Derek Hatchard \\ on improving experiences
This is Derek Hatchard's blog. The general theme around here is "improving experiences" which includes managing technology, user experiences, life hacking, and some business related stuff. Derek has a software development blog at ardentdev.com, is co-founder of the product review site wellrated.com, and runs Crowd Space (a management tool for people, lists, and events).

Must-Have Apps for a New Laptop

I just did a clean install of my new XPS M1530 laptop.  Here is my current list of must-have software that I install on Day One.  Have other suggestions?  Leave a comment.

  • Windows Vista Business
  • Drivers (of course) – it would be nice if Dell provided a simple "install all" option on the driver disc
  • Mozilla Firefox (my web browser of choice)
  • Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate
  • Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite
  • Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite
  • SQL Server 2005 Management Studio and Books Online
  • Launchy – keystroke launcher reminiscent of Quicksilver (version 2 is excellent)
  • Live Messenger
  • Live Writer – the best blogging client I’ve ever used
  • Adobe Reader
  • Adobe Flash Player
  • Zune software – the best podcast catcher (and the over-the-air sync with my Zune devices is brilliant)
  • PureText – pastes clipboard contents as unformatted text
  • ClipX – clipboard history manager
  • SharpKeys – so I can remap keys, which I inevitably do with any laptop keyboard (on the XPS I have the context menu key mapped to Right Ctrl and the Right Ctrl key mapped to Right Windows)
  • Vista Battery Saver – automatically switches features off when you unplug power from your laptop
  • Adobe Creative Suite 2 (CS2)
  • Yahoo! Music Jukebox – for listening to music from Yahoo! Unlimited
  • Microsoft Expression Web
  • Microsoft Expression Design
  • Skype
  • Google Talk
  • Plaxo Toolbar for Outlook – keeps contacts and calendar synced
  • MozyHome backup client

I then head over to the Devcasting episode on Firefox extensions where I grab the links for most of my must-have Firefox add-ons:

  • Firebug
  • Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
  • IE View
  • Web Developer
  • MeasureIt
  • ColorZilla
  • FireFTP

I also install the Alexa Sparky and Live PageRank add-ons for Firefox.  Within a few weeks I install Audible Manager, Audacity, and the ASPX Edit Helper.

That’s my list.  What do you install when you repave your computer?


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7 Responses

  1. Steve Mallett says:
    February 17, 2008 at 8:34 pm

    Just firefox. I run a mac.

    /buh dun bah!

  2. Zakaria Khan says:
    February 24, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    So the clean install worked fine? I’ve been wanting to but not sure if all the perks my current laptop provides (touchpad scrolling, adjusting brightness etc..) will remain intact. I tried a clean install on a VAIO I had and half the perks weren’t available even though I downloaded a preloaded driver pack off the VAIO website.

  3. Derek Hatchard says:
    February 25, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Clean install worked great. All the factory “perks” are on the included driver disk.

  4. BenC says:
    April 2, 2008 at 11:24 am

    What no anti-virus? :)

    And if you communicate with people all over the world you need FoxClocks added to Firefox…

    Also add: Virtual Clone Drive (for mounting those MSDN isos) Imgburn (for burning those MSDN isos) 7zip (because its better) FreeDownloadManager (invaluable!) Virtual PC/VMWare

  5. Joel says:
    June 20, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    well when i do a clean install i start off with all the basics: office 2007 ie7 wmp11 live messenger stuff like that..

    then after a few days i install EVERYYTHING i have in my software folder which is a couple of hundred programs:)

    Thanks

  6. sean says:
    September 28, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    LO/JacK

  7. Paul says:
    May 5, 2010 at 6:17 am

    Dear Derek, is it possible to have Apps on my Laptop like I have on my Iphone or like the 1000 the Ipad has ? Is there a software for this ? Thank you very much. Paul

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