Look up ZTerm to communicate over the serial port.
http://www.dalverson.com/zterm/
You'll need to build or locate a Mac serial port cable, and learn how the PK-232 works
http://www.repeater-builder.com/aea/pk232/pk232mbx-operating-manual.pdf
Zterm is a great terminal program for serial connections. Has built in text pacing that is adjustable, super helpful for pasting very large configs (and not overrunning the buffer which causes weird character drops).
Loading IOS via xmodem is pretty painful. I remember some early Cisco APs that came with a non-IOS and got upgraded to at least semi-IOS that I had to do. Didn't realize it would take so long, so I did it 'on-site' with a laptop on top of a cable rack mission: impossible style.
If you were on a Mac I'd suggest Zterm which I am constantly amazed I still use as i first got it from my brother to call local BBS systems in the 90s.
Sounds like you got it fixed, though!
If you are looking for a serial console terminal app, look up zterm (http://www.dalverson.com/zterm/).
For telnet and ssh to remote systems, open the terminal.app built in app and just enter "telnet host" or "ash host". I also like iTerm as mentioned here- the main difference between iTerm and Terminal is that iTerm is a bunch more flexible with colors, terminal emulation control, and other miscellaneous stuff