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9 Great, Free Applications that Work with Vista

Wednesday, October 11th in ftp, programming, linux, editor, apple, macintosh, mac, dvd, burning, dvd burning, Microsoft, vista, software, file transfer, web development, Windows XP SP2, SP2, workstation, keyboard, mac mini, os, operating system, ubuntu 6.10, ubuntu, fspot, Backup CDs, CD Backup, Open Source, CD, Leopard, OS X 10.5, torrent, bittorrent, WWDC, Gentoo, blandname, XP, backup, disk image, Screenshots, Media Player, mouse, SCP, Windows XP, OpenSource, pc, Xming by blandname | 1 comment

This is a list of my favorite Windows applications that I honestly couldn’t live without that also work on Microsoft Windows Vista RC as well, much to my surprise. All of the software is free to download and use, and in fact most of them are open source.

ConTEXT - ConTEXT is a free and lightweight editor for programming or can be used as a notepad replacement. ConTEXT supports find and replace in multiple files at once so changing one method in loads of files is no longer an issue. Works in Vista with no problems whatsoever.

Synergy - Synergy is like a software KVM, but only shares keyboard and mouse capabilities. Synergy is multiplatform, and I currently use it to have my keyboard and mouse work in Ubuntu, Vista, and my Mac Mini running Leopard with no problem at all! This way I get to use my favorite keyboard and mouse and get to free up some space on my desk at the same time.

VLC - VLC has been my favorite media player for years now. VLC comes with most of the codecs you will need to watch videos on your PC already. VLC is very lightweight, and JUST WORKS, something that can’t be said about many media players. The only issue with VLC in Vista is that it turns Aero Glass off while it is playing.

FileZilla - I use FileZilla to interface with clients that still haven’t moved to SCP. FileZilla is an open source FTP client that gets the job done, supporting drag and drop, SSL, and NAT to NAT connections. The only thing it is missing is FXP support, but that’s not really a big deal in my case. Works fine in Vista with no problems at all.

IMGBurn - I love IMGBurn. This is hands-down the easiest way to burn .IMG, .ISO and BIN/CUE disk images to backup CDs or DVDs. Free, open source, and awesome. Works a treat in Microsoft Vista Beta 2 as well.

WinSnap - I use WinSnap to make many of the screen shots you see on blandname. WinSnap supports full screen and windowed screen shots, and also allows for rotation and drop shadows if you feel the need.

Electric Sheep - I often refer to Electric Sheep as “the best screensaver ever”, but truth be told, it’s really a collection of computer-generated screensavers that allow users to vote on them using a Digg-like system. On Windows, Electric Sheep uses bit torrent to transfer the sheep data. Again, working just fine in Vista!

Xming - Xming is my prefered interface to remote Linux boxes. Xming is for Linux what RDP is for Windows - you get a local X server and acceleration that displays data from remote applications running on Linux machines. Tested more than a few times to a remote Ubuntu computer, and one Gentoo box with no caveats.

WinSCP3 - SCP is now my preferred file transfer method. Luckily my favorite client also works on Vista, or I may not have used it at all. Much like FileZilla, WinSCP3 has a very simple, streamlined interface that is feature-rich and gets the job done, even on Vista.

So there you have it: 9 free applications I couldn’t live without that work just fine on Vista, and make it easy for me to do my day-to-day tasks. Hopefully someday this list will include F-Spot and Amarok, but I’m happy with this as a start considering neither of them work on Windows XP SP2 either!

Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft) Knot 2 Mac Mini Bluetooth Issue

Saturday, September 2nd in apple, macintosh, mac, beta, software, keyboard, bluetooth, mac mini, g4, bug, os, operating system, ubuntu 6.10, ubuntu, edgy eft, knot 2, livecd, driver, device, fspot, gnome, openfirmware by blandname | 2 comments

Oh no! My poor lil Mac Mini is unable to test the new Edgy Eft version because the Mac BT keyboard is not working in the livecd. I sent the error report to Ubuntu using the device driver wizard (pretty cool!) however was obviously unable to comment about what happened as I could not type anything in the box.

Otherwise, this version is quite swank. I was able to mouse around the web, play with FSpot and poke at Gnome a bit as well.

I’ll see if I can’t grab a USB keyboard and boot into OpenFirmware in order to load the CD (holding C typically does not work with other non-Apple keyboards, by the way).

UPDATE:

I was able to install with no problems (have a look at the new blandname Ubuntu Edgy Eft Knot 2 article here )

Still not able to get the Bluetooth running, but I have been in contact with the helpful Ubuntu team and will keep you all posted!