Tools

This is a list of tools (software and web services) that I use/recommend. Among other things, this list helps me when setting up a new computer.

Windows Software

  • Console – A tabbed manager for Win32 console applications. Provides convenient copy and paste, and is far more configurable than the built-in Win32 console. (Open Source)
  • Take Command Console Limited Edition (TCC/LE) – A powerful, free, backward-compatible replacement for CMD.EXE (TCC was formerly known as 4NT). (Proprietary/closed source.)
  • ViEmu – A vi/vim emulator for Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft Word/Outlook (and MS-SQL Server, but I don’t use that one). (Proprietary/closed source.)
  • WinDirStat – Disk space visualization/management. (Open Source)
  • HashTab – A shell extension that adds a “File hashes” tab to the Explorer file properties. (Author will provide source code upon request.)
  • PowerShell – An beautifully consistent and powerful command line shell that replaces (but is not backward compatible with) CMD.EXE. (Proprietary/closed source.)
  • Cygwin – A Unix compatibility layer for Windows, and a collection of ported utilities. (Open Source)
  • WinMerge – A graphical utility for reviewing differences in text files. (Open Source)
  • AutoHotKey – A tool that (among other things) lets you associate scripts with hotkeys. (Open Source)
  • Virtual CloneDrive – A tool that lets you mount a CD image (ISO, BIN, CCD, etc.) as a virtual disk. (Proprietary/closed source.)

Cross-Platform Software

  • Mozilla Firefox – A web browser provided by Mozilla.
  • Vim – A powerful (but not intuitive) cross-platform text editor. (Open Source)

Firefox Add-ons

  • Adblock Plus – Web advertisement blocker.
  • del.icio.us Bookmarks – Browser integration for del.icio.us shared bookmarks.
  • FxIF – View EXIF data in image properties.
  • IE Tab – Allows use of the Internet Explorer rendering engine inside a Firefox window.
  • LastTab – Allows tab navigation in a most recently used manner.
  • Tidy Browser Button – Adds a button for quickly toggling between two configurable browser sizes. This has saved my sanity.
  • Tiny Menu – Collapses the menu bar to a single “Menu” item that expands when clicked.
  • Flashblock – Blocks Flash content by default.

Fonts

  • Amnesia Sans Mono – My custom version of the TrueType font, DejaVu Sans Mono (version 2.24) with some slight tweaks that make it preferable to me as a programming/coding font. I find it very readable at sizes down to 7 point in Windows with ClearType enabled. The name is a reference to Stephen Wright‘s joke, “Right now I’m having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.”

Web