海角大神

On Sunday, I , during which I mentioned that most of the productivity software I use for my work is free. A few people emailed me and asked about them, including this one (which made me smile) from Dot:

As much writing as you do I can鈥檛 believe you don鈥檛 use lots of expensive software! Good for you! (What do you use?)

Although I鈥檝e mentioned my free software list a few times before, I figured there was no time better than the present to update this list.

Here are fourteen pieces of free software I use pretty much every single day for the work I do. Some of these come in free and paid versions 鈥� in each case, I鈥檝e become such a loyal user of the software that I鈥檓 now a paid user, as I鈥檓 a big believer in paying for what I use.

Mozilla Firefox

I use my web browser far more than any other application 鈥� and Firefox has been my web browser of choice for a long time. Why Firefox? Identity theft protection. Popup blocking. Tons and tons of useful add-ons. That鈥檚 a start, anyway.

Xmarks

I use multiple computers. Xmarks enables me to access all of my bookmarks (and I have quite a lot of them) on all of the computers. It works with Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Google Chrome, so it鈥檚 not just tied to Firefox. Even my iPod Touch has all of my bookmarks on it, and I can get to them on other people鈥檚 computers, too, though it鈥檚 not as seamless.

Picasa

I鈥檓 starting to build up an image archive of photos taken with my own camera for various projects. Picasa has become my organizing tool, as it keeps them all organized and easy to find, enables me to do simple touch-ups (I bust out Photoshop for major changes), tagging, and easy web sharing, though I still use for most sharing purposes.

Skype

I use Skype for my business-related calls. Most of the features are free, but I pay $2.95 a month to have my own phone number and the ability to dial any phone number in the United States 鈥� very, very helpful. I use a headset with this to minimize echo, so I鈥檓 sometimes sitting at my computer with headphones and a little mic, talking to someone using Skype.

Dropbox

I often use this for sharing files between various computers, as well as sometimes making files available to others that I want to share with. While I have home networking set up, it isn鈥檛 seamless and it doesn鈥檛 allow retrieval from anywhere, so Dropbox fills in that gap incredibly well.

Remember the Milk

Remember the Milk handles my to-do lists for me. I usually use RtM hand-in-hand with processing my 鈥渋nbox鈥� (mail, notes to myself, and so forth). If there鈥檚 a task I need to do, I put it into RtM, and when I need to get down to business, RtM simply has my to-do list ready to go for me. I鈥檝e used it for years.

Gmail

The best thing I ever did was consolidate my email inside of Gmail. It enables me to effortlessly search through all of my email from any web browser, which is incredibly useful for both personal and professional things. I often just email things I need to remember to myself so I can search for them and find them later on within Gmail.

Gcal

This serves as an incredibly effective personal schedule for me, enabling me to quickly see (from almost anywhere) what鈥檚 going on today, tomorrow, this week, this month, and so on. Recurring appointments, the ability to color-label different kinds of things, and the plethora of different views just a mouse-click away makes this an essential tool for me.

Evernote

Whenever I鈥檓 brainstorming, I usually use Evernote to keep those notes. The same is true if I鈥檓 taking notes in a meeting or anything like that. Evernote allows me to take notes on one computer (or my iPod Touch) and the notes are easily accessible on any computer, allowing me to retrieve my notes and thoughts anywhere.

Digsby

I use Digsby on any Windows-based computer I鈥檓 on to keep up to date with Twitter, Facebook, and the instant messaging programs I use all at once. Whenever something new comes along, it pops up in the corner and I can click on it to reply if I so choose. It鈥檚 great to have on if I鈥檓 just searching for ideas and it turns off with just a click when I need to focus.

Notepad++

Notepad++ is what I use when I鈥檓 writing posts (this article was typed out in Notepad++), writing code, or trying to organize ideas. It does so many little things better than the default Notepad that I consider it essential. I even type out long emails in it, copying and pasting when I鈥檓 finished.

Google Docs

When I鈥檓 assembling longer documents, doing basic spreadsheet work, or assembling presentations, I usually use Google Docs. Doing this allows me to work on those documents no matter where I am. Even better, you can effortlessly share these documents for collaborative purposes, allowing other people access to the document and allowing them to make changes and keep track of them.

Google Reader

I try to keep track of (literally) hundreds of different blogs. I use Google Reader to do this 鈥� it simply shows me the latest posts from all of these sites at once. I can group these sites into whatever collections I like and it keeps track of which ones I鈥檝e read and which ones I haven鈥檛.

iTunes

For my uses, this is the best media manager software, but that鈥檚 partially because I use an iPod Touch. Without that, I would recommend Songbird (). In either case, the software simply makes it easy to organize and sort through my music collection (which I listen to as I work), create playlists, track my preferences, and so on.

This list pretty much sums up the software I use on a daily basis 鈥� and it鈥檚 all free.

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