Software I can not live without

My friend Harry posted on his blog a list of software he uses everyday. I thought I would do the same, since I feel good software can really make your day much easier. And seeing other peoples (e.g. my wife) doing things in much too complicated ways, simply because they are not aware that there are tools can help them out, really really annoys me.

So here we go, I present you a list of software I can not live without (in the Windows world)

1. Slick Run : From it's website, " SlickRun is a free floating command line utility for Windows. SlickRun gives you almost instant access to any program or website. SlickRun allows you to create command aliases (known as MagicWords), so C:Program FilesOutlook Expressmsimn.exe becomes MAIL.". And that's exactly what it does. You can define MagicWords for any of your favorite programs, and Win-Q will bring up a little floating box where you can type your magic word to bring up the application. And because it has auto-complete function, you'll never need to type more than 2-3 letters.
I have "eps" as alias for "eclipse", "mail" for Outlook, "im" for Miranda IM, "ie" for ... well IE and lots more. This little babe absolutely rocks.

2. Firefox with NoScript , AdBlock , Google Browser Sync and Google Search Bar : With those Extentions Firefox is better than ever. I have few other Extentions installed as well. But they are more Eye-candies.
3. Miranda Im or GAIM : I used GAIM on Linux for very long time and absolutely loved it. So when I switched to a Windows machine, the first thing I did was installing GAIM for Windows. Then I came across a small IM software called Miranda. Compare to GAIM with GTK, Miranda is absolutely tiny and as powerful (if not more so). The best feature i like about Miranda is its hot keys and you can use Esc to close your message window. Could come in handy when your boss is approaching :-)

4. MusikCube : you say winAmp, they say foobar. you say iTune and i say no no no.

I have always wanted to have a music player that is simple to use, organizes my music well and plays music well. On Linux you have Amarock, which is probably the best music player ever, unfortunately, there is no Windows version (yet). Other music players are either too thin in functionalities or too big and complicated to be .... just a music player/organizer. MusikCube has the right mix, it looks like iTune but is far smaller than iTune, uses about 2Mb memory. It synchronizes with your Music Folders, you can edit MP3 tag, you can even create your own dynamic play list using the build-in database. And with plug-ins, it supports MP3, WMA, OGG and other music formats.

5. MultiDesk : I have tried quite a few virtual desktop software and found this old program the smallest and the simplest to use. And it does what it is supposed to do very well. You can define the number of desktops you want to have on your screen, you can navigate to a different desktop using hot keys, you can move applications around using your mouse. Yes it lacks some flashy features like thumbnail desktop view, drag 'n drop to move applications around etc., but I consider those are mere eye-candy things anyway.

6. Free Commander : Two pane file manager for all Windows Explorer haters. It is fast, free and really really powerful. Let you define your favorite folders so that you can access them using hot keys. Tab to switch between those 2 panes, Shift + Drive Letter to access a different drive. Build-in zip/unzip facilities. Access Zip, RAR, Jar files as folders. It also supports Torsoise CVS/SVN icons.
I have other very handy software I use from time to time, maybe i will talk about them next time. Until then, see you.