Fixing up an older MacBook for my brother. He ppicked it up for $150.00
Seems to be in good shape. I FWTD moded it to my tower and ran Drive Genius on it... reformatted and checked for bad blocks then installed Snow Leopard on it.
PS CS 5 and a couple of the Adobe apps and MS Office 2008.

I have just cloned whole systems the last few times I bought a Mac since I want basically all the same stuff on all of my Macs, but his doesn't require everything that mine do.

So... what are the critical things I will want to install?
I'm just looking for apps that increase OS stability and productivity... not Google Earth and such.. he can decide on those types himself.


Flip4Mac? Is that still relevant?

Flip4Mac/Silverlight, Flash, Perian, Adobe Reader if he doesn't want the weight and RAM usage of Acrobat Pro just to read a PDF. Preview usually works okay and has less overhead than Adobe stuff, but Reader or Pro works okay always if Preview doesn't display or play nice.

Java should already be installed I believe. Rosetta for PPC apps.

Did SL come with QuickTime 7 or X, I forget. If it doesn't have 7 might want to install it. QT X Doesn't support plug-ins. Some stuff I still need to use 7 for.

Free stuff?
Definitely VLC.
Onyx for System maintenance.
AppCleaner for deleting programs.
EasyFind for a Spotlight replacement. No need to index before use and works great.
Dropbox or Copy for cloud storage.

Paid?
1Password.
Little Snitch to block apps calling home. It's AMAZING how many apps & websites are tracking us.

I can't remember the last time I use VLC other than for converting video, I don't like GUI. MPlayerX does what VLC does, and the GUI looks like QuickTime, forgot to mention that.

Little Snitch, why do you need that? I do know what it is. Unless one is a real Network/Security guru, it's a placebo, especially with OS X. They know who you are and what you do anyway.

PARANOIA will destroy ya. ~Ray Davies- The Kinks.

I got it way back, when a friend of mine who had it, demonstrated all the outgoing connections to who knows who. I bought it once years ago, and assumed it kept me "safe".

Believe me, I'm no guru (I think I've demonstrated that quite well).

Are you saying it doesn't do what it says it does?
/shocked.

HUH? I have installed the OS and Adobe apps and MS Office 2008.
And Flash. Somehow Growl was installed. WTF? I didn't do it and yet there it is...
I know this isn't part of Apples OS installer..... how did this happen?

I have Perian installed on my system and just checked to be sure. Yet I have not had any updates to it in forever.
Why?
Cuz they shut down.

http://perian.org

They recommend something called Nice Player.

Okay, I always have to explain myself even though I never lie and I'm always right.

Although LittleSnitch advertises all of the "security" benefits it offers, they have to sell it, right? it's main use is to block hacked apps from calling home for registration or to check for updates which may break the hacked app. It's one of those "this is what it's used for" apps wink wink, or wink.

The rest of the blocked connections one chooses are mainly the developer of the app trying to collect data from cookies about the software they've worked hard to develop to make it better for you in the future. Some say it slows the network down more than helps by checking the multiple IP addresses each web page goes to, especially after the Snitch database grows after long term use.

But what do I know.

We do agree on something, and I won't mention the new member you accidentally banned.

I know Perian is EOL, but for For SL Perian is fine for now. Perian interacts with QT to play video natively. MPlayerX will play what QT 7 or X won't. Just haven't tried Nice. It's a stand-alone app as compared to Perian interacting with QT so it's not really a 1-1 replacement as you need choose it if you need it. With what I recommended QT 7 or X plays everything I've needed, if not sometimes you just need to go to "Open With/MplayerX."