We all get set in our ways as far as the apps we use day-to-day goes. I know there are apps I wouldn’t turn away from for the world…or would I? Being the geeky sort I live and die by my text editor. There are days (weeks) that my text editor pretty much never closes. For a long time I used Smultron, but the developer decided that he needed to focus on other (paying) project. So I switched to TextWrangler, sure I could have kept with the app I liked, but it already had to be patched to keep up with OS X and I didn’t know when the next update might kill it.
Earlier this week Andrew Nacin tweeted about Smultron’s open-sourced successor Fraise and then Lifehacker posted about it as well which got me thinking that I should give Fraise another try.
So I am.
Which brings me back to the title of this post.
When was the last time you checked out other options for the things you do?
Seriously. Are you putting up with an app just because you don’t have another option? Have you tried Chrome or Safari instead of Firefox? Have you tried Open Office or iWork instead of MS Office? NetNewsWire or FeedDemon instead of Google Reader online?
Now why is this worth while?
First, you could find a better option and way of doing things. Second you could find that, yep you do have the best app for you…and why it’s the best app for you.
If you’re looking for app alternatives, ask in the comments. Chances are, I can find something for you!
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I'm always looking for alternatives. Not too actively, but if one presents itself, I want to try it out and see if it's better than what I'm running that week.
I'm kind of like a nomad when it comes to software. Yes, we all have our optimal development environment, but all I need is any decent browser, text editor, sometimes an FTP editor, a CLI, etc. One thing that would be awesome is shared bookmarks across browsers, because it would mean I would start using bookmarks. On any given day, I'm developing in Firefox, browsing in Chrome, and running Safari when I needed it. When I was on Windows, I'd use Opera as my third-string browser (and it would get playing time). Currently my dock includes three text editors and all are open with various documents.
You might try Xmarks. I'm using it to keep all those browsers in sync.