3 Essential Apps for the Home Office

Thursday, February 3, 2011 by Island Dog | Discussion: Personal Computing

I was reading a couple of articles this week on how telecommuting and working at home is become increasingly popular and more efficient in some cases.  I am part of that group and I wanted to share 3 pieces of software that get daily use on my desktop, and can benefit many others as well. 

  1. SnagIt – I have so many uses for SnagIt I couldn’t possibly list them all here, but it provides some features that really can benefit anyone who does work on their PC.  SnagIt at its core is a screenshot tool, but goes way beyond that with its comprehensive image editor, use of stamps and callouts, and sharing features.  You should use this to take screenshots of webpages for research or sharing, or place callouts on images to show co-workers details about something that needs to be addressed.

    2-3-2011 5-14-46 PM

  2. TweetDeck – I can only imagine you know what Twitter is and are taking part in it.  The cool thing about Twitter is you can shape it to your own taste.  You don’t have to get involved in social circles of people if you don’t want.  One great Twitter use is just following news outlets to get the latest headlines as they come in, or follow companies that specialize in your area of business.  It’s a fantastic tool and TweetDeck is by far the best client out there.  You can have multiple accounts and it offers other features that nobody else does.

    2-3-2011 5-15-24 PM

  3. ObjectDock Plus – The key to running a successful home office is organization.  That is true for both your computer desktop and your physical office space.  While I use multiple desktop tools, ObjectDock Plus has always been the favorite.  I create a tabbed dock bar and create tabs for each software type I commonly use – for instance I have a Office tab that contains shortcuts to all my Microsoft Office applications.  With ObjectDock I don’t have to clutter up my desktop with icons or browse through the start menu to open an application, it is right there is an easy to access dock.

    2-3-2011 5-16-35 PM
DrJBHL
Reply #1 Thursday, February 3, 2011 5:42 PM

Two out of three isn't bad...

Couldn't live without Snagit and OD2+. Windows Live Writer is one I owe you for. 

CharlesCS
Reply #2 Thursday, February 3, 2011 11:10 PM

I have a firefox version called screengrab which does the same but for the browser. I also use lightscreen portable for everything else. Both work like a charm. Although I have a twitter account I don't really use it much and I found tweetdeck annoying with every pop pup that came up. But to each his/her own right? Now OD, that's different. I've had it for years and it's something I just can live my cimputer life without.

Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

  • Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
  • Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
  • Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
  • It's simple, and FREE!



web-wc01