Sunday, November 14, 2010

Must Have Software for a New Windows 7 System

Well, I have been setting another new Windows 7 Home 64 bit machine. So this is my updated list of must have software. Most are free and open source.

Browsers
I run multiple browsers almost all the time. Firefox as a development and default browser. Chrome or Safari for web surfing, and SeaMonkey for those multiple profile sort of situations.

  • Firefox - Best overall browser and best for development.

  • Chrome - Fast browser from Google. Minimalist interface.
  • Safari - Default browser for a Mac. Small and fast like Chrome.
  • SeaMonkey - Based on the original Netscape browser. Supports multiple profiles.  Can run 2 or 3 browsers, each with its own set of bookmarks.

Internet
Internet utililies and cloud applications.

  • Drop Box - A disk drive stored in the cloud. Provides access to a disk from Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Linux, you name it. A must if you want to move files between different platforms and devices.
  • Filezilla - A secure FTP client for Windows. A must for transferring files to and from a Unix system. FTP and SFTP is supported. Lots of features.
  • Pidgin - Open source chat client for Windows. Used to be know as GAIM.
  • Putty - Windows SSH and Telnet client. A must if you do any Linux or Unix work.
  • Skype - Free Internet phone service and chat. You can group chat with up to 5 people
  • Thunderbird - Mozilla's awesome e-mail client.


Development
  • ActivePerl - Perl for Windows.
  • Cygwin - Want a Bash shell on Windows? Want some of your favorite Unix utilities?  Then Cygwin is for you.
  • Jedit - A really flexible programming editor written in Java.
  • Java - Install the 32 bit and 64 bit versions for 64 bit Windows. Just the 32 bit for 32 bit.
  • Komodo Edit - A cross platform open source programming editor. Lots of features for free. A commercial paid full featured IDE is also available.
  • Notepad++ - It is always a good idea to have a good native programming text editor around. For those times when you need a quick tweak or just want to view something. For Windows, Notepad++ is the best option out there.
  • NetBeans - A great Open Source Java IDE.

  • SQLite - File based SQL database.
  • Silk Svn Subversion Client - Windows 7 64 bit command line version.

Office
  • Open Office - Open source office suite.

  • Paint.net - Open source graphics program.  A basic photo app without all the features or price of Photoshop.
  • SVG Anti-Virus - Great free or paid anti-virus you can buy and install online.

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