IcoFX - finally a good and free icon editor. Very similar to Axialis IconWorkshop, except that it's free and it has less bloated user interface. Can import PNG files with transparency and supports the Vista compressed icon format. All in all, everything about this program seems just right.
IcoFX - icofx.ro
Launchy - even with Vista, this is still the quickest way to launch programs. Instant search on a hotkey. What makes it superior to the default Start menu search is the way the searching works - you don't have to type PHOTOSH to get rid of "Adobe Stock Photos" that pops up when you only type PHOTOS. You want Photoshop, of course! Everybody does. And the bloody Start menu search never learns!! Well Launchy does learn from your previous choices and it also understands that you want Photoshop when you type PS or Dreamweaver when you type DW - even though the letters don't match exactly. Lovely and, again, free.
Launchy - www.launchy.net
TrueCrypt - nah, I'm not paranoid but storing a list of passwords in a plain textfile on a laptop is pushing it a bit, don't you think? With TrueCrypt I don't have to put up with any password keeper nonsense and keep the textfile and throw in some SSH private key files too - all stored on an encrypted filesystem that can either be a regular partition of a physical drive or a "loopback" filesystem that is stored as a file in the regular filesystem. If you really are paranoid TrueCrypt can even encrypt the boot drive and offers a wide choice of password combinations, various encryption algorithms and key files - why not use your favorite MP3 file as a key to all your data?
My PayPal password, right there. TrueCrypt - www.truecrypt.org
IcoFX - icofx.ro
Launchy - even with Vista, this is still the quickest way to launch programs. Instant search on a hotkey. What makes it superior to the default Start menu search is the way the searching works - you don't have to type PHOTOSH to get rid of "Adobe Stock Photos" that pops up when you only type PHOTOS. You want Photoshop, of course! Everybody does. And the bloody Start menu search never learns!! Well Launchy does learn from your previous choices and it also understands that you want Photoshop when you type PS or Dreamweaver when you type DW - even though the letters don't match exactly. Lovely and, again, free.
Launchy - www.launchy.net
TrueCrypt - nah, I'm not paranoid but storing a list of passwords in a plain textfile on a laptop is pushing it a bit, don't you think? With TrueCrypt I don't have to put up with any password keeper nonsense and keep the textfile and throw in some SSH private key files too - all stored on an encrypted filesystem that can either be a regular partition of a physical drive or a "loopback" filesystem that is stored as a file in the regular filesystem. If you really are paranoid TrueCrypt can even encrypt the boot drive and offers a wide choice of password combinations, various encryption algorithms and key files - why not use your favorite MP3 file as a key to all your data?
My PayPal password, right there. TrueCrypt - www.truecrypt.org