March 20th, 2008
Your turn: Readers choose their 10 favorite Windows programs
Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
Info / Download
Price: $100 (list); $85 retail, $60 Home and Student (street); included with Office 2007 Home and Student, $149 (list), $120 (street
System requirements: Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista
OneNote screen shot
On my original list, this was #11. I left it off that list primarily because of the price, which is significantly higher than the rest of my Top 10. But without my even mentioning it, OneNote earned a half-dozen recommendations in the Talkback section of the original list. Here’s a sampling of the comments:
- byronldowell: “OneNote is a must have for anyone that deals with notes and free form information.”
- beneaton4: “ I love it!… it’s a relatively elegant program that a lot of people will have, but not use.”
- brittonv: “I Loved OneNote as much as I hate the rest of office. I loved it so much I went out and bought MS Home and Student edition Office for my home computer. I was standing in line in disbelief that I was actually going to buy a MS Office package!”
- Steven4138: “Well worth triple the price … If you work on a bunch of different projects, YOU MUST HAVE OneNote.”
And I will agree with every word in those reviews. This is my primary information gathering utility, an infinitely expandable reporters notebook that handles text, graphics, and handwriting with aplomb. I can highlight a block of text on a web page, hit the Copy to OneNote button in IE7, and it’s on its own page with a link to the source. The full-text search is amazing. And you have to see the real-time syncing to appreciate it. Two people can work on the same page (or you can work on a page from two different computers) and every little change is reflected almost instantly on the remote machine. As a result, the notebooks on my Tablet PC and those on my desktop machine are always in sync, without my having to think about it.
IrfanView
Info / Download
Price: Free for personal use, 10 Euro donation requested
System requirements: Windows 95 or later
IrfanView screen shot
Back in the day, I used this program all the time. It was the only decent way to view the PCX files my then-publisher insisted I use for screen shots. These days, I simply don’t need it. Between Windows Explorer and SnagIt, I have a way to view and edit and copy and transform just about any graphic file I want. But if you like the idea of a single utility that does just about everything with just about any image or media file, then you’ll love this free program.
Beejaybee, who apparently runs a PC repair shop, makes sure that IrfanView is installed on every machine that comes in for service, “as a kindness to [the] customer.” Wolfsoul added this more substantial endorsement:
I don’t know how many of you work with pictures and graphics, but I have been using IrfanView for many years. It’s a great graphics viewer/editor/converter and has many plug-ins as well. I’ve used other programs to do what it does but they are usually either more complicated than I’d like them to be or lack the set of simple features it has. I hope IrfanView never goes away, I love it.
TextPad
Info / Download
Price: $33
System requirements: For version 5, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP or Vista (32– and 64–bit)
TextPad screen shot
Who needs a kick-ass text editor? Programmers and old-school webmasters who believe that real men code HTML by hand. Back before WordPress, I did my share of badly crafter HTML with the help of an excellent editor called NoteTab, which is still around and going strong. (Made me nostalgic to visit the product page.)
These days the real need is for programmer-friendly editors that have a little more oomph than Emacs. The one on this list was recommended by rtbolgeo, who says TextPad “handles HUGE (and I mean Huge) text files without a hiccup. A great editor for scriptors who look at VB, CMD, or other scripts.”
Of all the programs I looked at for this post, this is the one that has done the best job of adapting to the Windows Vista visual styles.
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Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 03/21/08
