Author Topic: software i love (Read 49643 times)

swing · « **on:** March 29, 2005, 11:31 PM »

A few apps that i have become quite dependant upon in my every day life:

Editplus - a very lightweight and fast, no bloat, yet featurerich editor - http://www.editplus.com/ (shareware)
Ethereal - a very nice network tool, essential for reverse engenering anything tcp related - http://www.ethereal.com/ (opensource)
SmartCVS - a really nice and easy to use cvs client - http://www.smartcvs.com/ (free foundation version and buyable professional version)
CyberKit - a very small and basic network tool with ping/traceroute/nslookup etc - http://www.cyberkit.net/ (postcardware) - homepage seems to be gone

Ozzy1 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2005, 02:39 AM »

The one software I can't be without at work or at home is
DirectoryOpus - www.gpsoft.com.au

swing · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2005, 10:34 AM »

Hehe sweet - i remember dir opus from the amiga days, and back then i couldn't live without it either. Maybe it is time i got reaquainted with it, thx for the tip!

Jibz · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2005, 10:57 AM »

Directory Opus does look quite competent .. I remember it from the Amiga days too

.

However, I am somewhat discouraged but the comparatively high price, and the restrictive upgrade policy and license

.

You can only install it on one machine .. what if you have a laptop too? buy another license!

And you get one year of point releases only .. if they release v9 in a month you have to pay again

.

But it seems to be one of the most advanced explorer replacements available.

Ozzy1 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2005, 11:40 AM »

It's rather steep price, but you get what you pay for.

I bought Version 6, there are free updates as long as they work on that version, Version 6 is now almost bugfree.

When the released version 8 (they skipped 7

) There was an upgrade fee. But Version 8 is a lightyear bigger / faster and better than Version 6. Think about it, if Windows2000 was almost bugfree, you wouldnt expect to get WinXP for free now would you? No, you get servicepacks. As long as the company works on your Version of the program you get free servicepacks.

And, Version 8 is really good. The prefs is so big you can get lost (but you dont need to, it works right out of the box), there are addons (free, made by other people like Mouser

You should really download it. It works in 30days with everything working. If I remember correct you can get another month by sending a mail or something.

And, no, I don't work for them, I am just an old Amiga-dude who likes software the programmers care about...

And remember... its Australian Pound... Not English Pound...

zridling · « **Reply #5 on:** April 23, 2005, 11:19 PM »

I depend a number of different apps daily, but the one I can't live without is DirSync. It works better than any other synching app I've come across.

Sentinel · « **Reply #6 on:** April 24, 2005, 12:32 PM »

If there were a single piece of software I couldn't live without, it would have to be 4NT from http://www.jpsoft.com

It is an excellent cmd.exe console replacement for Windows with more features than you can shake a stick at. Great for UNIX bash/tcsh addicts, batch programmers and anyone with an aversion to these weird clicky gui things, like me.

There is a lot of other stuff I also use on a daily basis, but I'll save that for another time.

rockin4459 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 24, 2005, 08:42 PM »

I depend a number of different apps daily, but the one I can't live without is DirSync. It works better than any other synching app I've come across.
-zridling (April 23, 2005, 11:19 PM)

I use a similar program from the guys at 2brightsparks called syncback. http://2britesparks.com I hope you like it.

Scott · « **Reply #8 on:** April 24, 2005, 10:33 PM »

There is no single bit of software I "couldn't live without". I've even made a point, recently, to remove software that I didn't really need; even if I liked having it around. But the top of my list consists of just a few applications:

Backup and restore reliability that won't nickle-and-dime you to death:
Image for DOS/Windows

Registry backup and restore (helps easily recover from shitware experiences):
ERUNT

The best HTTP-filtering application I've ever found, by far (uses Windows hooks for all-encompassing compatibility):
Ad Muncher

Firefox + 1,000 extensions - hours of your time =
Opera

The name says it all (well, almost; nothing is perfect)
Total Uninstall

mouser · « **Reply #9 on:** April 25, 2005, 12:50 AM »

i sounds like it might be useful to have a review on these dir sync apps, to the extent that they have a different function than beyond compare.

Scott · « **Reply #10 on:** April 25, 2005, 12:57 AM »

Yeah, and SmartSync Pro is another one. I used it for a long time, and very recently removed it in favor of Beyond Compare. The functionality isn't identical, but it does overlap.

SmartSync Pro has (I think) a very good interface, but from a glance, it looks like DirSync has it beat on features. (Actually, I'm not so sure now. I just looked at SmartSync Pro's feature list, and I see an awful lot of features I never used).

zridling · « **Reply #11 on:** April 25, 2005, 02:12 AM »

Great recommendations, Scott, and Rockin, the URL for 2BrightSparks is http://www.2brightsparks.com/ — thanks for sharing SyncBack/SE/Pro Rockin!

DirSync isn't elegant by any means, but its synching (sp?) performance and accuracy is true. I'll try SyncBackSE this week. Btw, I've really come to rely on Total Uninstall. Would that all apps were that good.

mouser · « **Reply #12 on:** April 25, 2005, 03:48 PM »

ive been using ashampoo uninstaller to track installations, but total uninstaller 3 looks interesting; going to give it a look.

Scott · « **Reply #13 on:** April 25, 2005, 03:54 PM »

I used Ashampoo UnInstaller quite a bit. It works well, but the one thing that rrrrrrrrrrreally drove me bonkers about it is how incredibly lllllllllllllllllllong the scans took--especially the post-install scans. They were so bothersome that I found myself dreading them, and not monitoring application installs just to avoid them. (Though they do provide a handy use for Process Tamer.)

Total Uninstall 3 has scan speeds that are so fast, I have no idea how he does it. And the ability to remove parts of the log is a nice touch, too (something you can't do in AU).

mouser · « **Reply #14 on:** April 25, 2005, 03:56 PM »

well that describes my problem as well scott, so now i'm definitely going to check out tu3.

kfitting · « **Reply #15 on:** April 25, 2005, 06:22 PM »

One piece of software I couldnt live without is Keynote... great for storing information.

Kevin

mouser · « **Reply #16 on:** April 25, 2005, 06:58 PM »

thanks for reminding me - hierarchical note takeing apps are one of those programs like wsw that many people dont use and which i consider to be one of those kinds of apps that can make such a difference.. so they really need a review and advocacy. going to be a tough category to review though since there are so many to review and most implement basic functionality pretty well. maybe this would be a good review to do in a manner less focused on a single best program, and more focused on advocating the category.

randiroo76073 · « **Reply #17 on:** April 25, 2005, 07:22 PM »

I'll chime in on Total Uninstall & say it's got to be the greatest uninstaller around, I can go thru some apps in a weeks time & never worry about getting rid of them, TU to the rescue

kfitting · « **Reply #18 on:** April 26, 2005, 08:53 PM »

Another great piece of software is CDWave. Found myself using it like crazy tonight! And it's only $15 (well it was when I got it anyway, havent checked recently).

Kevin

mouser · « **Reply #19 on:** April 27, 2005, 01:53 AM »

cdwave looks interesting.
there is also lprecorder (http://www.cfbsoftwa...order/lprecorder.htm).

vegas · « **Reply #20 on:** April 27, 2005, 02:35 PM »

Let's not foget Total Recorder Pro (http://www.highcriteria.com). Capable of recording many functions I've needed over the years. Their new audio restoration add-on is handy. Plus some good guides on the website.

kfitting · « **Reply #21 on:** April 27, 2005, 04:55 PM »

Ahhhh, but CDWave is not just a recorder. I use CDWave for its splitting features. It's so handy to be able to open a 200+ meg wav file, split it into 10 tracks, and be listening to those tracks 5 minutes later! Before CDWave I had to crop part of the wav file, save that piece, reopen the entire wav file, find the next piece, crop it, etc. CDWave is fast and clean! As far as recording goes, however, there may be better options. Prior to CDWave I had looked around for something which split wavs but couldnt find anything. The closest thing I got was Nero's built in tool for splitting a wav prior to burning, but it was rather cumbersome (and obtuse too!).

Kevin

Blinker · « **Reply #22 on:** April 29, 2005, 09:43 PM »

Aside from the security basics (AVG and ClamWin antivirus, Outpost firewall, Spybot, HijackThis), my top ten includes K-Meleon, the broeser that doesn't have to have six inches of GUI; NoteTab, RemoteKeys (you want to talk launchers?), Edxor, IrfanView, the GIMP, FoxMail, and a few variable odd bits--all freeware.

dtrud0h · « **Reply #23 on:** April 30, 2005, 01:22 PM »

The absolute most usefull piece of software that i have (and I believe it's free) is File Targets. It lets you move , or copy files from the context menu according to your liking. It's very configurable, and easy to use. besides that it saves hours of copying and pasting. The only function I wish was added was the ability to move installed apps to another directory or drive kinda like Iomega's 'AppMover' used to do.

The program is put out by MoonSoftware.

mouser · « **Reply #24 on:** April 30, 2005, 01:51 PM »

file targets is very nice; there are some others that are similar too.

unfortunately it doesnt seem to work very well in some windows explorer replacements like Directory Opus, at least from my experience..