After a non-catastrophic hard drive failure on my laptop, I got to do a clean install of Windows XP. This made me realize how many programs I now use that are open source or freeware. Not too many years ago, a reformat for me meant countless crackz & updating software meant using kazaa to find the latest warez. Now nearly all software I use is open source or free and generally superior to its commercial counterpart.

• 7-zip - This program will handle nearly any type of compressed file (with the notable exception of .ace). Its pretty solid and supports drag and drop. - Replaces WinZip & WinRar
• Daemon Tools - Daemon tools is a CD emulator, needed if you want to mount CD or DVD images. This download is freeware, but it comes bundled with a spywareish toolbar which can be deselected from the install. - Replaces Alcohol 120%
• Filezilla - This is a great FTP program. It keeps getting better with every new release. - Replaces lots of less fun FTP applications
• WinSCP - I also use this for file transfers, mainly because it can untar/gz a file. I know thats lame.
• PuTTY - a telnet/ssh client
• iTunes - This is media player has the best interface for playing and sorting mp3s. Also, now that I have an iPhone, I have to use it to sync things. - Replaces Windows Media Player
• VLC - VLC will play the media files that windows media player won’t touch. Its also very lightweight, although the interface is not as smooth. - Replaces Windows Media Player
• Keepass Password Safe - Got lots of passwords? Keepass will help you store them securely and also can generate pretty tricky passwords & help you sort them. - Replaces random text files or spreadsheets.
• Firefox - This is the web browser of choice. Add extensions to enable firefox to do all sorts of things. - Replaces Internet Explorer
• PDFCreator - Make a pdf from printing any document - Replaces Adobe Acrobat
• TightVNC - Remotely control a computer
• uTorrent - a very lightweight and solid BitTorrent client
• InfraRecorder - Open source CD & DVD burning - Replaces Nero & Roxio
• Notepad++ - Text editor with everything you need - Replaces notepad
• Open Office - This is a full featured replacement for MS Office. There is very little difference between the two except the price tag. - Replaces MS Office
• Multiple IEs - As a web developer, I need to test my sites in multiple and outdated browsers. Multiple IEs lets me have internet explorer 6 & 7 installed simultaneously. (Note, I use IE for testing purposes only)
• NetMeter - I used to use dumeter
• Snitter - A great twitter client built on Adobe Air

Commercial Software I still use:

• Symantec Antivirus - Its good to have antivirus.
• Adobe CS3 Suite - This is pretty key for a web developer. I use photoshop, illustrator & occasionally indesign.
• Quicken - I use this to track my personal finances. I think the new web application mint.com might be able to replace Quicken at some point.
• Quickbooks - This is the industry standard for small business accounting. I track our expenses and account balances with Quickbooks. I use the online web application Freshbooks for accounts receivable (That was a referral link). I would love to be able to replace Quickbooks with an online application, and it seems like Freshbooks might move this direction.

Thats pretty much everything on my computer at the moment. I only use google chat through my web browser, and I guess I don’t have any games.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007    Trackback