Leaving development tools aside (ahem, Visual Studio, ahem), what are your favorite software titles? You know, the ones you use daily, are truly useful, you couldn’t live without, and are just plain fun. Here are mine, in no particular order:
- Microsoft OneNote 2007 – This is such a little known piece of software, but one that organizes almost everything I do throughout the day. I’ve taken a few recommendations from some sites here and there and implemented my own Getting Things Done (great book too) system using OneNote. If you find yourself scribbling down things on paper or typing things up in random text files that are strewn all over the place, you should give OneNote a try.
I’ve got two notebooks setup, one for work and one for everything else. They both have pretty much the same structure/sections: Today; Current Month; Active Projects; and Archive. Each of those contains pages with information tagged with customized OneNote tags (Processing, Project, Follow-up, etc).
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 – I’ve mentioned it here before, I know, but it’s great software that takes care of all things photos.
- Trillian – I’ve been using this multi-service chat client for many years now. It works and is always running on my machine.
- TrueCrypt – Transparent and on-the-fly encryption. What’s not to love. I use it in conjunction with the next entry.
- KeePass – A couple months ago I got sick and tired of resetting my passwords on a slew of online sites. So I found this great utility. I’ve always avoided using password keepers in the past, but finally gave in. It takes security serious, and I store its data file in a TrueCrypt volume.
- Snaptune One – They appear to be out of business now, but I use it to record AM/FM radio with my RadioShark on Vista, since the original software doesn’t work on Vista.
- Windows Media Encoder – I don’t use this nearly as much as I used to, but recently got it back up and running. I use it in combination with Windows Media Server to stream XM Radio and the RadioShark, so on the rare occasions I’m not here at my desk, I can still have audio choices.
- ISO Recorder – I make images of the mini-dvds from my camcorder.
Anyone care to share their favorites?
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3 responses to “Favorite Software?”
Slickrun. Enlarge the font, set the time/date format, enlarge the window and set it in the top center of the right screen. No need for the clock in the system tray, plus it’s configured with shortcuts to every app, utility and website that I use.
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1) UltraVnc. I use this daily to control my servers and even my desktop.
2) PuttY. I love SSH. In fact I am surfing through it right now.
3) I would have to second OneNote 2007. I don’t use it as much as I should, but it is very useful.
4) Lightroom, of course.
It is interesting how the lists differ between a software guy and a network guy, isn’t it?
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Two thumbs up for putty and ultravnc – I tend to take those sort of things for granted!
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