Top 10 Software for the Vista Developer

Earlier this week I told you about how I am enjoying my experience with Windows Vista, but haven't actually told you what software I am currently running for software and web development. What I will do now is to list the 10 best programs which I use regularly that actually work on Vista succesfully.

1. Google's Gmail

Google's Gmail has become an essential service for me. It has its limitations, but it also has one big advantage; you can carry around and read your virtual mailbox from everywhere. And with 6 Gigs of storage (and growing) there's enough space for the most active of e-mail users.


2. Mozilla's Firefox

Since Vista already comes with an excellent browser in the form of Internet Explorer 7, I wanted to give you another browsing option. Both IE7 and Firefox are valid alternatives. Firefox has been the better browser for a number of years, but IE7 has improved a lot. At this point I'm really undecided if one of them is far better than the other. All I can say is that Firefox conforms to the web standards better, and IE deviates a bit. In fact if you are developing for the web, you have to install both programs to test how your pages perform on each one before posting on the Internet.


3. Microsoft's Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition

If you still haven't got your hands dirty with the 2008 editions of C#, Visual Basic and Visual Web Developer, now is the time to do so. Moreover Microsoft is offering you to start learning one of these languages for free with the Express Editions. In fact, you can develop fully blown programs and websites with them. You have the latest development tools at your fingertips, so now there's no excuse to start working on that old idea.


4. Helios' Textpad

If you don't plan to develop for Microsoft's .net and ASP.net platforms only, you will also need another development platform. I know there's stuff like Netbeans for Java and so on, but when it comes to other languages like Java and PHP I prefer a quick and simple editor. Textpad is one program that I have been using for these two years, and I have brought it along on Vista. Textpad allows you to try it for free, and registration costs $33, although in my opinion $10 less would be a fairer price.


5. Adobe's Dreamweaver

If you want to use Dreamweaver you have to buy it, but rest assured that there isn't a better website development environment around. Nothing comes even close. Looking at Dreamweaver for the first time might be intimidating, but start using it and your production will start increasing immediately.


6. Antonio Da Cruz's Photofiltre

When it comes to quickly editing a picture before posting it onto a website or blog, nothing beats this program. Yes Photofiltre is quick, simple and also manages to obtain decent results with modified JPEG images. Avoid this free program at your own risk.


7. Sun's OpenOffice

I don't even remember when I last used Microsoft's Office suite. I have been completely converted to OpenOffice, which is nothing less than a free alternative. And with the confusing 2007 layout of Microsoft's product, installing OpenOffice on Vista brought a sigh of relief.


8. Microsoft's SyncToy
Unlike most people that compile these kind of lists, I don't have a grudge against Microsoft and I dutifully praise them when they do good things. For free! And SyncToy is such a good thing. This tiny package copies any file modifications on one disk to other disks that you specify. I use it mostly to keep all my website code, program sources, important documents and school assignments the same both on my portable and fixed disks. In this way I have the latest version of my files wherever I go, and a safe copy back home.


9. IAC Search & Media's Bloglines

Development work does not always mean sitting down and writing code all day. Many times it also means sitting down and reading news about what other people are coming up with to solve their problems. I started with Bloglines all those years ago during the RSS boom. Although there may be better alternatives out there and I have tried some of them, so far none has convinced me enough to switch. So daily Bloglines it is.


10. Syntax Rebels' Mass Text Replacer

I could not end this list before mentioning my own Mass Text Replacer. I have worked on the program to make sure that it supports Windows Vista. If you have a lot of pages that need any kind of text modification, you cannot live without Mass Text Replacer. And at $15.45 it's a steal.