Saket Vora

Over the last couple of years I’ve heard remarks on several occasions about the way I use my laptop, usually in a team meeting where they see what I’m doing. This post is different than the usual fare, but I thought I might comment on some of the ways that make my computing experience better in case others are interested.  Note: folks who have made the switch to Mac won’t find much of use here.

CutePDF – a free PDF printer that works from any program

Unlike in OS X, PDF publishing sadly is not baked into Windows or Office products. CutePDF is a no-fuss free PDF printer that works just like a normal printer, only it prompts me to save the PDF file when done. First install Ghostscript, then the CutePDF program and you’re all set.

Foxit Reader – hands down best PDF viewer available

While we’re on PDF documents, Adobe Acrobat reader is well known for being sluggish and bloated. I even disliked how they changed the interface options. Enter Foxit Reader – a free alternative that is blazing fast, supports opening PDFs in tabs, and fully featured with highlighting and note taking tools. A must have.

Launchy – quick access to programs, calculator

This is a flashy one. Launchy is a handy program launcher, file explorer, and calculator. Tap a keystroke (alt+space) to bring up launchy, and start typing the program you want to launch. Launchy indexes your start menu and brings up the program — and it learns so soon you just need to type the first few letters. I add my documents location to its indexer and now I can quickly navigate or search for files to open. More handy though is its quick calculator function. I tap alt+space and start typing some math, and it’ll give me the answer.

Photo from Lifehacker

Live Mesh – sync folders between devices, access through web

Gotta hand it to Microsoft for this. Mesh makes it dead simple for me to synchronize folders across my two laptops — without fussing with network or LAN settings. This works through the magical ‘cloud’ of the internet. In addition to syncing files, it offers 5GB of free “Live Desktop” space, so I can login to a website and access any of my folders from any computer. It also includes support for Mac, so keeping files synced across multiple platforms is simple. Mesh also includes a good implementation of Remote Desktop, so I can connect to any of my devices and control them. Dropbox does the folder sync feature as well, but you have to sync with a separate Dropbox folder. Mesh integrates with Windows, so it’s seamless. Big props to Microsoft for this.

TeraCopy – greatly improved copying of files

This is something you wish was baked into every OS. TeraCopy sits quietly behind the scenes, springing to action whenever you start copying files. It speeds up copying, has better overwrite/ignore rules, and has resume features. One of the first things I install when starting from a fresh Windows install.

Vista/XP Virtual Desktop Manager – four virtual desktops done right

Laptop screens can start feeling a bit small when you have a lot of programs open. Virtual desktops create multiple instances of your desktop, but Microsoft’s own tools for this often stumbles when programs run multiple instances. For instance — say you want to keep your mail client maximized on one desktop, and two Firefox windows in two other deskstops. This virtual desktop manager works like a charm, is fast, and does what I need. Just set hotkeys to switch between desktops, and it can really help create some breathing room on a laptop.

TreeSize – hunt down what is filling up your hard drive

TreeSize is a free utility that helps you determine where all your hard drive space went. I guess with 500GB hard drives shipping standard these days, it’s not as big of a deal but still handy for laptop folks.

ImgBurn -free, simple DVD/CD burning with ISO support

ImgBurn makes it easy to burn ISO files to discs, create ISOs from discs, as well as to burn files to CDs like normal. Free, and I haven’t had any problems with it.

PDF Split and Merge — exactly what it sounds like, for free.

Couldn’t help it, one last PDF one. PDF Split and Merge is a free utility that lets you easily combine PDF documents into a single PDF. Handy for compiling class notes or lecture slides.

That’s all I can think of now. Other programs I prefer using are Firefox (web browsing), Postbox (desktop e-mail client), Trillian (instant messenging), Picasa (photos), FileZilla (FTP client), iTunes (music), VLC (video player), WinRAR (file unzip/zipping), Flickr Uploader (photos), and Notepad2 (text editing).