RCDefaultApp is a Mac OS X 10.2 or higher preference pane that allows a user to set the default application used for various URL schemes, file extensions, file types, MIME types, and Uniform Type Identifiers (or UTIs; MacOS 10.4 only). MacOS X uses the extension and file type settings to choose the application when opening a file in Finder, while Safari and other applications use the URL and MIME type settings at other times for content not related to a file (such as an unknown URL protocol, or a media stream).

The practical application for this app, as I see it is: use it to assign every possible video format to VLC! (there will be a Mac Essentials post about VLC coming soon). Of course you can use it to assign any other filetype to any other app as well.

Download Now

I actually just found JDownloader the other day, but I already think it's good enough make a post about. What makes JDownloader good is that it's open source (it's free) and platform independent. What makes it great is that it's capable of downloading files from all sorts of popular uploader sites such as rapidshare and megaupload with or without a premium account. Updates work well, I haven't had any errors, it's downloading everything just fine. Definitely worth checking out.

Download Now

Web Browser - Firefox

What seperates Firefox from the rest? And why should you use it rather than just use Safari? Firefox has a lot going for it, speed, ease of use, but to me it's all about the Add-ons. Here are some of my favorites:

Stumbleupon - Like a channel changer for the internet. Press the stumble button and you'll be sent to a random web page (you can set up what kinds of content you want to be shown) I've found more interesting stuff on stumble than on digg and youtube combined. Plus you can give sites you like a thumbs up and sites you dislike a thumbs down, which over time refines what sites you see.

AutoPager - Automatically loads additional content on pages with page numbers such as google and many forums. This means for a lot of pages, you'll never need to click "Next", just scroll down!

Download Statusbar - Shows your downloads at the bottom of the web browser, no need for a download window.

Fission - Safari did spoil me in some ways, Fission duplicates the Safari style where a progress bar loads in the address bar as the web page load.

FireFTP - A free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.

Better Gmail 2 - Add useful extra features to Gmail, like hierarchical labels, macros, file attachment icons, and more.

Here's the thing, Firefox is great and all, but I'm sure you've seen the speed comparison tests showing how Firefox 3 ranks up against the competitors. Well, what ever you heard, the truth is that (as of the most recent builds) "Firefox, Chrome virtually tied for JavaScript speed". However, if you want firefox to be that fast, you have to go for the beta builds. Firefox 3.1b2 has some amazing new features and it's faster! If you already have Firefox, try out the beta. If you don't have Firefox, what rock have you been living under?

Download Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 or Download Firefox 3.0 Stable