More information and the desktop download here

Yes you read that right. I said Mac, as in Mac OSX. Despite what some fanboys and fangirls wish to believe and claim, Macs can and do get viruses. There may not be as many viruses as on Windows but there are viruses for Mac that can really mess up your computer.

• Price: Free
• Rating: 10/10
• OS: Mac OSX Tiger (10.4), Leopard (10.5) and Snow Leopard (10.6)

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition is a very nice, clean program for Mac OSX. Once you open the application for the first time, you can access the application from the icon on the menu bar. It scans easily and quickly (as quick as it can scan all the files on my mac).

The one important thing this app does is that it locks most of the settings by default, requiring a password to change them. This is very important if you share a computer or don’t trust the idiots at your school/work to keep their hands off your stuff while you do something else for a split second.

Word Processing/Spreadsheets/Presentations

• Office 11 is a great application suite. I love Word 11, Powerpoint 11, and Excel 11. But for those who love open source or prefer something free,Open Office is a great alternative.
• For those happy enough with online alternatives, Google Docs and Office Online work for smaller documents.

Anti-Virus

• Yes, Macs can get viruses, anyone telling you otherwise are lying. Macs just can’t get Windows viruses. A nice and free way to protect your mac is Sophos.

DVD Ripping

• HandBreak is an amazing application for ripping DVDs to create backups. Just remember, the DVDs should be ones you own before ripping them to your computer.

School Planners

• iStudez Pro is great but if you are fine without the nice UI and customization, MyHomework is a decent alternative.

Where to get it- scratch.mit.edu

Rating- 6/10

Platforms- Mac OSX, Windows, Linux

Scratch? What’s that?

Scratch is a basic programming language with a simple drag and drop UI mostly geared for kids developed by a group at MIT. My Intro to Computing class used it last semester for many of the labs.

I found it not overly difficult to use for simple projects. The scripts were all labeled and easy to read. With everything being drag and drop, it was simple to add new sprites or new scripts to the sprite(s) or stage. However, when I started to dive into more complex projects, it was difficult to figure out what I needed without it clearly stated in the lab directions. I would suggest looking at some of the sample projects in the program or projects listed online that are similar to what you wish to create to get an idea of what scripts you may need for your project.

When it comes to graphics, okay is the best you will likely get. They aren’t completely terrible but you won’t be developing the next Call of Duty with it either. The graphics are good enough for small games and projects. Can’t complain too much since the app is free. I will post a picture from a project that I did below.

Many of my classmates had issues with the Scratch program. This program is simple to use provided at least one of these two things occur:

• You understand what script(s) can give you the result you need
• You have detailed directions of what you need

So due to space constraints or lack of devices to run the OS, I need other people’s help in testing and reviewing educational apps for Windows and Android. If you would like to help, feel free to reply to this post or send me a message on twitter at @educationipod