The Cranking Widgets Blog

Windows is a part of most people’s daily lives. Whether it’s by choice or by corporate decree, it’s a fact of life. Over the years using Windows at work, I’ve been able to put together a list of applications/tools that I consider to be indispensable. The stock functionality in Windows can be, to put it mildly, lacking. These utilities, when used beyond simple tinkering, will seriously increase your productivity by leaps and bounds.

Some are not for the faint of heart, but if you have the grit to really try some of these out, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. One word of warning though, to really harness some of the tools presented here, you’ll have to spend some time with the old command line (something many people have an aversion to). But I think (like anything else), the more you use these tools, the faster you’ll get things done – and you might even have some fun doing it

• Launchy – Fresh out of beta, this application’s purpose is simple – launch your applications by typing their name instead of scanning through a lengthy list of programs in your Start menu. Just hit Alt+Spacebar (configurable) and start typing the name of the application you want to run. Not sure of the exact name? Type a few characters (like “fox” if you just can’t recall what Firefox is called) and Launchy will display a list of applications that match the characters you gave.

  The default Launchy configuration will search in a handful of directories for .lnk files (Windows shortcuts). You can very easily add other file types, which Launchy will open using their default associated application. For example, I just added my Desktop folder to Launchy’s search path, and the .xls file extension (for Excel workbooks) – now all the Excel files in any directory Launchy looks in will be available just by typing their name.

  While it is unfortunate that Windows doesn’t have Quicksilver, I’d have to say that this is probably the next best thing…

• Google Desktop – In my opinion, the perfect complement to Launchy is Google Desktop. Another quick keystroke and you have all the power of Google’s unparalleled search capability for your own computer (along with your Gmail, should you configure it that way). It takes a bit of time to index the machine once you’ve installed it, but it’s definitely worth the wait.

  But wait, there’s more – Widgets! Yep, Google Desktop ships with a configurable display bar that can house any number of widgets (RSS, News and other fun stuff – just to name a few). Google has a ton of widgets available so you can customize the crap out of your Google Desktop.

• Firefox – Yeah, I know, this one is too easy. But, in my humble opinion, Firefox is the best browser available today – hands down. Security capabilities aside, the sheer number of available extensions and the massive user base are reason enough to consider it as an alternative to IE. And, incidentally, the majority of the “new” additions to IE in version 7 have existed in Firefox for a very, very long time. And while many people don’t trust Open Source applications, this has got to be one of the most polished around.
• UnxUtils – This is the gritty goodness I alluded to earlier. Part of the Unix legacy is it’s wealth of powerful console utilities. A couple of these found their way into vanilla Windows (under different names), but the vast majority are MIA. UnxUtils is a collection of these utilities, built for Windows so there’s no funky emulator required. Mastery of even a tenth of these programs will give you a decided edge over 95% of Windows users.

  The downside to this is there is a pretty hefty learning curve. Most of these applications will require some reading before effective use – and the built-in help for them is sometimes less than clear. Thankfully, many of these utilities have been in use for many years and are all over the Web – plenty of examples from which to learn.

  Please, don’t gloss over this one – this is package has the potential to increase your productivity more than all the others combined.

• Filezilla – If standard console FTP cllients are workhorses, Filezilla is a Clydesdale. Another open source app, this one takes all the tedium out of FTP. It’s just easy to use and it’s free.

There are many, many quality Windows programs out there – these are my picks for what every Windows power user should have in their toolbox.

Anybody else got any programs they consider necessary when working with Windows?

[Update] Reader Tom discovered that the UnxUtils download links are all blocked on the page linked above, so I’ve uploaded my copy of the file which you can download here – sorry for any confusion!

Technorati Tags: microsoft, windows, productivity, tips, utilities, software