Byron's Favourite Software

Here's a collection of some of the software I've found most useful over time and highly recommend. I submit these recommended programs both for your benefit, and for my own recollection.

Open Source Software

Here's a short list of freely available Open Source programs that I use on a daily basis. Most of them were developed for Open Source operating systems like Linux, but I've only listed the programs that I personally use under Windows as well.

• The GIMP - An amazing artistic tool for creating and editing graphics. Often referred to as a "Photoshop clone" it really isn't. There's a lot to love about how the GIMP works. It's worth noting that the GIMP seems to be a little better for web development, whereas Photoshop is still clearly stronger for print purposes.
• Vim - A hardcore text editor for geeks, programmers and busy smart people, based on the original Unix text editor, vi. It's not really for the faint of heart, but if you are ready to put a little effort into learning a new program, your productivity can shoot up.
• Inkscape - A vector-based design program along the lines of Illustrator. Still much less advanced, but good enough that I use it for designing all my print fliers and a lot of my web graphics.
• Filezilla - My personal favourite graphical FTP program. If you need to do secure transfers, it handles protocols such as Secure FTP.
• Gaim - Lets you chat with everyone--on MSN, Yahoo, Gtalk and other networks, without ads or spyware.
• Firefox - Simply the best web browser available. If you're still using Internet Explorer, you're really missing out, especially with all the add-ons you can get for Firefox.
• Open Office - I actually own Microsoft Office but I haven't installed it on my latest Windows computer; I use Open Office instead.
• Gnumeric - It has a pretty geeky name but I actually find Gnumeric to be a better spreadsheet than the one in Open Office.
• VLC media player - Even under Windows, I use it for DVDs and media files that MS Mediaplayer won't play.
• Audacity - I use this for all my sound editing. Not as advanced (yet) as SoundForge or some of the professional programs, it really is enough for all my needs.
• ClamWin Antivirus - Free Anti-Virus software produced through the GNU Software Foundation, a group that has produced some very reliable software. Obviously this only really applies to Windows, since Linux doesn't have much of a virus problem.

Software I'm trying out

These programs I haven't tested enough to fully recommend, but I think you should know about them!

• Scribus - An Open Source desktop publishing and page layout program.