NetCraft confirms it! ;)

...a Beowulf Cluster of Circular Refuges. Across all of the social networks. Covered in hot grits. ;)

I come at this from a completely different viewpoint, having only recently dipped my toes into Linux - for me, a package manager is a relatively new concept. The nearest I've come to it previously has been with Apple's App Store, both for iOS and now OSX - plenty of choice, sometimes too much choice.

As far as manually installing apps goes, it usually boils down to double-clicking on the DMG file to mount it, then either running the installation package or dragging the app file to your Applications folder.

In theory, uninstalling apps is as simple as dragging the app file to the Trash. I say 'in theory' because apps do leave behind some detritus formed by using them - thankfully not to the same degree as Windows, but it is there. For suites of apps like Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Cloud, there tends to be a lot more extra stuff deposited onto your system besides the apps themselves.

Sadly, updates do tend to be on a per-app basis, with the exception of those acquired through the App Store, which handles the update process.

First, the essentials for me, on my iMac (many of which moved with my from PC background) :

Google Chrome - go-to web browser. (Safari just doesn't cut it, Firefox is good but doesn't work quite the way I'd like it to.)
VLC - the media player that will play anything!
F.lux - mentioned elsewhere in comments, this adjusts monitor brightness from daytime to nighttime.
Pathfinder - excellent power-user file manager for OSX.
DaisyDisk - find where all that hard disk space has gone.
CleanMyMac 2 - scrub the detritus from OSX and apps.
Torrent - for my torrenting needs. :)
Parallels Desktop - for when I need to run Windows software.
Mozilla Thunderbird - my mail manager of choice.
FontExplorer X Pro - organise and manage font library, root out dupes and duds.
Last.fm - because here in the UK at least, I can still listen to full tracks. Still the best way to find where to buy particular tracks.
Spotify - I still love my MP3s, but this way I can legally share the love.
Sophos Anti-Virus - because I know better than to believe the hype about Macs being less at risk.
LastPass / XMarks - recent addition, no more hassle losing passwords or bookmarks between browsers.
DesktopServer - for Wordpress site development and deployment.
Toast Titanium - still need to burn the occasional disc.
Steam - need I say more?
Pocket - where my read-later stuff goes.
Alfred - Like Spotlight, but with brains.

There are a few Windows apps that I miss, because there isn't a good Mac equivalent :

TeraCopy - Pathfinder does bulk copy operations, but doesn't support CRC checking / diff.
Everything - Spotlight is good, most of the time, but not fast. Alfred is better, but still no speed demon.

I used to use Beyond Compare for work purposes back when I was involved in USB flash device duplication - great for checking master copies prior to duplication, and double-checking selected duplicate sticks during duplication.

Along those lines, I'd also recommend TeraCopy - fast file copying with the option of CRC checking to spot any corrupted or missing files.

I must admit, I didn't buy a new version of Office for personal use for a long time (last PC version was Office 2000), and only got Office 2011 for Mac because I was found a cheap deal off eBay, plus Pages couldn't digest some of the Word documents I needed to use.

Given that there's no indication that Microsoft are going to do a new version of Office for Mac any time soon, I'm now looking into trying LibreOffice.

Worst part is that because I only occasionally need to crack open Word, Excel or Powerpoint, when I do want to do so I invariably have to wait whilst Microsoft AutoUpdate installs the latest update.

Best part, though, is that Office for Mac has an actual proper menu - I would probably go insane trying to use the fecking Ribbon!

I'll second that. Especially for big screens. (I have a 27" iMac.) Only caveat is that it's not so good if you're doing graphic work and want to be sure that your colours are correct - but then, if you're working into the evening or night I daresay you have other problems you need to deal with first.

I recently revisited some of my old haunts on Usenet. Only a few are still active, the rest are just barren wastes save for the occasional spam rolling by. Ironically, it was Google (thanks to acquiring the old Dejanews archives and turning it into Google Groups) rather than AOL who started the rot. AOL just let the newbies loose - Google turned the volume up to 11.

Now we have a World Wide Web where everyone and their dog is a social media / SEO 'expert', Facebook is becoming a walled garden so overgrown that no-one can see or hear you unless you have wads of cash handy, Google won't show you in search unless you submit yourself to Google+, and trolls run rampant whilst their victims are told to tough it out or get out.

Good point. Over at deviantART, they have an official development / Beta-testing group (#devBUG) with bug-tracking database and a line to the development team (Devious Technology). Also, if you're a paying user, you can join the Beta Test program at any time in order to test out new features before they're put into general use.

There can only be one Interrobang. :)

Er... wow.

I think the clue is in the word 'beta'. The whole point of this exercise is for users to help Slashdot iron out the kinks in the new design. As far as I'm aware, they are not forcing people to use the Beta site, and you can still use the 'classic' site in the meantime.

From an aesthetic viewpoint, it certainly doesn't look that bad - if it were faux-MySpace, I might be able to understand the anger. As it is, if you're really *that* opposed to change of Slashdot's look, either pitch ideas for a design that improves on how the site currently works, or help identify the problems with the proposed redesign. Clogging up the site with this neo-Luddite whinging will most likely get you nowhere, and if you decide to go elsewhere I suspect you won't be missed.