The Best 37 Free Items for Your Mac
Posted 05/04/2007 at 4:20pm
| by Dave Hamilton
Audio & Video
The Mac rocks when it comes to audio and video stuff, and these apps will make sure that you rock right along with it.
VLC Media Player 0.8.6b - Multiformat movie and audio player
You need: Mac OS 10.3.9 or later
VLC picks up where QuickTime Player leaves off. There are plenty of video formats that just don't play properly in QuickTime, and for those (and others), VLC is your go-to app.

VLC plays movies that QuickTime Player wouln't touch.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HandBrake 0.8.5b1 - Rip DVDs to your Mac or iPod
You need: Mac OS 10.3.9 or later
Just pop your DVD into your Mac, and HandBrake will convert it to a file playable by QuickTime or on your iPod. Just make sure you're not breaking the law when you do it, OK?

Handbrake's interface doesn't look pretty, but the movies it creates sure do.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Audacity 1.3.2 beta - Full-featured audio editor
You need: Mac OS 10.3 or later
With Audacity, you can easily take audio files, edit them, cut them up, stitch them together, and even record them from scratch. Audacity now supports Audio Units plug-ins, as well.

Support for multiple file types makes Audacity a real workhorse.
More...