Author Topic: software i love (Read 64,451 times)

dtrud0h · « **Reply #25 on:** April 30, 2005, 07:17 PM »

Yes, I agree.
As I have just ventured away fro Explorer with xplorer2(Squared) I notice it doesn't work there.
I know that with a windows<- out of the box-> , before the improvements are put on disk, this is the first thing I install.

Off Topic.....
How long has this site been here Mouser? I regularly visit shellcity and it was mentioned there on todays post, It seems like with the amount of content here it's not all that old. Not a rip, just wondering if it's been here a while, and how long it's going to last. The site looks good and looks like it has some serious promise.

mouser · « **Reply #26 on:** April 30, 2005, 08:07 PM »

We've been online for a about 6 weeks i think
We are not going anywhere - this is a permanent site which we will not stop working on, and with the participation of people in the forum this site will become an even greater resource i hope.

the one major step that we are looking forward to making is to set up a way to have multiple programmers and writers have their programs and content here and set up our planned system of dividing donations. currently there aren't enough donations coming in for that to make a difference, but we hope that the site will become popular enough to where it makes sense to have a system for dividing up donations between multiple authors.

in short, bookmark the page, we're not going anywhere

fhoyos · « **Reply #27 on:** May 04, 2005, 11:09 PM »

Great site.
This site is what looking for.
Thanks Mouser

software i love:
The "Digital Timepiece" is a FREE skinnable windows desktop clock replacement with optional display settings. It replaces the system tray clock. It's user friendly with large highly visible and small unobtrusive skins available. Easy skin design allows you to create your own personalized clock!
http://home.cogeco.ca/~timepiece/home.html

fhoyos · « **Reply #28 on:** May 04, 2005, 11:15 PM »

Diropus is great and i useit for three years ago, but...
DirOpus have a problem to me.
I can't config unicode fonts for dir and files names.
If i have a text in russian the program tellme ERROR.
anyone have the solution or help?

mouser · « **Reply #29 on:** May 05, 2005, 12:18 AM »

digital timepiece looks nice. i've been using this little freeware one called TClockEx for many years (works perfect on winxp even though written well before it came out): http://freepctech.com/rode/001.shtml

mouser · « **Reply #30 on:** May 05, 2005, 12:19 AM »

there is an unofficial and official forum for directory opus, maybe they can help:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DOpus/
http://resource.dopus.com/

rockin4459 · « **Reply #31 on:** May 19, 2005, 03:19 PM »

Some of my most have audio application that are free:

Audiograbber 1.83 at http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/ It's thural yet easy to use, and as oddly as it sounds drop the Lame mp3 encoder into the program file for the best internal mp3 encoder.There are to many cool features to list here.Goto http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/

MP3Gain from the guys at Sourceforge http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume.The changes MP3Gain makes are completely lossless.I'd suggest backing up your files first when you use this in case something goes horribly wrong.They are trying something new since i obtained it.

Then there is Mediajoin.The name says it all.This is one of my favorites. http://www.audiovideosoft.com/ (on the lefthand side of the page)

I hope these come in handy for you.
Rodney

Hirudin · « **Reply #32 on:** November 17, 2005, 11:57 AM »

BSPlayer (for those of you who are tired of me bringing this up, sorry...) I've tried most of the compitition (Zoomplayer, WMP, VLC(sp?), Winamp, etc), and it's truely the best video player I've found. Quick cool feature: borderless video window. I like to make a playlist of cartoons/sitcoms and play them almost continiously while I use my computer, I'll just shrink the video window down to about 100 pixels wide, stick it in the corner, and go about my business. Another cool feature: it doesn't need to be installed, if you're like me and you format a lot it's nice not to have to install it every time.

The GodFather, I can't tell y'all how much time I've saved by using this mp3 (and other audio files) manager. Unfortunately it's allowed me to obsess over having "perfect" tags, so it's also wasted a good deal of my time... (this is another program that doesn't need to be reinstalled after a format)

Daemon Tools : a cool little free app that emulates a CD/DVD ROM, very usefull for using CD/DVD images without burning them. HEY... they released 4.0 a couple days ago! But the server is busy...

Honorable mention:
Quicktime Alternative: I hate having to sign my soul to Apple just because I want to watch a MOV. This fixes that problem. Version 1.44 is working fine for me, 1.66 "final" is out now.

aignes · « **Reply #33 on:** November 17, 2005, 12:28 PM »

The first software I install on a fresh Windows is the file manager Servant Salamander, and I could not live without it!

There's an older freeware version that can still be downloaded while the latest shareware version 2.5 blows away most other file managers. v2.5 has many tools included which I use in my daily work, for example a very well working directory + file compare feature.
http://www.altap.cz/salam_en/compare.html

johnk · « **Reply #34 on:** November 17, 2005, 02:43 PM »

Quote from: mouser on April 25, 2005, 11:58 PM

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.

This is resurrecting a really old post, but I've only just got around to reading this thread, and note-taking apps are one of my obsessions. Of course a lot depends on what you mean by a note-taking app.....

I agree with Mouser that there are so many programs and sub-categories that it's probably impossible to do a truly comprehensive review, or even overview, but I also think it's one of those categories that many people are not even aware of. That's a shame, because properly used these programs can be a great benefit to productivity.

As an example, I would not be without Ultra Recall (a great program to dump data in), Onfolio (a very powerful web research and publishing tool), Treepad (a traditional tree-based note-taker), Bonsai (a robust outliner that excels if you need to sync with your Palm). Then there's Notesholder for the short-term stuff...maybe I have too many of these programs. But they all serve a purpose.

And I'm forever evaluating/re-evaluating other options. At the moment I'm looking at Surfulater, a very promising program in the same category as Onfolio, but one that takes a very different approach. And I'm almost breathless with anticipation of the next version of Zoot....

If you share this minority passion, it's worth visiting http://www.outliners.com/discuss/ if you have not already done so. Although the group is called Outliners, conversation ranges widely over information management apps, and it contains some of the best conversations on the web on this topic.

Ultra Recall: http://www.ultrarecall.com/ Onfolio: http://www.onfolio.com/
Treepad: http://www.treepad.com/ Bonsai: http://www.natara.com/
Notesholder; http://notes.aklabs.com/ Surfulater: http://www.surfulater.com/
Zoot: http://www.zootsoftware.com/

mouser · « **Reply #35 on:** November 17, 2005, 03:16 PM »

johnk i agree with you 100% about how it's one of the most important class of programs and yet so many people don't even know about such tools.

and do i hear you volunteering to spearhead the review of hierarchical note tools (outliners)? i do think it has the potential to be the most important review on the site.

ps.
seeing martin post on this thread reminds me that one of the first programs i would install on a new computer would be his Website Watcher. I honestly can't imagine surfing the web without it.

rjbull · « **Reply #36 on:** November 17, 2005, 04:31 PM »

Quote from: mouser on November 17, 2005, 03:16 PM

hierarchical note tools (outliners)?

I'm still looking for a Windows NON-hierarchical notes tool for storing (semi) random notes, like Memory Mate and InfoSelect for DOS were. Everyone who's tried it says MM for Win is a dog, and InfoSelect for Win is far too expensive, besides doing lots that I don't want.

What I do want: indexed files for fast retrieval, and sensible Boolean search logic, not just single words or some crippled patronising "you can't possibly understand it" cut-down version. However, useful as /regular expressions/ are in some situations, I don't need them here.

Mouser, if you do a directory synchronization review, will that include programs that synchronize laptops over a serial or parallel cable, as well as PCs over a network? IThat last is all that SynchBack does - very useful, but not all I want. I should add that Total Commander can easily synchronize PCs over a cable, but you have to do it manually. That is, you can't (as far as I know) give it a script for a set of directories and actions and leave it over the lunch hour, or something like that.

pl5bnsf · « **Reply #37 on:** November 17, 2005, 05:01 PM »

I totally agree with aignes , Servant Salamander is the first thing on any computer I use. It may be deceptive as to it's power compared to other dual-pane managers but it just-plain-works. I have tried others and quickly go back to Salamander.

johnk · « **Reply #38 on:** November 17, 2005, 06:33 PM »

Quote from: mouser on November 17, 2005, 03:16 PM

and do i hear you volunteering to spearhead the review of hierarchical note tools (outliners)? i do think it has the potential to be the most important review on the site.

You ask so nicely, Mouser, it makes it very difficult to refuse. You must use the same tactics to get those big software discounts

If I can make some time in the next few days I'll do an outline (how appropriate) of categories and programs that I think ought to be covered. I'll see how far I can take it.

f0dder · « **Reply #39 on:** November 18, 2005, 06:50 AM »

Software that's part of my unattended installation CD

These are installed automatically when I install windows, and a lot of the software is also integrated into the system. One bootable CD for all machines in the house

Opera - integrated as default web browser
xplorer^2 lite - file manager, integrated instead of explorer.exe
Foxit Reader - small and fast PDF viewer
Notepad++ - free+fast+opensource programmer's text editor, supports plugins

WinDirStat - graphical representation of file/folder disk usage
WinRAR - IMHO simply the best archiving tool, with great commandline options
Screenshot Captor - need I say more?

ACDSee32 v2.4 - *fast* image viewer. All their later versions suck, though.
UltraISO - good tool for creating and manipulating CD/DVD images
Daemon-Tools - lets you mount CD/DVD images as a virtual drive

PuTTY and related tools - SSH client and more, for connectivity with my linux box
WinSCP (secure copy) - graphical SFTP/SCP client, again for linux connectivity
SubVersion - great source/version control software

SysInternals tools - especially pstools and Process Explorer. "pskill iexplore" is useful if you enter one of those a-zillion-popups websites.
WinSpy++ - spy on windows classes etc. (I also use their lightweight hexeditor)
TrID File Identifier - useful for identifying filetypes
PEiD packer/crypter identifier - useful for analyzing suspicious files
OllyDbg debugger - nice debugger when you don't need source-level debugging

Spybot Search & Destroy - spyware cleaner
AdAware - the "classic" spyware remover
CrapCleaner - cleans up various registry crap and more

wanderer · « **Reply #40 on:** December 14, 2005, 10:29 PM »

Did'nt see Irfanview on this superb list. www.irfanview.com

Graphis, MP3, slideshow, resizer. My one program that on every computer I own.

rockin4459 · « **Reply #41 on:** January 04, 2006, 06:50 AM »

Honerable mention goes to Xnview at http://www.xnview.com/

NigelH · « **Reply #42 on:** January 05, 2006, 03:10 AM »

Cam2PC - image viewer and more.
See http://www.nabocorp.com/cam2pc/overview.php

Handsdown the best freeware image viewer I've found to date.

Available in both freeware version + shareware (more features) versions.
No spyware etc, etc, etc...

Edvard · « **Reply #43 on:** January 05, 2006, 06:52 PM »

2 cents comin' through! I'll stick to stuff not mentioned before...

Winroll
Windowshading like the *nix guys, but more stable than freeshade or the ones you have to pay for.

JSPager
Orphanware Multi-desktop pager thingie. Stable and skinnable. Once you start using Virtual Windows, it's real hard to go back. Hosted at Skinnables.org (Thanks S.o!)

K9
Spam Filter extraordinaire. As good or better than Thunderbird's built-in and it's free.

PDFCreator
The best. Free.

PocketMod
Lets face it, PDAs are too expensive and cumbersome, and organizers are bulky and hard to carry around. Nothing beats a folded up piece of paper. That is until now.

superboyac · « **Reply #44 on:** January 05, 2006, 11:33 PM »

PocketMad?! That's very weird, I like it! Do you actually use that?

m_s · « **Reply #45 on:** January 05, 2006, 11:40 PM »

I used Pocketmod for awhile: I think it's creators are geniuses! A very elegant, lightweight solution. No longer using it now, as I bought myself a lovely Moleskin diary for the new year... Although I did Pocketmod me some Sudoku puzzles for use at mother-in-law's over Xmas!

Edvard · « **Reply #46 on:** January 06, 2006, 05:30 PM »

Use it all the time; address/phone books, to-do lists, shopping lists, project planners, I could go on... Even made some custom pages for it. Tricky, but I figured it out. Works on Linux too. Many times I even find myself needing to take notes on a piece of paper and I end up folding it like a PocketMod

Sure beats the living daylights out of writing phone numbers on the back of a Safeway receipt...

Hellie · « **Reply #47 on:** January 08, 2006, 09:25 PM »

Pocket Mod absolutely brilliant I was looking for something like this, did not think anything existed. I can

print it off to go in my Filofax that I take everywhere.

Brilliant.

Helen

Edvard · « **Reply #48 on:** January 09, 2006, 04:33 PM »

For those of you who still use paper as their "second brain" (bah, we don' need no steenking hierarchal note-taking apps

) may I suggest D*I*Y Planner. Printable pages for your planner (some for Moleskine and Filofax available Here) or just interesting pieces of paper to write stuff on. I am personally quite happy with PocketMod, but I see others here who would be interested.

mrainey · « **Reply #49 on:** January 09, 2006, 07:44 PM »

For locating files that contain a specific piece of text, I used Search for four years in my previous job. I had a database of 30,000+ source files to deal with. When creating new programs I was able to avoid reinventing many wheels by searching for certain strings inside these files. It really made my job MUCH easier.

Search has many nice features - my favorites include the ability to search within the results of a previous search, or to back out to a previous search result and try something different rather than have to start over from scratch if you go down a blind alley and get no hits.

Search has regular expression and boolean searches, plus a number of other very easy to use configuration options.

http://www.simes.clara.co.uk/programs/search.htm