Readers' Choice Awards Winners 2011 for Best Mac Applications
It’s official: The best Mac applications for 2011 have been selected. As you may know, the Readers' Choice Awards are entirely driven by you, the readers of the About.com network. The guides who run the individual sites, such as About: Macs, chose the categories for the awards, but our readers selected the nominees and then voted for the winners.
This year's nominations and voting were thrilling to watch, with various nominees in the lead, only to see another contender close in or shoot ahead.
In some cases, the battle was a seesaw event, with the lead changing hands multiple times during voting.
The Readers' Choice Awards 2011 encompassed 7 Mac categories. Some categories enjoyed fever pitch battles, but in the end, each category saw one winner pull away from the pack, sometimes on the last day of voting.
Best Mac System Utility
Best Mac Backup Application
Best Mac Browser
Best Application for Running Windows
Best Mac Word Processor
Best Mac Consumer Image Editor
Best Mac Home Theater Application or Product
CleanMyMac - Readers' Choice Awards 2011 Winner in the System Utility Category
CleanMyMac took top honors in the Mac System Utility category, gathering 49% of the votes. But it wasn't easy; the Mac System Utility category saw the lead change hands multiple times between the two top contenders. In the end, CleanMyMac pulled ahead and held on through the last few days of voting.
CleanMyMac is an easy-to-use application that can find all of the leftover stuff that's clogging up your Mac and taking up precious drive space.
Once it finds them, CleanMyMac can remove these items and give both your Mac and your hard drive a little breathing room. CleanMyMac was also selected as a Tom's Software Pick in 2010.
CleanMyMac - 49%
1Password - 35%
Onyx - 6%
Cocktail - 5%
QuickSilver - 3%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Carbon Copy Cloner - Best Mac Application in the Mac Backup Category
Carbon Copy Cloner walked away with the Readers' Choice Award in the Mac Backup Application category for the second year in a row. What started as a close race in the first week of voting soon saw Carbon Copy Cloner steadily pull away and finish with 48% of the votes.
Carbon Copy Cloner from Bombich Software has come a long way from its original incarnation. What was once just a tool for Mac geeks to clone startup drives is now a top-notch cloning and backup utility for Mac users of all experience levels.
Carbon Copy Cloner - 48%
CrashPlan - 30%
Time Machine - 13%
SuperDuper - 5%
ChronoSync - 1%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Safari - Best Mac Application in the Mac Browser Category
Safari took the top spot in the Mac Browser category, earning 28% of the votes. The browser category saw a great deal of diversity, with no browser gaining a huge lead. Safari started out with an early lead, but four of the five contenders pulled within reach as voting drew to a close. Safari hung on, though, and won this year's Readers' Choice Award for best Mac browser.
Safari is Apple's default web browser; it ships with every copy of OS X.
Safari offers many unique features, including thumbnail displays of your Top Sites. In addition, Safari is fast, one of the top performers in rendering a web site.
Safari - 28%
Camino - 22%
Firefox - 21%
Chrome - 19%
Stainless - 7%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Parallels - Best Mac Application for Running Windows
Parallels took the top spot, winning this year's Readers' Choice Awards in the Best Application for Running Windows category. This category was one of the most heated races, with the two top contenders changing leads often during voting. But after the halfway point, Parallels gained momentum and kept going to widen a lead it never give up.
Parallels allows Intel Mac users to run both OS X and Windows (or Linux) at the same time.
Optimized for Windows 7 and supporting its Aero-based user interface, Parallels lets you seamlessly run Windows and the Mac OS side-by-side.
Parallels - 51%
VMWare Fusion - 45%
Boot Camp - 1%
Oracle VirtualBox - 1%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Nisus Writer Pro - Best Mac Application in the Mac Word Processor Category
Nisus Writer Pro was voted the best Mac word processor for the second year in a row. This year, however, Nisus Writer Pro had some stiff competition that kept the contest close during the early days of voting. But as time was running out, Nisus Writer Pro kept pulling away until it was the clear winner.
Nisus Writer Pro is a word processor with a clean, smooth interface that lets you concentrate on writing.
The interface is a cinch to customize, and creating and editing style sheets is just as easy.
Nisus Writer Pro - 38%
Pages - 27%
Microsoft Word 2011 - 25%
Mariner Write - 8%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Pixelmator did it again, grabbing the top spot as the best Mac image editor for the second year in a row. The Best Mac Consumer Image Editor category started out with a pretty even distribution of votes, but just like last year, by the midpoint, Pixelmator took a lead that just continued to grow. In the end, Pixelmator was once again the hands-down winner of the Readers' Choice Awards in the Mac Consumer Image Editor category.
Pixelmator from Pixelmator Team Ltd. was one of the first Core Image-aware applications I ever ran across, back in 2007. Core Image provides pixel-accurate, real-time, non-destructive image editing, and Pixelmator made use of the then-new technology in an amazing editing application. It's still amazing.
Pixelmator - 51%
Acorn - 20%
Photoshop Elements - 11%
iPhoto - 11%
Graphic Converter - 6%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Plex is the first-ever winner in the Best Mac Home Theater Application or Product category. The category is new this year, and is evidence of the Mac's growing popularity in home theater environments. Plex started off strong and never looked back, galloping off to cross the finish line well ahead of its rivals.
Plex is media center software that can catalog and play a wide range of audio, video, and image formats.
Plex software uses a 'big screen' interface, letting you control the software easily from across the room while you watch your big screen TV.
Plex - 55%
EyeTV - 20%
Apple TV - 9%
VLC - 8 %
Netflix Streaming - 6%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
It’s official: The best Mac applications for 2011 have been selected. As you may know, the Readers' Choice Awards are entirely driven by you, the readers of the About.com network. The guides who run the individual sites, such as About: Macs, chose the categories for the awards, but our readers selected the nominees and then voted for the winners.
This year's nominations and voting were thrilling to watch, with various nominees in the lead, only to see another contender close in or shoot ahead.
In some cases, the battle was a seesaw event, with the lead changing hands multiple times during voting.
The Readers' Choice Awards 2011 encompassed 7 Mac categories. Some categories enjoyed fever pitch battles, but in the end, each category saw one winner pull away from the pack, sometimes on the last day of voting.
About: Macs Readers' Choice Awards 2011 Categories
Best Mac System Utility
Best Mac Backup Application
Best Mac Browser
Best Application for Running Windows
Best Mac Word Processor
Best Mac Consumer Image Editor
Best Mac Home Theater Application or Product
CleanMyMac - Readers' Choice Awards 2011 Winner in the System Utility Category
CleanMyMac took top honors in the Mac System Utility category, gathering 49% of the votes. But it wasn't easy; the Mac System Utility category saw the lead change hands multiple times between the two top contenders. In the end, CleanMyMac pulled ahead and held on through the last few days of voting.
CleanMyMac is an easy-to-use application that can find all of the leftover stuff that's clogging up your Mac and taking up precious drive space.
Once it finds them, CleanMyMac can remove these items and give both your Mac and your hard drive a little breathing room. CleanMyMac was also selected as a Tom's Software Pick in 2010.
Final Vote Tally
CleanMyMac - 49%
1Password - 35%
Onyx - 6%
Cocktail - 5%
QuickSilver - 3%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Carbon Copy Cloner - Best Mac Application in the Mac Backup Category
Carbon Copy Cloner walked away with the Readers' Choice Award in the Mac Backup Application category for the second year in a row. What started as a close race in the first week of voting soon saw Carbon Copy Cloner steadily pull away and finish with 48% of the votes.
Carbon Copy Cloner from Bombich Software has come a long way from its original incarnation. What was once just a tool for Mac geeks to clone startup drives is now a top-notch cloning and backup utility for Mac users of all experience levels.
Final Vote Tally
Carbon Copy Cloner - 48%
CrashPlan - 30%
Time Machine - 13%
SuperDuper - 5%
ChronoSync - 1%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Safari - Best Mac Application in the Mac Browser Category
Safari took the top spot in the Mac Browser category, earning 28% of the votes. The browser category saw a great deal of diversity, with no browser gaining a huge lead. Safari started out with an early lead, but four of the five contenders pulled within reach as voting drew to a close. Safari hung on, though, and won this year's Readers' Choice Award for best Mac browser.
Safari is Apple's default web browser; it ships with every copy of OS X.
Safari offers many unique features, including thumbnail displays of your Top Sites. In addition, Safari is fast, one of the top performers in rendering a web site.
Final Vote Tally
Safari - 28%
Camino - 22%
Firefox - 21%
Chrome - 19%
Stainless - 7%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Parallels - Best Mac Application for Running Windows
Parallels took the top spot, winning this year's Readers' Choice Awards in the Best Application for Running Windows category. This category was one of the most heated races, with the two top contenders changing leads often during voting. But after the halfway point, Parallels gained momentum and kept going to widen a lead it never give up.
Parallels allows Intel Mac users to run both OS X and Windows (or Linux) at the same time.
Optimized for Windows 7 and supporting its Aero-based user interface, Parallels lets you seamlessly run Windows and the Mac OS side-by-side.
Final Vote Tally
Parallels - 51%
VMWare Fusion - 45%
Boot Camp - 1%
Oracle VirtualBox - 1%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Nisus Writer Pro - Best Mac Application in the Mac Word Processor Category
Nisus Writer Pro was voted the best Mac word processor for the second year in a row. This year, however, Nisus Writer Pro had some stiff competition that kept the contest close during the early days of voting. But as time was running out, Nisus Writer Pro kept pulling away until it was the clear winner.
Nisus Writer Pro is a word processor with a clean, smooth interface that lets you concentrate on writing.
The interface is a cinch to customize, and creating and editing style sheets is just as easy.
Final Vote Tally
Nisus Writer Pro - 38%
Pages - 27%
Microsoft Word 2011 - 25%
Mariner Write - 8%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Pixelmator did it again, grabbing the top spot as the best Mac image editor for the second year in a row. The Best Mac Consumer Image Editor category started out with a pretty even distribution of votes, but just like last year, by the midpoint, Pixelmator took a lead that just continued to grow. In the end, Pixelmator was once again the hands-down winner of the Readers' Choice Awards in the Mac Consumer Image Editor category.
Pixelmator from Pixelmator Team Ltd. was one of the first Core Image-aware applications I ever ran across, back in 2007. Core Image provides pixel-accurate, real-time, non-destructive image editing, and Pixelmator made use of the then-new technology in an amazing editing application. It's still amazing.
Final Vote Tally
Pixelmator - 51%
Acorn - 20%
Photoshop Elements - 11%
iPhoto - 11%
Graphic Converter - 6%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
Plex is the first-ever winner in the Best Mac Home Theater Application or Product category. The category is new this year, and is evidence of the Mac's growing popularity in home theater environments. Plex started off strong and never looked back, galloping off to cross the finish line well ahead of its rivals.
Plex is media center software that can catalog and play a wide range of audio, video, and image formats.
Plex software uses a 'big screen' interface, letting you control the software easily from across the room while you watch your big screen TV.
Final Vote Tally
Plex - 55%
EyeTV - 20%
Apple TV - 9%
VLC - 8 %
Netflix Streaming - 6%
Note: Due to rounding errors, voting percentages may not total 100%.
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