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What are some “must have” Mac OS X programs?

My new Macbook Pro 13" notebook should arrive this monday. And I can't wait!

I am a long (looong) time Windows user. And after a good week of researching, I am still somewhat in the dark as far as which applications are "must-haves" on Mac OSX.

I would be very greatful if you guys would recommend your favorite applications. I'm looking for recommendations in the following categories...

  • General use applications: File-compression applications, peer-to-peer applications, CD/DVD ripping/burning applications, messaging applications, etc.
  • Web-development applications: Code editors, graphic design applications, and everything in between
  • Must-have-cannot-live-without applications: Things like Growl and other applications that live within Mac OSX's preference panel
  • Virtiualization applications: VMware Fusion, Parallels, etc.
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Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac - this version is an absolute steal for the Mac, you get the full versions of Adobe bridge CS4 and Adobe camera raw for about half the price of Lightroom or Aperture, and you get a proper photo editor as well.

Virtualbox - A free, cross-platform virtualizer that lets you run the same VM on windows, Mac, Solaris or Linux. I use virtualbox VM's for commercial work all day every day and see no reason to pay for fusion or parallels.

Tuxera - Full NTFS read/write support for the mac. There is a free, open-source version, and a commercial version that I am still evaluating but so far seems to be worth the money if you are a heavy user of NTFS volumes.

Handbrake for ripping DVDs (requires VLC)  and converting to different formats.

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StuffIt Expander for compression

Pidgin or Microsoft Messenger for Mac, for Windows Live's instant messaging protocol

There's a uTorrent for Mac.

I personally use Coda to code my PHP applications.

TextMate is a (very) powerful not-just-a-text-editor text editor.

I also use DropBox (cross-platform) to get files across my Mac and Windows computers. Very useful - you can access your files from the net as well.

And you'll need the VLC Media Player

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