Home Office Software Essentials - Pt. 2
Software Recommended for Your Home Setup
Friday, April 27, 2007 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing
This is the second part of "Home Office Software Essentials" that I recently wrote. In these articles I give my recommendations on software that is useful for home office setups. As said in last weeks article, home offices are growing, and having the right software can make your job that much easier.
Now the type of software you need will obviously vary on what type of work you do, but the applications I have listed are perfect for general use, even for people who just use their offices for personal use.
Last time I covered office applications, security, and backup programs. Today I will cover graphics and utility programs.
Graphics
This is an area that will really depend on your needs based on the type of work you do. Many people could just by with a basic image editor to modify digital photos, but some may need a really power and complete graphics solution.
I will start with the one I'm sure most people are familiar with....Adobe Photoshop. CS3 was recently released with Vista compatibility and other new features. Photoshop is available stand-alone or part of the Creative Suites which include other applications such as Dreamweaver or Flash. Photoshop is no doubt the industry standard when it comes to graphics, but there are plenty of alternatives if Photoshop is more than what is needed.
Corel Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photoshop Elements are two lower cost alternatives that offer much of the same functionality of Photoshop, and are especially good for people looking to edit digital pictures. If you need more of a vector/drawing program than CorelDraw is something to take a look at. Expression Design by Microsoft is still in beta, but it looks likes a very promising application for illustration and graphic design.
If all these suggestions are just too much for your needs, then the free Paint.NET is something I can definitely recommend. It was has many features and is a big step up from Paint that is included with Windows.
Utilities
Another trend I see is more and more people having multiple computers, and multiple monitors. With some offices having limited desk space, having 3 sets of keyboard/mice on the desk is not always practical. Multiplicity by Stardock lets you control multiple computers with a single keyboard and mouse, so when you move your mouse to a given monitor, you are then in control of that system.
I have dual widescreen monitors on my desktop, one hooked up to my main PC, and the second hooked to a Mac Mini running Windows XP. Being able to control both computers and with the ability to copy files (pro version), Multiplicity has become an extremely invaluable asset to my office.
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Here are some other miscellaneous utilities that I recommend, and use on my own computers.
FastStone Capture - If you need to take screenshots and need more functionality than just hitting the PrtScn button, then this small, free application will definitely fit.
Nero 7 - Nero is one of the most popular CD/DVD burning applications out there, and does that job quite well.
Stardock ObjectDock - ObjectDock puts a skinnable dock on your desktop, and I use it to clear my desktop of icons, and keep shortcuts to all my frequently used applications in one place.
Xplorer2 - If Windows Explorer isn't cutting it for you, then try this dual-pane file management program.
IZarc - One of the best archive utilities available, and it handles a wide variety of popular archive formats.
If you have any other software recommendations please list them, and tell me why you feel they are essential to a home office. Many of the applications I wrote about today have downloadable trials so you can try them out before purchasing, and some I listed are also free. Be sure to check the product websites for more information.
Reply #3 Saturday, April 28, 2007 10:18 AM
If you EVER used "Norton Commander" in DOS, then you will recognize this one.
This thing can copy/move/ftp/batch rename/search/sort/view, hell if i cleaned dishes im sure this would be what id use.
I have used it almost every day for over 10 years (back when it was called Windows commander - before the EVIL MS sued them).
If you hate Explorer, and how it works, then try this one out. It has a trial version that is not crippled at all, just has a simple nag screen. If you like it PLEASE register/pay for it, its only $34.00 (US)
Its one of my "essentials" the really cool part is, if you have a USB thumb drive you can put the entire thing on there (in one folder) and run it from that location, keeping all your settings too!! - great if you work on multiple pc's.
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Also, I use Acronis True Image for cloning my laptop drive for backups. it works fast, great, and has saved my big old a$$ multiple times. My setup is a little diff, i have a bay-drive that holds a dup of my internal laptop drive, and i clone it once every other week or so. Its a perfect clone, i can then (if needed) load it in the bay drive and pull a single file or folder or, if the drive dies, i can simply just put the drive bay disk into the internal holder, boot, and i'm back up and running (which i have had to do 2x in 3 years).
Just a couple more utilities for the list.
Reply #4 Tuesday, May 1, 2007 2:31 PM
Reply #5 Tuesday, May 1, 2007 2:36 PM
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Reply #1 Saturday, April 28, 2007 6:57 AM
InfraRecorder
Burrrn (Audio Only)
Deep Burner Free
IMGBurn
Of course, if You want an all-in-one solution Nero is unbeatable.
Just for a quick CD the other tools are just faster and not so bloated.
If You want screenshots with style : Rumshot
Another promising quick-starter is RunMe.
I prefer OnjectDock, but if You are more into a menu style, it is pretty nice and usable.