==== Post COOL and USEFUL programs here!!! STICKIED ====

[Calin]

I'll agree about TextPad - as a text and binary editor/viewer. No other text editor (except the Norton
Commander suite, and Dos Navigator clone) let me see binary files.

Calin

 

[robisc]

This is a new one I found and it is my new favorite. Post-it notes for your desktop, kinda like the ones Mac has.

Post it notes

 

[Athlex]

Here's another vote for Metapad. Great little text editor. (Freeware)
Edit: Another nice thing about Metapad is that it can save text in Unix or DOS format so line breaks and other characters don't get screwed up.

VuePrint Pro by Hamrick Software is an awesome graphics viewer. Very small, very fast, and it has keyboard shortcuts for everything. It also works as a frontend for TWAIN devices like scanners and cameras. < 1meg (Shareware)

MemViewer by Gene6 is a cool tool to show you visually how much RAM your system is using. It can display a tiny (skinnable) bar in the corner or your screen, an icon in the systray, or both. (Freeware)

WhatCPU is another little prog by Gene6 which installs an icon in your control panel that will identify your processor and speed. Nice diagnostic tool, although a little out of date. (Freeware)

There are a couple of other little gems I use regulary that I can't remember offhand and I'll post 'em tonight. Great thread!

/Atx

 

[Muse]

<< Assuming my links work (my keyboard doesn't always spell too well):

'K, I give. Guess you'll just have to cut and paste:

http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-1461989-100-5943130.html

In case you want to know what really loads when you boot windoze up, and how to control it... >>

That's PC Magazine's Startup Cop. Does anyone know how that compares with Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel?

 

[AncientPC]

<< VuePrint Pro by Hamrick Software is an awesome graphics viewer. Very small, very fast, and it has keyboard shortcuts for everything. It also works as a frontend for TWAIN devices like scanners and cameras. < 1meg (Shareware) >>



I used this back in the day when I really didn't like Windows' graphics viewer (i.e. Internet Explorer). However, it's gotten better in WinXP but I still use VuePrint a lot.

 

[Athlex]

I've often marveled that with Microsoft bundling so much stuff in Windows that a graphics viewer took them so long...

Here are a couple of other goodies I use frequently:

E4M (encryption for the masses) is an excellent encryption tool which which can encrypt several files into one which can then be mounted as a separate drive. Supports RC5, DES, 3DES, Blowfish, CAST, etc. Unfortunately, it looks like the makers of E4M have moved on to greener and more profitable pastures. If you can find it, it's a great prog or you can PM me and I'll send it to you. (freeware)

Cygwin is a slick program made by Red Hat which adds a unix shell (and some tools) to Windows (freeware)

Goldwave is a powerful sound editing tool. (shareware)

Another free alternative to Microsoft Office is OpenOffice. Just as Mozilla and Netscape share the same code base, OpenOffice and Sun's StarOffice share this one. StarOffice 6.0 is just around the corner and OpenOffice is just about to release a 1.0. For those of you who used StarOffice 5.2 (yeah, it sucked) OpenOffice is vastly better. Apparently the only difference between OpenOffice and StarOffice besides price will be the exclusion of clipart.

Smoke is an incredibly cool visualization plugin for Winamp which uses fluid dynamics to create a trippy effect. Definitely a must-have.

 

[Miramonti]

Wizmo

Cool little free utility from Steve Gibson that enables one click reboots, shutdowns, monitor powerdowns, and a few other things.

 

[hudster]

ok, I didn't see these posted in here already (please forgive me if they already were):

MP3Cutter 4.0 This is the best mp3 editor that I've found yet. It's small (~330KB), it can handle variable-bitrate MP3s, and it's a single executable file (not an installer, I like proggies like this). Does a great job of chopping up "full album" mp3s into individual tracks (or whatever other mp3-choppin' you need to do)


Password Safe 1.7.1 A nice (and secure) freeware tool to keep all of your site logins/passwords/etc.

 

[Fusion]

<< Wanna get rid of your old Hotmail or other web-based mail accout? wanna keep a copy of those millions of messages on your computer? wanna check you web-based account from Eudora?

Check out web2pop!!!

web2pop >>



Thank you! I have been looking for something like this for a little while now. I knew this existed (read about it somewhere on /.), but did not remember the name... Works with Eudora! Neato!

A few programs I recommend (that are not well known):
Opera [browser - much smaller than IE/Mozilla]
Miranda [ICQ clone - much smaller + better]
FreeAmp [like Winamp - but open source]
O&O Software Defrag [Diskeeper = crazy Scientology supporters = bad]
SmartFTP [totaly free FTP client that is small and very functional]
VCDeasy [mpg -> VCD]
TMPGEnc [avi -> mpg]
SSH Secure Shell Client [awesome SSH/Telnet client]
eTrust Antivirus [because I want full control]

 

[HereThereandEverywhere]

ACDSee 3.0 - one of the greatest picture viewing programs on the planet

 

[Alex]

isnt there a newer version?

 

[TP]

Has this one been mentioned?

DesktopPlus is a Virtual Desktop Manager for Windows. It can help you to better control the windows you have open by dividing them up into Virtual Desktops you can freely switch to these desktops and move windows back and forth amongst them to more effectively colate related windows and applications.


DesktopPlus' features in brief

Up to 9 virtual desktops
Easy to use with four configurable control methods
HotKeys for switching
Password Protection
Move windows amongst desktops
Selectively copy windows to other desktops
Saves window sizes and positions of copied windows
Keeps message boxes with parent windows, so they don't disturb you on other desktops
Accurately records focus for each desktop, so that when you switch back to a desktop you're back at the application you last used there
Is not affected by 'hanging' windows

 

[AncientPC]

Not yet. I've been using JSPager as a VDM but it has some minor glitches. Going to go try this one out . ..

 

[Kaervak]

EnZip

Freeware zip utility. Much better than winzip.

 

[NetworkDad]

MSN Messenger Plus - A free utility to add to msn messenger that logs your conversations and much much more!

 

[Underclocked]

jv16 Power Tools but be careful using them. Good for getting rid of useless registry trash, duplicates, temps, all sorts of stuff.

 

[Nate420]

PicaView 2.0



<< PicaView 2.0 is a Windows add-on photo viewer that lets you quickly right-click to view and manage your multimedia files. Save time with this graphics software program that's also a video and music player by handling multimedia without opening a separate application. >>



I have been using this for years, very cool app.

 

[randypj]

Isn't it about time for someone to compile these (with URL's), into an Anandtech FAQ, with the proggies categorized? If there are duplicate types, we could put 'em to a vote? We could then start a new thread, and add new programs.

Course, it'd have to be someone with alot of time on their hands.
--Randy

 

[Replicon]

2xExplorer

It's like explorer, but with two explore frames... and there are shortcut keys to Copy or Move files between them. VERY useful.

 

[randomlinh]

Another vote for editpad lite. I like the tabbed text files.. much quicker to manage. Otherwise, metapad.

As for direct connect, use DirectConnect++.

Virus Program, AVG Freeware program.

slowview a GREAT freeware alternative to acdsee.

webattack is a great site for software.

Google toolbar is great as well. Does anyone know if something like that for a dictionary exists? enter a word and boom get the definition? All i need now is an alternative to Photoshop/Paintshop Pro..

 

[Athlex]

There are a couple of good freeware/shareware alternatives to photoshop:

The Gimp is a great freeware graphics editor for Unix which also has Win32 binaries you can download. I was having problems with it crashing on my system last time I tried it, but that was a few months ago, so maybe I should give it another shot.

Xara X is an awesome graphics editor designed for web graphics which can do image touchups, has some filters and effects, dynamic JPEG compression, tools for creating buttons, etc. It's good stuff, I use it all the time.

 

[Athlex]

Not exactly the same as the Google toolbar, but here's a way to get a dictionary built in to your browser:

(link)

 

[F117NightHawk]

.GetRight download manager. Lets you resume failed downloads even when the server doesn't support it.

 

[LiveLongAndProsper]

Summary of all suggestions to date in alphabetical order here.
Added several links and modified a few. Sorry if I screwed anything up or edited too severely.
Plan to load several of these suggestions when the new system arrives next week!

Top suggestions:
Trillian (7)
Winamp (7)
Ad-Aware (5)
ZoneAlarm (5)
ACDSee (4)
EndItAll (4)
FlashFXP (4)
Google Toolbar (4)
jv16 PowerTools (4)
KaZaA (4)
Motherboard Monitor (4)
SmartFTP (4)
VirtualDub (4)

Enjoy!

P.S. Thanks to Microsoft for the bloated html

 

[y00ycdz]

has every cool prog been named :Q