Alt-Taboooooo

If you multi-task in windows you've probably become intimately familiar with the both the alt key and the tab key. Hell you've probably even used both of them at the same time; that's just the kind of daredevil trend setter you are. If this is an accurate description of your computing habits, check this little gem out: Task Switch XP is an unbelievably quick alt+tab replacement by ntwind software. I was terribly skeptic about using this little app; I figured the extra load would never be worth it. Yeah, I was wrong. Right now Task Switch XP is using a paltry 584kb of RAM. If I hit alt+tab it starts rendering thumbnails and goes hog wild gobbling up 2,036kb of RAM. Honest to God, if more developers were this mindful of the resources their applications use in the way this coder is we wouldn't need a Gig and a half of RAM to run Vista. Download this app right now. Tell your friends, your kids, your dog hell tell your mailman. Task Switch XP is fantastic.
Linkage - Download Task SwitchXP 2.0.11 - Site

Flexible Hackable Executable

Lord knows how I forgot to post about this little gem! ResHacker is a (sadly) now defunct project by Angus Johnson. Despite its age (development was halted back in 2004 (hey, remember when World of Warcraft had just come out?)) it is still nearly indispensable for the power user. ResHacker give you the ability to open the hood on a variety of executables, .dll files and other application resource files allowing you to see embedded icons, menus and options. I first discovered the program when I read about Matthijs van de Water MSN Messenger modifications created using ResHacker. Matthijs was able to remove ads, buttons and menu items to strip away all the flab in MSN Messenger leaving a much cleaner looking application. Since then I've used it to customize menus, fix translation mistakes in software and hundreds of other mods. One can only hope that we'll hear from Angus again with another break through application!
Linkage - ResHacker 3.4.0 - Site

Iconography Without Religious Overtones

I stumbled across this handy little application yesterday when I was trying to find someway of producing an icon capable of being resized from 128x128 right down to 16x16. Telegraphics makes a great (better yet, a free) plugin for Adobe Photoshop that allows it to read and write .ico files, but it doesn't have the ability to make a .ico file with multiple sizes of an icon within it. While you can get that plugin HERE I'd suggest you check out Attila Kovrig's IcoFX first. For starters, you don't need to have Photoshop to use it, it will write .ico files with multiple sizes embedded within the file it'll even allow you to rip the icons out of executables so you can edited them. All in all its a pretty slick, neat package. To make it even sweeter, the whole damned thing is free. Oh yeah, it makes icons to Vista too, so those of us that like beta software can use it too.
Linkage - IcoFX v1.5 - Site

OS X-Whaaa?

Impress your friends and make your Mac-lovin' enemies seethe with rage with Punk Software's RocketDock. RocketDock is essentially a slick little clone of the dock feature found in Apple's OS X. Punk Software doesn't stop there, though. They've added a pile of extra functionality that's sure to make for excellent ammo at your next Macs vs. PCs throw down. As per usual, this gem is free.
Linkage - RocketDock 1.3.0 - Site

Documentation Cinematography

Part of my job is to produce documentation on how to do some random task in some random program. I also have to produce a pile of how-to's for my parents, my friends and my pets. Basically I suffer from printscreentitis which manifests as excessive use of screenshots. I just came across this handy little application that will add some simple aesthetics to your humdrum screenshots. The application is called Rumshot and is produced by a little company called Shellscape. Essentially it allows you to add a variety of edging effects to your screenshots. It comes with 6 themes by default and by the looks of things they have plans to release more. Best of all is that its Free (as in $0)

Linkage - Rumshot 1.1 - Site

So Google Earth And Flickr Walk Into a bar...

Google Earth 4.0 is out and with it comes with a new Layer option entitled "Geographic Web" which scatters GeoTagged Wikipedia Entries and user photos (through a very Flickr like service called Panoramio. The service is free and allows you to upload 2GB of photos and then tag their locations via a google maps/earth interface. I spent 3 hours last night just cruising from city center to city center browsing people's photos of the city's landmarks & buildings. Highly recommended for those that have decent 3D cards to run it.

Linkage - Google Earth 4.0 Site

Mechwarrior 2 on Windows XP, Ask Me How!

The virtualization battle is just starting to heat up. Three heavyweights are already slugging it out to see who will be crowned king of the canned computer. VMWare is already an industry standard. Its cross platform compatibility and stability make it the app of choice for sys admins and developers. Hot on their heels is spunky new-comer Parallels. While most of us associate Parallels with their run-away success in virtualizing Windows XP on OS X they also develop for PC. Which I honestly had never heard about. The reason you haven't heard about it is that their current PC offerings are pretty much crap. They lack features that VMWare already delivers in bucket loads. To make matters worse Microsoft just threw down a huge gauntlet by the name of Virtual PC 2007. Unlike VMWare's or Parallels' offering Microsoft is offering their virtualization software for the bargin basement price of $0. Yup, its FREE. I recently setup a Win98 Virtual PC and used it to relive the past with a few rounds of MechWarrior 2. Which, to tell you guys the truth, I now totally suck at. I have no idea how I mastered the ridiculously complicated controls when I was 13. Musta had something to do with all that fresh moutain air I got while walking uphill 7 miles through 3 feet of snow on my way to school.

Linkage - Virtual PC 2007 32-Bit / 64-Bit - Site

Do you Interact Globally? Get Help Locally

When I worked for a VoIP carrier we were always trying to remember what time it was in X country on X continent. Lord would our job have been a hell of a lot easier if we'd had EarthDesk. This desktop app turns your desktop into a real-time image of the day/night cycle on earth. Its certainly worth checking out. When I first looked at the product it wasn't nearly as polished or professional, but it was also free. There is a trial version available for both Mac and PC which will give you more than the functionality the free version I looked at.

Um, yeah...
Turns out there's already a nice neat little utility to fix all that stuff I was whining about my mouse. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you uberOptions!

The Curse of Being a Power User

It seems that nobody really loves the power user. Software producers code in barricades to restrict us from really using the hardware that hardware producers have sealed up and bolted closed to stop us from using it to its full extent in the name of protection and safety of the majority of end users. Nothing drives me more bonkers (nothing more at the minute)...

Case in point: Logitech
I've always loved Logitech products. Its the brand I always recommend to whomever asks about buying a keyboard or mouse and I don't think I'm alone in that. Having said that, I've been very frustrated lately but Logitech's drivers for their keyboards & mice. I used to have a MX/LX700 wireless keyboard & mouse. Love 'em to pieces. Well, actually they're still intact. My beef is that Logitech blocked me from remapping various keys on the keyboard. Specifically the horizontal scroll buttons and the zoom buttons. Seriously, who uses those? I understand their function, I just don't get why Logitech would remove my ability to remap them. You CAN remap the keys if you're willing to slog through some XML and edit the user.xml file (Docs & Settings\App Data\Logitech\Setpoint\), but that's really just a piss-poor way to do it.

I replaced my keyboard with a Logitech G15 (which is awesome) and was happy to see they threw out SetPoint for it and built an entirely new and entirely satisfactory keyboard mapping & management suite. Then I replaced my mouse with often-hyped Logitech Revolution MX. Lets be clear on one thing first. The mouse is a formidable piece of hardware. The button placement, the mouse shape, the feel, everything is spot on. It makes you stunned, however, to find out that this brilliant piece of hardware is once again crippled by SetPoint. A $100 mouse, and they figure its reasonable to limit what the user can do with the mouse. What utter crap.

Oh Logitech, hear my plea: Give me full access to button mapping, or give me DEATH!
(just not actual, unpleasant death. That would suck equally as much as not having full access to button mapping)

Launchy McLauncherson and the Launchettes

All stand and be in awe of Launchy. Honest to God, this little application has real potential to change the way you use your computer. Essentially what Launchy does is act like the Windows 'Run' box on steroids. First you define the directories you want Launchy to look in for shortcuts and programs, once you've done that hit alt+space to bring up the interface and start typing in what you're looking for. Launchy will automatically start giving you suggestions that are titles close to what you're typing out. Extend Launchy's functionality by giving it more directories and different kinds of files to search for. You can define pretty much any file extension and you can get plugins to go beyond what you can define thorugh file extensions. Extend Launchy to hook into search engines, online databases, you can even get it to perform math equations. All this plus free form skinning support with alpha-blending. Give it a go, it just might replace your start button.

Linkage - Launchy 1.0 - Site

Windows Powershell is Here

The Achilles heel of Windows Server (apart from its inherent Microsoft-ish-ness) has always been its inability to script from the command prompt anywhere nearly as cleanly as any of the Unix-based alternatives have been capable of. To this end Microsoft has been quietly working on a soft of command prompt on steroids called Windows PowerShell. If Microsoft had just cloned the Unix environment it probably would have been a good enough solution for most system admins, but Microsoft decided to take it a bit further and then off into a different direction. Windows PowerShell greatly increases the number of commands available via the command prompt but it also creates interoperability between .NET objects through the command line. I know, at first that line confused the hell out of me too. Basically it means that the command line doesn't operate on data in the same way a Unix shell does. It operates on objects and then produces output based on the interaction of the objects. Think of it more like blackbox computing instead of unix's everything-is-visible meat-grinder approach. This in no possibly way means that Windows PowerShell is better than working in a Unix shell. I personally found it slightly counter intuitive to use. Having said that it is really bloody handy to finally have the ability to do scripting outside the Visual Basic realm in Windows. If you're a power user or tinker in office automation, its certainly worth checking out.

Linkage - Windows PowerShell 1.0 - Vista x32 / x64 - XP x32 / x64 - Server 2003 x32 / x64 - Site

Got Dualhead? Get This.

Like many of my fellow geek brethren I run a dual monitor setup both at home and at work. Right here I could spout off 5 different studies that talk about the virtues of multi-monitor-multi-tasking, but truthfully, either you've never tried dualhead or you can't afford two monitors, or your running a dualhead setup. Single-monitor computing feels like I'm missing a limb. To be really productive I've gotta have two monitors. If you too are a parishioner at the church of dualhead you'll want to check out UltraMon. UltraMon basically fixes most of the issues that Microsoft left unresolved in their implementation of multiple monitor support. Stuff like a taskbar that can tell which programs are on which monitors, proper multi-monitor-spanning wallpaper, hotkeys and buttons for switching apps between monitors or maximizing one application across multiple monitors, the list goes on. UltraMon borders dangerously close to an essential piece of software for the dualhead inclined. I can't, however, recommend it without reserve. Realtime Software figures that the software is worth $39.95US per license (slight discount if buying in bulk). Sorry guys, but that's just too much to ask for a Windows utility considering an OEM copy of Windows XP Pro is under $100US.

Linkage - UltraMon 2.7.1 (x64 here) - Site

If only it had folder support....

I use Outlook at work. A lot. Now, I don't use Outlook to its full-capability (we don't run an exchange server for instance) but it is always running for pretty much the entire time I'm at work. Having said that I could see pretty easily how Outlook on the Desktop could be very handy to have. It uses surprising little memory for what it does; stretching it out to an entire monitor and setting the alpha-blending to 50% and it was still only using 30MB of memory. Which, considering Outlook uses 50MB of memory just sitting minimized, isn't that bad. The calender and contacts windows are lifted directly from Outlook and retain full functionality. The inbox capabilities, however, lock you to the root of your personal folder's inbox. I use an IMAP account at work, so that pretty much destroys the email functionality of the application. Don't let that dissuade you from trying it, though, its still a damned fine piece of free software. Especially when you consider its Michael Scrivo's first .NET application.

Linkage - Outlook on the Desktop 1.3.1 - Site

Winning Friends and Influencing Deadlines

Ah, another software/gadget/productivity blog... This is clearly what the internet was missing. I won't promise you the freshest or the newest (although from time to time, stuff'll be pretty fresh) but I will promise you the TESTED. Which, honestly, is really what you want to hear about. I mean, sure that new app dripping in .NET alpha-blended glory looks cool, but it is actually useful.

To start things off here's a brief list of the top 10 'Must-Have' FREE Windows utilities to install on a fresh installation of Windows.

1. Unlocker - Ever tried to move a file only to have Windows deny you access? Yeah, problem solved.
2. Copy Handler - Face it, Windows ability to move and copy files is seriously limited. This app will give you the ability to queue up mulitple operations and copies on average 6-7 times faster than Windows is capable of.
3. TweakUI - Microsoft's Windows PowerToys have always been handy to keep around. TweakUI gives you access to a pile more Windows configuration options. Pick up the ClearType Tuning Wizard if you're LCD equipped.
4. WinRAR - No matter what the WinZip boys would have you believe, WinRAR is the defacto standard by which all other compression programs will be judged. Its broad support of compression standards makes it the one compression program you should install. NOTE: WinRAR is technically shareware, it will nag you to register after a while
5. Hijack-This! - for the majority of power users, spyware isn't that much of an issue. We're usually smart enough NOT to install that toolbar or activeX control. for those of you who fit that description; you're anti-spyware utility has arrived. With easy access to buried registry settings and TCP/IP stack modifications its honestly the only anti-spyware utility I use.
6. ExplorerXP - a powerful Explorer alternative ExplorerXP gives you to functions you'd really expect to have made it into Windows XP: A proper file renaming utility (renumber series, convert _ to space, etc), Tabbed file browsing, even a file splitting utility.
7. Paint.NET - Need a image editor? MSPaint not cutting it? This is what you need. Intuitive interface and Photoshop-level functionality make this one a no-brainer. Hell its only 5MB to boot!
8. Girsoft AVG Free - Free, automatically updating, email scanning anti-virus. I have no idea why people buy Norton every year when this is free, faster, and far less intrusive.
9. Daemon Tools - DVD/CD-ROM emulator with the ability to 'mount' a Disc Image or ISO as if it was a real CD/DVD. I've tried others, but I always uninstall them an reinstall D-Tools.