Well then to get this party started here is the list of programs i use regularly and would recommend to everyone. _______________________________________________________________
Notepad Plus Plus
To sum it up NP++ is a simple text editor on steroids that is specialised for coding. I only stubled upon it a couple of days ago so i don't quite know all the things that it can do but it is the most convenient way yet i've found for the light web design i do. I wish i had more experience with it to really be able to tell what it can do but it is free and over a million people already downloaded it over at Download.com so i think that it is safe to assume that it is pretty good.
I've been rolling with Winamp for many years already. It's a great music and pretty good video player and I still really like it but I have been using it less and less now that my main source of music has become Deezer.com's smart radios.
I really like Utorrent, not just for downloading torrents but also for downloading the latests entries in RSS feeds. Now with it's recent addition of apps i'm sure that many interesting stuff will happen with it.
Jdownloader is one of those programs that i don't often use but i could'nt do without. JDownloader is a program that can download files from file storage site like Megaupload and RapidShare without all the hassle. It autocompletes captchas (yay security!) and will automatically start a download when the timer runs out and all you need is a link of the page. It also allows you to dowload video's directly of video streaming sites like youtube but i've never really got that to work properly.
The name says it all really. It is a pretty simplistic program but it does it job really well, as well as download the videos it can convert them to other media types as well which is really handy. It also works with quite a number of other video sites (yes even THAT one).
I discovered this one thanks to an old Tested.com article and i absolutely love it. It allows you to change the volume of your PC by keeping the right button pressed and scrolling (deafault setting). Now this might seem as pointless to some but for those like me who do not have a external button to change the volume it is a godsend. (Why HP did you do that? WHY???)
I doubt that i have to explain anyone what google chrome is or why you should try it out so I won't. What some of you might not know though is that it has some extremely handy features for webdesign.
Trillian is an IM client (well not really) that allows you to put all your IM clients and social sites in one program from MSN to Twitter. It is great if you talk to people on that use different IM client but i mainly like it because it is not plastered with add lik Live Messenger and it has all the features i want.
This one here is a really basic program. You can set the alarm individually for every day or a single one for the week and you can use MP3's for the alarm itself. It is notthing spectacular really but it wakes me up.
Cdisplay is a image viewer that specializes in comics/mangas. It has many ways zoom and turn pages and has plenty of handy features like displaying pages on it's side. If any of you occasionally read a comic or manga on your computer you should definitely give this program a shot, I'm sure that it will rock your world.
This is an open source virtualization solution from Sun. It isn't as feature full as VMWare but it has one major advantage over it: It's Free! So if you ever wanted to do virtualization but do not want to buy (or for you seedier types pirate) a copy of VMWare, this is the perfect solution to check out.
Another Sun program. Generally this is an open source office suite similar to Microsoft Office. It isn't as good as Microsoft Office, but once again is completely free. So if you don't have the money for Office but still want a good word processor, spread sheet manager, and power point creator check it out.
A program that combines IM with voice chat. I use this for basically all of my internet conversations and have found it to be very reliable and very useful.
I should have Deamon Tools lite on here somewhere. I Switched over to Gizmo Drive which is pretty much the same but but with more bells and whistles. The reason I had to switch over was because at some point a long time ago i had to load a image file that Deamon Tools lite could not read. Not sure what it was, perhaps .CUE
7-Zip Free (as in freedom) archiving/compression software. Supports many formats, including ZIP, TAR, GZIP, and BZ2 for packing, and many others, including ISO, some filesystems and RAR, for unpacking. It has a GUI and command-line version for Windows, and there is a POSIX (including Linux, BSD, and OS X) port of the command line version.
FFmpeg An essential tool for video transcoding. Has plugins available for most video codecs and containers (including h.264, h.263, WMV, M-JPEG, AVCHD, and more). Another piece of software that is free as in freedom, it has been integrated into many other programs, and is extensively used as an external compression tool by many applications. The only downside is that it's a bitch to compile. Unless you have a really good reason to compile it, get a binary.
I feel like there's a few I forgot to include. I'm sure they'll hit me later.
Seconded: Notepad++ 7-Zip Steam uTorrent VLC Media Player Trillian Steam CDisplay
Media Player Classic An alternative to Windows Media Player. Lightweight, an absolutely stunning amount of options to tweak everything just the way you want it. Not as many crazy formats supported as VLC. Download Link: http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/
Microsoft Security Essentials Free anti-virus that outperforms the other free alternatives and is constantly getting better. Lightweight and unobtrusive. Download Link: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
Wunderlist An absolutely free approach to "Getting Things Done". Includes Windows, Mac, and iPhone clients that all sync to the cloud. Absolutely fantastic. Download Link: http://www.6wunderkinder.com/wunderlist/
DD-WRT An open source third party router firmware alternative based on linux. Turn your router in to one that would cost much much more. Allows much more customization and stability over the default firmware. Supports a large amount of routers. Download Link: http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index
Tomato A lot like DD-WRT but a lot more specialized. I prefer Tomato to DD-WRT simply because of its interface and simpler approach. Runs on a very limited list of hardware. Download Link: http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato
m0n0wall Like DD-WRT and Tomato but based off FreeBSD. Runs on PCs and a range of embedded hardware. Download Link: http://m0n0.ch/wall/
Always on top maker The title of this niftly little program is pretty self explanatory, you select a window and press ctrl-alt-T to make it stick on the foreground of your screen even when you select another window. It's really handy.
Steam: Everyone who plays PC games knows just how fantastic Steam actually is. I've spent way too much on their damn sales, but I don't mind that at all. Google Chrome: By far the best browser I've ever used and the browser that everyone should use. Having to use Safari in school just reminds me of just how much better Chrome is.
SciTE -Windows and Linux Awesome text editor based on SCIntilla with a bunch of good features including syntax highlighting for a bunch of languages. Download Link: http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html
rtorrent - Linux Torrent client based on libtorrent, best CLI client available in my opinion. Available from a distro repo near you. Source link: http://libtorrent.rakshasa.no/
mRemote - Windows Excellent utility for managing your remote connections, supports ssh, vlc, rdp, rlogin, raw, ica, and http/s connections. Download Link: http://www.mremote.org/wiki/
Vyatta - Linux Technically it's an entire distro, but I figured I'd put it on here. It's a software router and security package. The appliances are expensive, but you can download the Vyatta Core images for free to run on your own kit. Download Link: http://www.vyatta.com/downloads/index.php
@Helushune: I'm going to have to try out that FTP client :)
I also recommend Notepad++, it will even iirc let you make up your own language sytanx so that if it doesn't support whatever obscure as hell programming language you're using, it will higlight the syntax and such :P I've never tried that feature, however. It's a great little tool for php and html coding!
Truecrypt free encryption tool that supports full disk encryption and a great alternative to the very expensive PGP(pretty good privacy :p)
Keepass An encrypted password locker which can remind you to change your passwords when they expire (you set the expiration) also add notes etc or just use it to generate a strong password)
Logmein An awesome remote access (VNC type) Service handy if you forgot a file at home (not in your dropbox) or simply need access to another ISP etc Works using an intermediary to navigate past firewalls without port forwarding (as required by typical VNC clients with out special configuration)
Untangle An opensource Unified threat management gateway (with addon options that can be purchased) is a dead simple gateway antivirus, IPS, firewall, router, spam blocker, ad blocker, vpn server, etc
OpenVPN A good opensource vpn client/server program (not the best out there but dead simple and better then a MS vpn)
I also recommend Notepad++ 7-Zip Steam uTorrent VLC Media Player Putty WinSCP cutepdf
There are plenty of other image sharing/uploading sites available on the net but for me the best and fasted way to get something uploaded and share it with someone is the Image Shack uploader. Just open it, select what you want to upload (you can upload in bulk) and press go. Plain and simple, no none sense and effective.
It also has some re-sizing options that are pretty handy when like me you do not have the fasted internet around and you are not up to uploading 4Mb photographs.
Once done uploading you are presented with the links of things you uploaded in various format as in direct links, short links, thumbnails versions for forums in html etc...
Taking screenshots is quite a hassle with you needing to press it, then open say paint, and then save it /firtworldproblem
This little program however solves that problem and allows you to simply press prtscr and save the screenshot directly. It can do full screen shot, boxed and even allows you to rope cut.
You can actually take a screenshot with your mouse on it. Not that important but it's a feature.
The big plus of this program is that you can configure it to your liking. By default it will pop up a window asking you where and how you want to save it but you can also set it up so that there is now window that pops up when you print screen and that it automatically saves a lossless .png file in a folder somewhere.
There is a lot more that you can do with it but i think that this is a pretty good global overview.
TuxGuitar- it's an open source version of the popular Guitar Pro program. A tablature and standard notation editor with midi playback. Similar functionality in a cleaner, more efficient design. Lacks a couple features of Guitar Pro but overall I find it very handy. And free is nice.
F.lux- Ever since i heard about this program on tested it's been the best thing I've put on my laptop. It changes the color temperature according to what time of day it is. So warmer at night to replicate a light bulb and cooler during the day to mimic natural light. http://stereopsis.com/flux/
Libre Office- It's a great alternative to Office and it's free. I used to use Open office, but that team left and went on to create Libre Office. Any way it's great. https://www.libreoffice.org/
LastPass- great password keeper, works great and it can generate a real good password for you https://lastpass.com/
Text to speech reader. Anything you copy to your clipboard is then read out to you. You can adjust the pitch & speed to your liking. Sometimes I multitask such as read articles while playing a game & I use this.
Window manegment software that is especially useful if using multiple monitors. You create a short cut key of your choice to quickly go into grid mode where you select the exact size and place you want the window much faster than resizing windows the normal way.
This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them.
I use this to disable or delete auto-running programs like iTunes Helper, Adobe Speed Launcher, QuickTime task and all sorts of crap these people think they need.
NetSpeedMonitor is a lightweight Network Monitoring Toolbar for your Windows Taskbar designed to be used on computers that run Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista or Windows 7. With NetSpeedMonitor you can monitor the current speed (up- and downstream) of your Network Interfaces and the amount of data transferred. In addition to the Connection Table with all TCP/UDP endpoints and the Toolbar Tooltip with a quick and short traffic overview, you can also see detailed daily and monthly Traffic Statistics.
It's like having speedtest.net running real-time on your taskbar. It does a bunch more that I don't really use, but check it out. It's a nice little utility.
DeskPins allows you to keep any window on top of others with a few clicks. While many programs offer this as a feature, others do not, and in such cases DeskPins comes handy. In addition, you can also define rules that use the window title (with wildcard support) and can automatically keep any window on top that matches your rules. The `on top` window is marked with a colored pin that can be quickly removed by simply clicking on it, returning the window to its normal state.
Click the system tray icon, click the window you want always on top. Done.
_______________________________________________________________
Notepad Plus Plus
To sum it up NP++ is a simple text editor on steroids that is specialised for coding. I only stubled upon it a couple of days ago so i don't quite know all the things that it can do but it is the most convenient way yet i've found for the light web design i do.I wish i had more experience with it to really be able to tell what it can do but it is free and over a million people already downloaded it over at Download.com so i think that it is safe to assume that it is pretty good.
Download link: http://download.cnet.com/Notepad/3000-2352_4-10327521.html?tag=mncol;1
Winamp
I've been rolling with Winamp for many years already. It's a great music and pretty good video player and I still really like it but I have been using it less and less now that my main source of music has become Deezer.com's smart radios.Download link: http://download.cnet.com/Winamp/3000-2141_4-10251792.html?tag=mncol;2
VLC Media Player
When Winamp fails VLC get's it right. It's a great video player that everyone should have on their computer really.Dowload link: http://download.cnet.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-13632_4-10267151.html?tag=mncol;1
Utorrent
I really like Utorrent, not just for downloading torrents but also for downloading the latests entries in RSS feeds. Now with it's recent addition of apps i'm sure that many interesting stuff will happen with it.Download Link: http://download.cnet.com/uTorrent/3000-2196_4-10528327.html?tag=mncol;1
Jdownloader
Jdownloader is one of those programs that i don't often use but i could'nt do without. JDownloader is a program that can download files from file storage site like Megaupload and RapidShare without all the hassle. It autocompletes captchas (yay security!) and will automatically start a download when the timer runs out and all you need is a link of the page. It also allows you to dowload video's directly of video streaming sites like youtube but i've never really got that to work properly.Download Link: http://jdownloader.org/
Youtube Downloader
The name says it all really. It is a pretty simplistic program but it does it job really well, as well as download the videos it can convert them to other media types as well which is really handy. It also works with quite a number of other video sites (yes even THAT one).Download Link: http://download.cnet.com/YouTube-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10647340.html?tag=contentMain;contentAux
Volumouse
I discovered this one thanks to an old Tested.com article and i absolutely love it. It allows you to change the volume of your PC by keeping the right button pressed and scrolling (deafault setting). Now this might seem as pointless to some but for those like me who do not have a external button to change the volume it is a godsend. (Why HP did you do that? WHY???)Download Link: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/volumouse.html
Google Chrome
I doubt that i have to explain anyone what google chrome is or why you should try it out so I won't. What some of you might not know though is that it has some extremely handy features for webdesign.Download Link: http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/landing_chrome.html?hl=en
Trillian
Trillian is an IM client (well not really) that allows you to put all your IM clients and social sites in one program from MSN to Twitter. It is great if you talk to people on that use different IM client but i mainly like it because it is not plastered with add lik Live Messenger and it has all the features i want.Download Link: http://download.cnet.com/Trillian-Astra/3000-2150_4-10047473.html?tag=mncol;1
Alarm Clock
This one here is a really basic program. You can set the alarm individually for every day or a single one for the week and you can use MP3's for the alarm itself. It is notthing spectacular really but it wakes me up.Download Link: http://download.cnet.com/Alarm-Clock/3000-2350_4-10064069.html?tag=mncol;4
CDisplay
Cdisplay is a image viewer that specializes in comics/mangas. It has many ways zoom and turn pages and has plenty of handy features like displaying pages on it's side. If any of you occasionally read a comic or manga on your computer you should definitely give this program a shot, I'm sure that it will rock your world.Download Link: http://download.cnet.com/CDisplay-Image-Display/3000-18488_4-10162238.html?tag=mncol;1
Other Things:
Daemon Tools Lite
One of the best solutions for mounting ISOs on a windows machine. Free and easy enough to use. Well known and well supported.Download Link: http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/products/dtLite
Virtual Box
This is an open source virtualization solution from Sun. It isn't as feature full as VMWare but it has one major advantage over it: It's Free! So if you ever wanted to do virtualization but do not want to buy (or for you seedier types pirate) a copy of VMWare, this is the perfect solution to check out.Download Link: http://www.virtualbox.org/
Open Office
Another Sun program. Generally this is an open source office suite similar to Microsoft Office. It isn't as good as Microsoft Office, but once again is completely free. So if you don't have the money for Office but still want a good word processor, spread sheet manager, and power point creator check it out.Download Link: http://www.openoffice.org/
Skype
A program that combines IM with voice chat. I use this for basically all of my internet conversations and have found it to be very reliable and very useful.Download Link: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/
I can think of a few other things but they are probably too specific to throw on here.
Anyway for anyone interested, free as well: http://download.cnet.com/Gizmo-Drive/3000-2248_4-10407554.html?tag=mncol;1
Free (as in freedom) archiving/compression software. Supports many formats, including ZIP, TAR, GZIP, and BZ2 for packing, and many others, including ISO, some filesystems and RAR, for unpacking. It has a GUI and command-line version for Windows, and there is a POSIX (including Linux, BSD, and OS X) port of the command line version.
http://www.7-zip.org/
FFmpeg
An essential tool for video transcoding. Has plugins available for most video codecs and containers (including h.264, h.263, WMV, M-JPEG, AVCHD, and more). Another piece of software that is free as in freedom, it has been integrated into many other programs, and is extensively used as an external compression tool by many applications. The only downside is that it's a bitch to compile. Unless you have a really good reason to compile it, get a binary.
http://www.ffmpeg.org/
Chrome
Steam
uTorrent
PeaZip
Windows LIVE essentials
Microsoft Office (just for Access, the single greatest program Microsoft has ever made)
Seconded:
Notepad++
7-Zip
Steam
uTorrent
VLC Media Player
Trillian
Steam
CDisplay
Media Player Classic
An alternative to Windows Media Player. Lightweight, an absolutely stunning amount of options to tweak everything just the way you want it. Not as many crazy formats supported as VLC.
Download Link: http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/
Microsoft Security Essentials
Free anti-virus that outperforms the other free alternatives and is constantly getting better. Lightweight and unobtrusive.
Download Link: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
Wunderlist
An absolutely free approach to "Getting Things Done". Includes Windows, Mac, and iPhone clients that all sync to the cloud. Absolutely fantastic.
Download Link: http://www.6wunderkinder.com/wunderlist/
ImgBurn
Free cd/dvd burning program.
Download Link: http://www.imgburn.com/
DropBox
Free 2gb of cloud storage space; multi platform.
Download Link: http://www.dropbox.com/
Foxit Reader
Free lighter alternative to Adobe Acrobat reader
Download Link: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/
Slightly specialized:
WinSCP
Free SFTP/FTP client. Not nearly as annoying as Filezilla.
Download Link: http://winscp.net/eng/index.php
PuTTY
Super small open source SSH/telnet client for windows and unix platforms
Download Link: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
DD-WRT
An open source third party router firmware alternative based on linux. Turn your router in to one that would cost much much more. Allows much more customization and stability over the default firmware. Supports a large amount of routers.
Download Link: http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index
Tomato
A lot like DD-WRT but a lot more specialized. I prefer Tomato to DD-WRT simply because of its interface and simpler approach. Runs on a very limited list of hardware.
Download Link: http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato
m0n0wall
Like DD-WRT and Tomato but based off FreeBSD. Runs on PCs and a range of embedded hardware.
Download Link: http://m0n0.ch/wall/
FreeNAS
NAS software built off m0n0wall.
Download Link: http://freenas.org/doku.php
Calibre
Manage your ebooks, convert them to different formats, upload them to your e-reader.
Download Link: http://calibre-ebook.com/
The title of this niftly little program is pretty self explanatory, you select a window and press ctrl-alt-T to make it stick on the foreground of your screen even when you select another window. It's really handy.
Download Link: http://www.fadsoft.net/AlwaysOnTopMaker.htm
Google Chrome: By far the best browser I've ever used and the browser that everyone should use. Having to use Safari in school just reminds me of just how much better Chrome is.
Awesome text editor based on SCIntilla with a bunch of good features including syntax highlighting for a bunch of languages.
Download Link: http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html
rtorrent - Linux
Torrent client based on libtorrent, best CLI client available in my opinion. Available from a distro repo near you.
Source link: http://libtorrent.rakshasa.no/
mRemote - Windows
Excellent utility for managing your remote connections, supports ssh, vlc, rdp, rlogin, raw, ica, and http/s connections.
Download Link: http://www.mremote.org/wiki/
Vyatta - Linux
Technically it's an entire distro, but I figured I'd put it on here. It's a software router and security package. The appliances are expensive, but you can download the Vyatta Core images for free to run on your own kit.
Download Link: http://www.vyatta.com/downloads/index.php
I also recommend Notepad++, it will even iirc let you make up your own language sytanx so that if it doesn't support whatever obscure as hell programming language you're using, it will higlight the syntax and such :P I've never tried that feature, however. It's a great little tool for php and html coding!
Truecrypt
free encryption tool that supports full disk encryption and a great alternative to the very expensive PGP(pretty good privacy :p)
Keepass
An encrypted password locker which can remind you to change your passwords when they expire (you set the expiration) also add notes etc or just use it to generate a strong password)
Logmein
An awesome remote access (VNC type) Service handy if you forgot a file at home (not in your dropbox) or simply need access to another ISP etc Works using an intermediary to navigate past firewalls without port forwarding (as required by typical VNC clients with out special configuration)
Untangle
An opensource Unified threat management gateway (with addon options that can be purchased) is a dead simple gateway antivirus, IPS, firewall, router, spam blocker, ad blocker, vpn server, etc
OpenVPN
A good opensource vpn client/server program (not the best out there but dead simple and better then a MS vpn)
I also recommend
Notepad++
7-Zip
Steam
uTorrent
VLC Media Player
Putty
WinSCP
cutepdf
Image Shack Uploader
There are plenty of other image sharing/uploading sites available on the net but for me the best and fasted way to get something uploaded and share it with someone is the Image Shack uploader. Just open it, select what you want to upload (you can upload in bulk) and press go. Plain and simple, no none sense and effective.It also has some re-sizing options that are pretty handy when like me you do not have the fasted internet around and you are not up to uploading 4Mb photographs.
Once done uploading you are presented with the links of things you uploaded in various format as in direct links, short links, thumbnails versions for forums in html etc...
Oh and it does video as well no apparently.
Download link: http://imageshack.us/ (free)
I'd like to add Focus Writer to my previous list, I use it all the time now :)
PrtScr
Taking screenshots is quite a hassle with you needing to press it, then open say paint, and then save it /firtworldproblem
This little program however solves that problem and allows you to simply press prtscr and save the screenshot directly. It can do full screen shot, boxed and even allows you to rope cut.
You can actually take a screenshot with your mouse on it. Not that important but it's a feature.
The big plus of this program is that you can configure it to your liking. By default it will pop up a window asking you where and how you want to save it but you can also set it up so that there is now window that pops up when you print screen and that it automatically saves a lossless .png file in a folder somewhere.
There is a lot more that you can do with it but i think that this is a pretty good global overview.
download link: http://www.fiastarta.com/PrtScr/index.html
-------------------------------------
Here is a video of it in action (with a very odd choice of music... link for those interested )
TuxGuitar- it's an open source version of the popular Guitar Pro program. A tablature and standard notation editor with midi playback. Similar functionality in a cleaner, more efficient design. Lacks a couple features of Guitar Pro but overall I find it very handy. And free is nice.
http://tuxguitar.herac.com.ar/
Programs I use daily:
F.lux- Ever since i heard about this program on tested it's been the best thing I've put on my laptop. It changes the color temperature according to what time of day it is. So warmer at night to replicate a light bulb and cooler during the day to mimic natural light. http://stereopsis.com/flux/
Libre Office- It's a great alternative to Office and it's free. I used to use Open office, but that team left and went on to create Libre Office. Any way it's great. https://www.libreoffice.org/
LastPass- great password keeper, works great and it can generate a real good password for you https://lastpass.com/
CCleaner- Helps clean up crap on your computer like temp. internet files and what not. http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
Some of the programs already covered so I won't cover the details
Other free software worth mentioning.
These are a few I've stumbled upon that have potential, but can't recommend (yet) due to not spending enough time with them yet.
Atchoo
Google calendar desktop notifier, I use it everyday and it really is invaluable program I use despite the simplicity of it.
http://vladiliescu.ro/atchoo
Tweetdeck
Twitter desktop notifier. Much like Atchoo it's simple but invaluable program
http://www.tweetdeck.com/
Ultra Hal Text to Speech Reader
Text to speech reader. Anything you copy to your clipboard is then read out to you. You can adjust the pitch & speed to your liking. Sometimes I multitask such as read articles while playing a game & I use this.
http://download.cnet.com/Ultra-Hal-Text-to-Speech-Reader/3000-7239_4-10071733.html
These are the only program I see haven't been mentioned yet that I would recommend.
Divvy
Window manegment software that is especially useful if using multiple monitors. You create a short cut key of your choice to quickly go into grid mode where you select the exact size and place you want the window much faster than resizing windows the normal way.
http://mizage.com/
The Free version works fine you just need to wait to click demo each time you boot it up.
Autoruns for Windows
This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them.
I use this to disable or delete auto-running programs like iTunes Helper, Adobe Speed Launcher, QuickTime task and all sorts of crap these people think they need.
NetSpeedMonitor
NetSpeedMonitor is a lightweight Network Monitoring Toolbar for your Windows Taskbar designed to be used on computers that run Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista or Windows 7. With NetSpeedMonitor you can monitor the current speed (up- and downstream) of your Network Interfaces and the amount of data transferred. In addition to the Connection Table with all TCP/UDP endpoints and the Toolbar Tooltip with a quick and short traffic overview, you can also see detailed daily and monthly Traffic Statistics.
It's like having speedtest.net running real-time on your taskbar. It does a bunch more that I don't really use, but check it out. It's a nice little utility.
DeskPins
DeskPins allows you to keep any window on top of others with a few clicks. While many programs offer this as a feature, others do not, and in such cases DeskPins comes handy. In addition, you can also define rules that use the window title (with wildcard support) and can automatically keep any window on top that matches your rules. The `on top` window is marked with a colored pin that can be quickly removed by simply clicking on it, returning the window to its normal state.
Click the system tray icon, click the window you want always on top. Done.
Sizer
A program that lets you size any window on your desktop you want, down to the pixel.
WSplit
A free and simple timer that allows you to see how far ahead or behind you are of checkpoints set by you.
XSplit
Free and easy to use streaming program that allows alot of customization on what on your desktop you can stream
Coda:
Best coding program in my book.
xScope:
A great tool for designers and developers.
Sparrow:
Been covered on this site and elsewhere. Great e-mail program.