I am pretty sure that I could do my professor work with these 25 apps but if any one was removed without replacement I would be severely handicapped.
NValt and Ulysses or Byword and Scrivener). These apps do not duplicate each other, on the contrary some of them are mentioned under more than one heading and some are used together (e.g. What would I choose? To answer this, I have made a mission critical list of 25 apps in five categories. Also imagine that I am not bound to any historical file or data formats.
Well, there are over 250 items in my Applications folder, but how many do I need to remain productive? So imagine that I have a completely new Mac with no software (except OS and its standard apps). A reader has just challenged me to re-think the software I use for academic work on Mac.