Software I use

There's a lot of use programming being done out there, much of it being made available free. I thought it would be fitting to acknowledge the software I've found useful, especially the cheap or free stuff and the programs I use on a regular basis.

XML-related

• Cocoon, an XML-based web application framework.
• oXygen XML editor. Shareware; very good bang for the buck. (See this review.)
• I sometimes use Eclipse, particularly for Java development (which I don't do very often right now). I would like to use it for XML/XSLT/Cocoon development, especially if it had a sitemap debugger that worked with current versions of Eclipse and Cocoon (see Sunbow plug-in; there are rumors that S&N will start putting effort into good Cocoon development tools).

Mozilla

• Sunbird - the standalone version of the Mozilla Calendar extension. I use the standalone version so I can have it launch on Windows startup. That way I don't forget to run it, which enables it to remind me of meetings and other events. If Firefox or Thunderbird had a way to launch the Calendar extension automatically, I wouldn't need Sunbird. Unfortunately, Sunbird seems buggier than the non-standalone version, even though they're supposed to share the same code base. Sunbird's version number is only 0.2, so perhaps one shouldn't expect much. I just installed it yesterday, so we'll see if it lasts.
  Update, the next day: I found that you can make Thunderbird start with the Calendar extension automatically open: thunderbird -mail -calendar. So I'm dropping SB and returning to the apparently less buggy TB Calendar extension, at least for now.
• The very popular Firefox browser. My main reason: to encourage the development and use of software based on public standards, rather than locked into proprietary ones. Firefox has good features too, particular via the third-party extensions.
• Thunderbird email client. (Reasons: same as for Firefox.) I've been using Thunderbird for about 5 months now, and rarely use Outlook anymore. However, Thunderbird does have one or two bugs that annoy me.

Misc.

• Oostime reminds you every so often to take breaks. The idea is to reduce the risk of wrist injury from lots of typing. I just installed this today. Not sure if it's going to work well in Windows XP. (I'm also learning the Dvorak keyboard layout again, and contemplating getting some kind of ergonomic keyboard... though I'd like to try one out first).

Windows

It would be unfair not to acknowledge the large amount of convenient software that comes with Windows... while at the same time noting that bundling too much software with the OS can harm competition.

• Keyboards for various languages, and alternative layouts like Dvorak... this used to be much less convenient. Now it's a snap... at least for the major languages of the world (and coverage is quite good).