations didn’t take off, these newer ones are completely viable options, especially if you’re a working designer.

For starters, their ultra-high resolution PixelSense displays are almost as stunning as Apple’s Retina Displays, and the color representation is pretty solid, too. There’s an added color bonus of being able to spec out and add notes on the screen about print colors that are directly compatible (and readable) by the OS sending print jobs to a Windows Ink printer – a great feature for designers working in print. It’s powered by a full Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM, so if you do want to do more than just use it to draw, you’ll have tons of speed.

In terms of accessories, the accompanying pen and Microsoft’s Surface Dial are both great options for those who want to be more and more efficient and precise with their gestures, and the screen itself offers extra accurate tracking. The whole thing is super light and it runs on an impressive battery that Microsoft says is 50 percent and 68 percent better than the previous two generations, respectively.

Check out our other reviews of the best 2-in-one laptop tablets available on the market today.

Best Small Screen: Lenovo Yoga Book

Drawing

For the artist on the go, the Lenovo Yoga Book fits snugly into any backpack or travel bag. Ten inches long, 0.4 inches thick, and weighing less than 2 pounds, Lenovo proudly claims that their product is the thinnest and lightest 2-in-1 tablet on the market. It's also a highly versatile machine with four modes that respond to your needs whether you want to draw, binge Netflix, or draft an email. You can adjust the Yoga Book's 360-degree hinge to place it in Create Mode, Browse Mode, Watch Mode, and Type Mode.

Despite its trim size, the Yoga Book also guarantees high-performance hardware, featuring a 64GB solid-state drive, 4GB LP DDR3 of RAM, and 13 hours of battery life. The 10.1-inch screen delivers picture-perfect visuals: 1920 x 1200 HD resolution and 400 nits of brightness. The tablet’s main bonus for artists is the battery-free Real Pen stylus and the attached Create Pad, which allows you to digitize written notes or sketches. The Real Pen stylus boasts 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and accurately replicates the experience of writing in a real notebook.

Runner-Up, Best Budget: Huion H420 USB Graphics Drawing Tablet Board Kit

Tool For Drawing Over Desktop Mac

Before you plunk down hundreds of dollars on a professional tablet, get a feel for drawing with this $30 kit. The tablet itself has an active area of 4 by 2.23 inches and a resolution of 4,000 lines per inch, while the pen offers 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, giving you precise control over brush effects and line width. It also has three express keys that let you do things like close or save the current page.

It’s compatible with all major graphics applications (think Corel Painter, CorelDraw, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fireworks and beyond) as well as most operating systems, including Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, XP and Mac OS 10.4+. Unfortunately the handy pen scrolling feature, which lets you scroll documents and websites by pressing the middle button of the digital pen over the tablet's working area, is unavailable in Mac OS. Even so, it’s a fantastic value, complete with a wool carrying case, USB cable, anti-fouling glove and cleaning kit.

Best Apple Tablet: Apple iPad Pro

The latest iPad Pro model boasts lighter and slimmer dimensions, living up to Apple’s claim: “More screen. Less device.” The 11-inch model has the same dimensions as its predecessor, the 10.5-inch Pro, but the screen is larger. How did Apple accomplish this? The new iPad’s display spans the entire front of the device, eliminating the home button and downsizing both the camera and speakers. Additionally, the screen itself offers remarkable visual quality: up to 2732 x 2048 pixels, true-to-life color detail, 600 nit brightness, and the lowest level of reflectivity on the market.

For artists, this tablet wouldn’t be complete without the Apple Pencil. The user-friendly touch controls and lag-free connection make for a very natural drawing experience. With a simple double-tap, you can switch between the brush, pen, and highlighter tools, or change the brush’s size. The Pencil is also sensitive to pressure: press down to draw thicker lines or tilt to shade. You can even rest your palm against the tablet screen without leaving any unwanted marks, mimicking a true drawing experience as much as possible and eliminating wrist strain.

Best Paper-to-Digital: Wacom Intuos Pro Paper Edition

Some people will always prefer the feel and function of drawing on a piece of paper, but still want digital versions of their creations that they can upload and edit. If you're in this camp, then the Intuous Pro Paper Edition is perfect, as it allows you to capture and upload pen-on-paper artwork into a completely digital form in a raster or vector file. Just use the Intuos Pro tablet’s new Pro Pen 2 technology. It comes combined with a removable paper clip and .4mm fine-tip gel pen. Just place the paper over the tablet and sketch. Your work will be captured on the tablet, even if you aren’t connected to the Internet.

The Pro Pen 2 also delivers the most accurate performance, with 4x higher accuracy than earlier versions for lag-free tracking and tilt recognition. The tablet is very comfortable to hold, opting for a thin and lightweight edition that feels great in your hands and lap. Eight express keys can be programmed to your liking, while a touch ring controls canvas rotation and other features. It's compatible with Windows 7 or later (64bit) and Mac OS 10.10 or later.

Tested by

How We Tested

Our reviewers spent 14 hours testing the five most popular drawing tablets on the market. We asked our testers to consider the most important features when using these tablets and we've outlined them here so that you, too, know what to look for when shopping.

What to Look for in a Drawing Tablet

Drawing For Mac

Type of tablet -While drawing tablets are more expensive, they’re a bit more intuitive because you draw with a stylus directly on the screen. Graphic tablets — which need to be hooked up to a computer — usually deliver a faster workflow because they’re backed by more processing power. They also don’t need to be charged and are usually more durable.

Pressure sensitivity - Pressure sensitivity determines how much you can vary the width of the lines you paint, based on the amount of pressure you apply to the stylus. The standard tablet offers 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, which should be more than enough for most creatives.

Budget -Drawing tablets prices can start as low as $30 and creep up to nearly $1,000. The difference in price is largely related to the display. The better the resolution and pressure sensitivity, the more expensive the tablet. But of course, if it doesn’t have a display, you’ll likely get it for a lower price.

Test Results: XP-Pen Artist16 Pro 15.6 Drawing Tablet (Best Overall)

4.4

What We Like

  • Large screen

  • Comes with eight pen nibs

  • Has eight customizable express keys

What We Don’t Like

  • Has a lot of wires

  • Not beginner friendly

If you’re looking for a balance between budget and precision, the XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Drawing Tablet is the option you need. According to our testers, the screen size is great, the display is clear, and the colors are very crisp. One of our testers, who also owns a Wacom Intuos 5 tablet and a Wacom Cintiq 22HD tablet (both of which are much more expensive), gave this model high marks. She described it as “surprisingly light” and loved how many extra accessories it came with. “There was a small half-glove for you to keep the surface of the tablet clean, two pens, and extra nibs,” she said. The extra nibs were particularly helpful, because she told us she tends to go through nibs quickly.

One reviewer did mention that “light strokes could be finicky” but said the tablet was “spot-on” if you applied harder pressure.

Test Results: Galaxy Tab S3 (Best Android)

4.4

What We Like

  • Lightweight

  • Very durable

  • Pen is very responsive

Our testers thought this tablet was a top-notch choice. One person said, “It has everything I need: internet access, a camera, and great drawing capabilities.” Plus, this tablet is not just for drawing. Grab it for a quick binge-watching session on the couch or use the included S Pen to sketch out your favorite designs. It’s a great option for artistic tablet users that want to get more than one function out of a pricey device.

The Galaxy Tab S3 is also easy to travel with, according to Lifewire reviewers.Just throw it in your bag to draw on the go. Our testers’ only gripe is that it takes a little over 2.5 hours to get a full charge.

Test Results: Huion H610 Pro Graphic Drawing Tablet (Best Drawing Pad)

4

What We Like

  • Great pressure sensitivity

  • Light

  • Wireless connectivity for a cable-free experience

What We Don’t Like

  • Length (14.7 inches) makes it a tight fit in smaller backpack

Our reviewers love the Huion H610 Pro Graphic Drawing Tablet’s wireless capability. You can move up to six meters away from your computer whenever you want. Since some of our testers complained about other drawing tablets’ many wires, being completely unencumbered is a big plus.

Lifewire reviewers did say that only experienced designers should spring for this model. It’s not the right choice if you’re a total drawing-tablet beginner. Once you do buy it though, you’ll be impressed. “The screen is very responsive,” one person said.

Test Results: Monoprice 10594 Graphic Drawing Tablet (Best Budget)

3.7
Drawing tool for mac

What We Like

  • Shortcut keys to customize functionality

  • Lightweight

  • Stylus is wireless

What We Don’t Like

  • Tablet has no wireless capability

  • Comes with a CD to install the software

The Monoprice 10594 Graphic Drawing Tablet has everything you want in a very budget-friendly device.It has eight express keys and 16 hot zones that you can assign functionality to. “I would recommend this product if you are looking for a basic, no frills drawing tablet,” one reviewer said. Plus it’s light — weighing in at a little less than 3 ounces — which makes it easy to take on the road.

Test Results: Microsoft Surface Pro 12.3 (Best for Windows Users)

4.1

What We Don’t Like

  • Large screen can affect portability

Designers are known for their preference for Apple products, but if you’re a creative type that sticks with Windows, the Microsoft Surface Pro should be your go-to drawing tablet. The 12-inch screen allows you to see exactly what you’re doing and our testers describe both the picture and color quality as “above average.” Though you can do more than draw on this device, you may not want to: Lifewire reviewers loved everything about this tablet’s drawing functionality. “The screen was very responsive,” one person said. “[The pen] is extremely accurate and very flexible with its pressure-sensing feature.” He went on to say that he actually prefers this pen over Apple’s because it’s easier to hold and shorter. “The pen is very sensitive and it almost provides the same experience as writing on actual paper,” he added.

Part of a series on
macOS
  • iTunes (history)
  • Safari (version history)

The following is a list of Macintoshsoftware—notable computer applications for current macOS systems. For software designed for the classic Mac OS, see List of old Macintosh software.


  • 6Email
  • 9Graphics, layout, and desktop publishing
  • 23Utilities

Audio[edit]

  • Ableton Live – music production
  • Adobe Soundbooth – music and soundtrack editing
  • Ardour – hard disk recorder and digital audio workstation program
  • Audacity – digital audio editor
  • Audion – media player (development ceased)
  • Audio Hijack – audio recorder
  • baudline – signal analyzer
  • BIAS Peak – mastering
  • Cog – open source audio player, supports multiple formats
  • Cubase – music production program
  • djay – digital music mixing software
  • Digital Performer – MIDI sequencer with audio tracking
  • Final Cut Express/Pro – movie editor
  • Finale – scorewriter program
  • fre:ac - open source audio converter and CD ripper
  • GarageBand – music/podcast production
  • HyperNext – freeware software development
  • Impro-Visor – educational notation and playback for music improvisation
  • iTunes – audio/video Jukebox
  • iVolume – volume normalization
  • ixi software – free improvisation and sketching tools
  • Jaikoz – mass tagger
  • LilyPond – scorewriter program
  • Logic Express – prosumer music production
  • Logic Studio – music writing studio package by Apple Inc.
    • Apple Loops Utility – production and organisation of Apple Loops
    • Apple Qmaster and Qadministrator
    • Logic Pro – digital audio workstation
    • Mainstage – program to play software synthesizers live
    • QuickTime Pro – pro version of QuickTime
    • Soundtrack Pro – post production audio editor
    • WaveBurner – CD mastering and production software
  • Mixxx – DJ mix software available for the mac in the App Store
  • Max – Cycling 74's visual programming language for MIDI, audio, video; with MSP, Jitter
  • Nuendo – audio and post production editor
  • Overture – scorewriter program
  • ReBirth – virtual synth program simulates Roland TR-808, TB-303
  • REAPER – digital audio workstation
  • Reason – digital audio workstation
  • Recycle – sample editor
  • Renoise – contemporary digital audio workstation, based upon the heritage and development of tracker software.
  • RiffWorks – guitar recording and online song collaboration software
  • Senuti – transfers music from iPod to computer
  • Sibelius – scorewriter program
  • Sound Studio – digital audio analyzer and editor
  • N-Track Studio – multitrack audio recording, editing and mixing software

CD and DVD authoring[edit]

  • DVD Studio Pro – DVD authoring application
  • iDVD – a basic DVD-authoring application
  • Roxio Toast – DVD authoring application

Chat (text, voice, video)[edit]

Adium on Mac OS X
  • Adium – multi-protocol IM client
  • AOL Instant Messenger - discontinued as of December 15, 2017[1]
  • Colloquy – freeware advanced IRC and SILC client
  • Fire – open source, multiprotocol IM client
  • FaceTime - videoconferencing between Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
  • iChat – instant messaging and videoconferencing (discontinued since OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion)
  • iMessage - instant messaging between Mac, and iDevices
  • Irssi – IrssiX and MacIrssi
  • Ventrilo – audio chatroom application

Children's software[edit]

  • Kid Pix Deluxe 3X – bitmap drawing program
  • Stagecast Creator – programming and internet authoring for kids

Developer tools and IDEs[edit]

  • AppCode - an Objective-C IDE by JetBrains for OS X and iOS development
  • Aptana – an open sourceintegrated development environment (IDE) for building Ajax web applications
  • Clozure CL - an open sourceintegrated development environment (IDE) for building Common Lisp applications
  • Code::Blocks – open source IDE for C++
  • CodeWarrior – development environment, framework
  • Eclipse – open source Java-based IDE for developing rich-client applications, includes SWT library, replaces Swing by using underlying OS native windowing abilities
  • Fink – Debian package manager for portedUnix software
  • Free Pascal – Object Pascal compiler, XCode plugin available
  • Helix – relational database IDE
  • HotSpot – Sun's Java Virtual Machine
  • IntelliJ IDEA - a JAVA IDE by JetBrains (free limited community edition)
  • Komodo – commercial multi-language IDE from ActiveState
  • Lazarus – cross-platform IDE to develop software with Free Pascal, specialized in graphical software
  • LiveCode – high-level cross-platform IDE
  • MacApp – application development framework Pascal and C++
  • Macintosh Programmer's Workshop (MPW)
  • Macports – a package management system that simplifies the installation of free/open source software on the Mac OS X.
  • Macromedia Authorware – application (CBT, eLearning) development, no Mac development environment since version 4, though can still package applications with the 'Mac Packager' for OS 8 through 10 playback
  • Mono – open source implementation of Microsoft .NET Framework with a C# compiler
  • NetBeans – modular, open source, multi-language platform and IDE for Java written in pure Java
  • Omnis Studio – cross-platform development environment for creating enterprise and web applications for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, Solaris
  • Peppermint - multi-purpose editor supporting a wide range of languages and comes with a CoffeeScript/JavaScript API
  • Qt Creator – an IDE for C++ GUI applications, by Trolltech
  • Real Studio – cross-platform compiled REALbasicBASIC programming language IDE
  • ResEdit – resource editor
  • Script Debugger – an AppleScript and Open Scripting Architecture IDE
  • SuperCard – high-level IDE
  • Tcl/tk – scripting shell & GUI utility that allows cross platform development. Included With Mac OS X.
  • TextMate – multipurpose text editor that supports Ruby, PHP, and Python
  • Torque (game engine) – game creation software
  • WebKit – open source application framework for Safari (web browser)
  • wxPython – API merging Python and wxWidgets
  • Xcode – IDE made by Apple, which comes as a part of OS X and is available as a download, was called Project Builder

Email[edit]

Email clients[edit]

  • Apple Mail – the bundled email client
  • Claris Emailer – classic Mac OS only, no longer available
  • Entourage – email client by Microsoft; analogous to Microsoft Outlook
  • Mailplane – a WebKit-based client for Gmail
  • Mulberry – open-source software for e-mail, calendars and contacts
  • Sparrow – as well as Sparrow Lite

Other email software[edit]

  • SPAMfighter - anti-spam software

FTP clients[edit]

Games[edit]

  • Steam – digital distribution software for video games and related media

Graphics, layout, and desktop publishing[edit]

CAD, 3D graphics[edit]

  • Ashlar-Vellum – 2D/3D drafting, 3D modeling
  • SketchUp – 3D modeling software

Distributed document authoring[edit]

Icon editors, viewers[edit]

  • Icon Composer – part of Apple Developer Tools

File conversion and management[edit]

  • Adobe Bridge — digital asset management app
  • BibDesk — free bibliographic database app that organizes linked files
  • Font Book – font management tool
  • GraphicConverter – graphics editor, open/converts a wide range of file formats
  • iPhoto – photo management application

Layout and desktop publishing[edit]

  • Adobe InDesign – page layout
  • iBooks Author – create content for iBooks
  • iCalamus – page layout
  • iStudio Publisher – page layout
  • Pages – part of iWork
  • QuarkXPress – page layout
  • Ready,_Set,_Go!_(software) – page layout
  • Scribus – page layout
  • TeX – publishing
    • MacTeX – TeX redistribution of TeX Live for Mac
  • The Print Shop – page layout

Raster and vector graphics[edit]

  • Adobe Fireworks – supports GIF animation.
  • Adobe Illustrator – vector graphics editor
  • Adobe Photoshop – also offers some vector graphics features
  • Affinity Designer - vector graphics editor for Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows
  • Anime Studio – 2D based vector animation
  • Aperture – Apple's pro photo management, editing, publishing application
  • GIMP – free bitmap graphics editor
  • GIMPShop – free open source cross-platform bitmap graphics editor
  • GraphicConverter – displays and edits raster graphics files
  • Inkscape – free vector graphics editor
  • MacPaint – painting software by Apple (discontinued)
  • Macromedia FreeHand – vector graphics editor
  • Paintbrush – free simple bitmap graphics program
  • Photos – official photo management and editing application developed by Apple
  • Photo Booth – photo camera, video recorder
  • Pixelmator – hardware-accelerated integrated photo editor
  • Polarr - photo editing app
  • Seashore – open source, based around the GIMP's technology, but with native OS X (Cocoa) UI
  • TouchRetouch - photo editor that allows to remove unwanted content or objects from any photo

Integrated software technologies[edit]

Language and reference tools[edit]

  • Rosetta Stone (software) – proprietary language learning software
  • Ultralingua – proprietary electronic dictionaries and language tools
  • World Book Encyclopedia – multimedia

Mathematics software[edit]

  • Octave (software) – open source
  • SciLab – open source

Media center[edit]

  • Boxee – Mac and Apple TV

Multimedia authoring[edit]

  • Adobe Director – animation/application development
  • Adobe Flash – vector animation
  • Adobe LiveMotion – a discontinued competitor to Macromedia Flash, until Adobe bought Macromedia
  • Dragonframe - stop motion animation and time-lapse
  • iBooks Author – creates content for iBooks
  • iLife – media suite by Apple
  • Unity – 3D authoring

Networking and telecommunications[edit]

  • iStumbler – find wireless networks and devices
  • Karelia Watson (defunct)
  • NetSpot - software tool for wireless network assessment, scanning, and surveys, analyzing Wi-Fi coverage and performance
  • Timbuktu – remote control
  • WiFi Explorer - a wireless network scanner tool

News aggregators[edit]

  • Feedly – news aggregator, and news aggregator reading application
  • NetNewsWire – news aggregator reading application
  • NewsFire – news aggregator reading application
  • RSSOwl – news aggregator reading application
  • Safari (web browser) - news aggregation via built-in RSS support
  • Apple Mail – news aggregation via (discontinued) built-in RSS support

Office and productivity[edit]

  • Address Book – bundled with OS X
  • AppleWorks – word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation applications (discontinued)
  • Bean (word processor) – free TXT/RTF/DOC word processor
  • CricketGraph - graphmaker
  • iBank – personal finance application
  • iCal – calendar management, bundled with OS X
  • iWork – suite:
    • Pages – word processor application
    • Numbers – spreadsheet application
    • Keynote – presentation application
  • Journler – diary and personal information manager with personal wiki features
  • MacLinkPlus Deluxe - file format translation tool for PowerPC-era Mac OS X, converting and opening files created in other operating systems
  • MarinerPak – suite:
  • Microsoft Office – office suite:
    • Microsoft Word – word processor application
    • Microsoft Excel – spreadsheet application
    • Microsoft PowerPoint – presentation application
    • Microsoft Entourage – email application (replaced by Microsoft Outlook)
    • Microsoft Outlook – email application
  • MoneyWiz – personal finance application
  • Montage – screenwriting software
  • Taste – word processor (discontinued)

Drawing App For Desktop

Operating systems[edit]

  • Darwin – the BSD-licensed core of macOS
  • macOS – originally named 'Mac OS X' until 2012 and then 'OS X' until 2016
  • macOS Server – the server computing variant of macOS

Outliners and mind-mapping[edit]

  • 2-plan Desktop – free project management software with integrated mind maps

Peer-to-peer file sharing[edit]

  • Vuze – Bittorrent client, was Azureus

Science[edit]

  • Celestia – 3D astronomy program
  • Stellarium – 3D astronomy program

Text editors[edit]

Utilities[edit]

  • Activity Monitor – default system monitor for hardware and software
  • AppZapper – uninstaller (shareware)
  • Automator – built-in, utility to automate repetitive tasks
  • Backup – built-in
  • BitDefender Antivirus 2009 for Mac OS – antivirus software
  • Butler – free, launcher and utility to automate repetitive tasks
  • CleanGenius – free system optimization tool for Mac OS X, disk cleaner, uninstaller, device ejector, disk monitor. (freeware)
  • CandyBar – system customization software (commercial)
  • CDFinder – disk cataloging software (commercial)
  • Compact Pro – data compression
  • DaisyDisk – disk visualization tool
  • Dashboard – built-in Mac OS X widgets
  • Disk Drill Basic – data recovery software for Mac OS X
  • Grab (software) – built-in Mac OS X screenshot utility
  • Growl – global notifications system, free
  • iArchiver – handles archives, commercial
  • Intego VirusBarrier – antivirus software
  • iSync – syncing software, bundled with OS X
  • LaunchBar – provides instant access to local data, search engines and more by entering abbreviations of search item names, commercial
  • Little Snitch – network monitor and outgoing connection firewall
  • MacScan – malware removal program
  • Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing – proprietary, typing tutor
  • Norton Antivirus for Mac – an antivirus program specially made for Mac
  • OnyX – a freeware system maintenance and optimization tool for Mac OS X
  • Quicksilver – a framework for accessing and manipulating many forms of data
  • SheepShaver – PowerPC emulator, allows, among other things, running Mac OS 9 on Intel Macs
  • Sherlock – file searching (version 2), web services (version 3)
  • Sophos - antivirus software
  • Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery - Data Recovery Software for Mac Computers
  • Stuffit – data compression
  • Stickies – put Post-It Note-like notes on the desktop
  • System Preferences – default Mac system option application
  • The Tilery - application switcher
  • Time Machine (Apple software) – built-in backup software
  • UUTool – uuencoded/uudecode and other transcoding
  • Stellar Phoenix Video Repair – Repair corrupt of damaged videos
  • VirusScan – antivirus software
  • BetterZip - file archiver and compressor utility
  • WinZip – file archiver and compressor utility
  • Xsan – storage network utility
  • Yahoo! Widget Engine – JavaScript-based widget system

Support for non-Macintosh software[edit]

  • Boot Camp – a multi-boot utility built into OS X from 10.5
  • CrossOver – commercial implementation of Wine
  • DOSBox – DOS emulator
  • pcAnywhere – VNC-style remote control
  • Parallels Workstation – commercial full virtualization software for desktop and server
  • Q – emulates an IBM-compatible PC on a Mac, allows running PC operating systems
  • VMware – virtualization software
  • Wine – Windows API reimplementation
  • Virtual PC – full virtualization software allows running other operating systems, such as Windows and GNU/Linux, on PowerPC Macs (discontinued in 2007)
  • vMac – emulates a Macintosh Plus and can run Apple Macintosh System versions 1.1 to 7.5.5.

Video[edit]

  • DVD Player (Apple) – DVD player software built into Mac OS X
  • FFmpeg – audio/video converter
  • Final Cut Studio – audio-video editing suite:
  • HandBrake – DVD to MPEG-4 and other formats converter
  • iMovie – basic video editing application
  • mimoLive – live video mixing and streaming software
  • QuickTime – including its Player and QuickTime Pro
  • 4K Video Downloader - free video downloader

Web browsers[edit]

  • Amaya – free
  • Camino – open source
  • Flock – free, Mozilla Firefox based
  • Google Chrome – free, proprietary
  • iCab – free
  • Konqueror – open source
  • Lynx – free
  • Mozilla – open source, combines browser, email client, WYSIWYG editor
  • Mozilla Firefox – open source
  • Netscape Navigator – free, proprietary
  • OmniWeb – free, proprietary
  • Opera – free
  • Safari (web browser) – built-in from Mac OS X 10.3, available as a separate download for Mac OS X 10.2
  • SeaMonkey – open source Internet application suite
  • Shiira – open source
  • Sleipnir – free, by Fenrir Inc
  • Tor (anonymity network) - free, open source
  • Torch (web browser) - free, by Torch Media Inc.
  • Internet Explorer for Mac – free, by Microsoft
  • WebKit – Safari application framework, also in the form of an application

Web design and content management[edit]

  • RapidWeaver - a template-based website editor

Weblog clients[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^'AIM has been discontinued as of December 15, 2017'. help.aol.com/. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
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