I bought my first MAC

After using both, I highly recommend Aperture 2 over Lightroom. Both are very comparable, but Aperture will make better use of your multi-core cpu and graphics hardware.

Some other benefits of Aperture: are built-in backup system. Tight integration with the OS, and scriptable.

But in the end you really can't go wrong with either option.

In terms of Photoshop, many Mac users are starting to switch to Pixelmator ($60.00). http://www.pixelmator.​com/. Gimp is also an option.

kevitivity wrote in post #8808622
After using both, I highly recommend Aperture 2 over Lightroom. Both are very comparable, but Aperture will make better use of your multi-core cpu and graphics hardware.

Some other benefits of Aperture: are built-in backup system. Tight integration with the OS, and scriptable.

But in the end you really can't go wrong with either option.

In terms of Photoshop, many Mac users are starting to switch to Pixelmator ($60.00). http://www.pixelmator.​com/. Gimp is also an option.

OP states a24" iMac, which has only two cores anyway. Both LR2 and Aperture will make full use of both. As for graphics, neither of them actually utilizes the opencl capabilities in 10.6, so both are the same again.
For 4core and more systems though, LR2 does exhibit a glitch that restricts the threads to running on only a quarter or so of the the total possible threads. But that can be negated by parallel batching.

basroil wrote in post #8809085
OP states a24" iMac, which has only two cores anyway. Both LR2 and Aperture will make full use of both. As for graphics, neither of them actually utilizes the opencl capabilities in 10.6, so both are the same again.

Aperture has used the gpu (nVida 8xxx/9xxx and ATI 2xxx, 4xxx) since its inception. It does so with Core Imaging. (Pixelmator also uses Core Image to leverage the gpu, which it is substantially faster than Photoshop for a variety of tasks.) When Aperture 3 comes out (hopefully by January) it will in all likelihood use Open CL.

I'm on week one of trial of Aperture. Honestly, regardless of the features, it boils down to image quality. I can get the same effects, just as quickly with DPP and iPhoto.

I haven't used DPP too extensively, but iPhoto isn't really comparable to Aperture (or LR for that matter).

Is your 24" iMac display too bright? This seems to be a chronic problem with the earlier 24" iMacs - once you start editing images and finding that they come back way too dark in print, you may need to address this issue. It will be interesting to see how your prints match up with your screen images.

Have fun!

Kirk

Question...
Can I install DPP on my Mac?

Yes.

well that answers all my questions.
Since I can still use DPP, I will need to figure out what program I will need to convert RAW to JPEG for printing... Any ideas?

^
Not sure I understand the question, as you would use DPP to convert RAW to jpg.

Ok. let me explain my normal workflow..

I shoot in raw.
Use DPP for white balance ( best i've used )
Use DPP for curves and color management
Use DPP for jpeg convert

Now what would be a good program to use to crop to print sizes and maybe some better sharpnening?

Well, if you pick up Elements, you can straighten horizons and use Photoshop sharpening. DPP crops but doesn't straighten.

Elements 8 for the Mac has the plus of being able to use Bridge to open a Raw file in the full-featured ACR Raw processor, which gives you even more possibilities for Raw processing.

Ok... so you're looking for a Pixel-editor, without buying CSx...(based on earlier posts.)

There you have Photoshop Elements 8, Gimp, and I'm not a mac user but I think Iphoto has sharpening capabilities (just not sure how much.) Though after using CS, iPhoto will likely seem underpowered, Elements will be more familiar, but missing some tools (true curves, masking, among a few others... all depends on which you use and if you search for workarounds) and many longtime users have difficulty with Gimp because its tool layout, icons, and naming is different than in Photoshop.

tonylong wrote in post #8813934
Elements 8 for the Mac has the plus of being able to use Bridge to open a Raw file in the full-featured ACR Raw processor, which gives you even more possibilities for Raw processing.

Great point.

spcalan wrote in post #8813894
Now what would be a good program to use to crop to print sizes and maybe some better sharpnening?

iPhoto, Image Browser or The GIMP for free. Pixelmator for US$60 (I love this app). Photoshop Elements for US$90. Photoshop CS4 for a few hundred $$$.