About.com — a web site expert, quality content that helps users find solutions to a wide range of daily needs — is now hosting its 5th annual Readers’ Choice Awards. The awards give About’s 60 million monthly viewers the opportunity to nominate and vote for their favorite must-have products and services.
Several of the award categories relate to the Mac (best Mac browser, best Mac system utility, best Mac Image editor, etc.). The site is currently accepting nominations for Mac categories at http://macs.about.com/od/readertoreader/tp/Readers-Choice-Awards-2012-Nominate-Your-Favorite-Mac-Products.htm .
Here’s a description of the categories from About.com:
° “The Best Mac System Utility is a wide-open Reader’s Choice Awards category. We’re looking for any application that provides features that are missing from OS X, makes it easier to use OS X, provides access to hidden or secret OS capabilities, or just provides a better user experience.”
° “The Best Mac Backup Application category is open to any backup app that at a minimum is able to back up the user’s data. Last year, we restricted the backup category to apps that could create local backups, on another internal hard drive, an external drive, or a network drive. This year, we’re opening up the nominations to any backup software, including those that are web- or cloud-based. The only limitation is that they must work with the Mac and must be able to back up the user’s data.”
° “For the Best Mac Browser category, you can submit nominations for any Mac browser you like, and for any reason. Perhaps there is a browser whose user interface you really like, or which has the best plug-in(s) for a service you use. The reason it’s your favorite doesn’t matter; all that is required is that it be a Mac-based web browser.”
° “Best Application for Running Windows: For this category, we’re interested in how you run Windows on your Mac. This category is open to any application or service that allows you to run Windows or Windows applications on your Mac. If you have a favorite way to run Windows on your Mac, submit a nomination.”
° “The Best Mac Word Processor category is open to any application whose primary function is to provide word-processing capabilities. This includes both stand-alone apps and apps bundled into a suite of tools. And this year for the first time, we’re including cloud- and web-based word processors in the mix.”
° “The Best Mac Image Editor category is open to just about any application whose primary purpose is editing still images. This year, we’re including both consumer and professional image editing applications, because the dividing line has blurred so much that it’s getting difficult to distinguish between them.”
° “Best Mac Home Theater App or Product: One of the most popular topics here at About: Macs is how to get a Mac and an HDTV connected. With that in mind, this category is all about using your Mac in a home entertainment system. We would like to know what your favorite Mac application is for working with video and images in your home entertainment system. This category isn’t limited to software; we will also accept nominations for hardware products as long as they work with a Mac.”
° “The Best Mac Peripheral Reseller is a brand-new category this year. We’re asking where (other than directly from Apple) you prefer to buy Mac-related products. When you’re in the market for RAM, hard drives, printers, displays, and other Mac peripherals, where do you go first?”
