It’s been a while since I used Phoenix 0.5 back in 2002, or even earlier the venerable PowerWindows to modernize the Mac OS 9 GUI. One thing that’s remained just as true back then as now is that the web is a great place to find specialty software.
Most real-world tools like hammers or awls have simple design, and get their users from point A to B with minimum fuss. It’s tragic, then, that the software users are so often frustrated by complexity. So many programs are inconsistent with their host OS interface, much less each other’s. Without consistency, software will never be as usable as real world tools. But along the way, I hope these programs make your computing experience better.
Windows XP (Desktop)
- SpaceMonger is a really useful visualizer of where your hard drive space has gone. It draws squares representing all your folders and files by size. If you’re ever trying to figure out what to delete to free up some space, try this. 1.4 was the last free version.
- allSnap is for you OCD people out there. I’m lucky enough to have a nice big monitor, because it’s all about how big your monitor is. Seriously though, it is. When you drag your windows around the screen, this little gem will snap windows to margins. Very handy to tickle your OCD sense.
- X-Setup is TweakUI on steroids. It lets you configure a lot of things TweakUI forgot, and has handy descriptions of what modifications do what. Unfortunately it’s no longer freeware, but I keep the last free version just in case.
- Foxit Reader does for PDF reading what magnets do to bullet trains. I know the Windows section is about interface software, but this is greased lightning, baby!
Since 2001, Adobe has tragically failed to maintain a good user experience in Acrobat Reader. Tragic because they invented the PDF standard in the first place. Acrobat Reader 9, the latest incarnation, continues the downward trend of bloat and slowness. I used to recommend Acrobat Reader 5.1, but Foxit works great and is currently being developed.
Linux (Server)
- Apache 2 is probably the most robust and popular general-purpose web server. However, for some intensive situations (such as very busy .com sites), its process-per-request model doesn’t scale especially well. Potentially speedier alternatives include nginx and lighttpd.
- Linux 2.6 (Ubuntu Server) for your serving needs. Freshman year of college I built my first computer and ran my first webserver on Gentoo Linux. Later, I realized my time was worth more than that, and tried all over again with Ubuntu. If Gentoo gets binary packages I’ll reconsider staying with the cool kids.
Mac OS X (Portable):
- GrandPerspective is freeware similar to SpaceMonger for Windows, this visualizes your free disk space.
- Quicksilver is a handy launcher for Mac. Hard to explain, just try it.
6/2008 Update:
I first wrote this page for personal reference in April 2005 and surprisingly, things haven’t changed too much. It’s a little more up-to-date now.