New machine: Everything and the Kitchen Sink

So besides Browsery stuff (and in addition to my Firefox and Chrome configs, I’ve installed LastPass and Xmarks for IE8), what-all else am I burdening my poor new work PC with …?

Core Applications

1. The machine came imaged with MS Office 2003.  Which, really, is a gotta-have, since that’s what we standardize on.  And, yes, I’d love to be all Google Apps, or at least Open Office, but when in Britain, rub blue mud on your belly.
2. Need to install the Compatability Pack for 2007 Office System.  So I can read all the 2007 format files folks send me.
3. Still need to have the IT gremlins install MS Visio (yay) and MS Project.
4. Need to install SnagIt, which will handle all my basic graphic and screen cap needs quite nicely.  Been using it for years.
5. I use JGSoft’s EditPadLite as my text editor, as a sort of souped-up text editor.  Interestingly, almost nothing I use it for is work-related.
6. Yeah, I’ll need to download the Blackberry Desktop Software sooner or later.  Hopefully later.
7. Last, but by no means least, I need to use my external Seagate drive to copy over all my files.
8. I’ll need to get the browser extensions for eRoom and WebEx and GoToMeeting.

Useful Utilities

1. Had to go out and grab the printer driver for my home printer.  Didn’t download the fancy package for scan-to-file, though.  We need to get that running on one more of our home machines.
2. Installed the Google Talk client.  Yes, I could use the Google Chat feature in GMail, but I actually like the client app. If nothing else, it’s a great bellwether for my connection to the Internet.
3. Installed Yahoo Instant Messenger, which has been the IM of choice within my department.  We don’t have a corporate standard, though a lot of folks use an internal Windows/Exchange-based IM.  I’d use it, too, but it doesn’t poke out beyond the firewall, so I’d be SOL when working outside the office.  The YIM client has gotten progressively cruftier, but it’s still not a bad app.
4. DropBox makes it trivial to transfer files between PCs.
5. XReminder Pro – This is a simple alarm popup.  It works great, and I’ve used it for years.  I desperately wish it synced to the web somehow.  If someone knows of a good popup reminder that would work across multiple machines, please let me know.
6. I think I still need to load some anti-spyware tools, no matter what Symantec claims.  I’ll probably stick with Spybot S&D and Spyware Blaster.
7. TweakUI from the XP Powertools is already downloaded and used.
8. ClearType Tuning from MS makes LCD text much nicer to read.
9. FileOpenPatcher is a great little one-off util that lets you configure how 95% of your File Open dialogs act — i.e., I like my dialog boxes larger and always in Detail mode.
10. I need to install Google Desktop, which is my key to find any of the files (including my thousands of exported-from-Outlook emails) I can’t find.

For Future Reference

1. Startup Delayer is a great program to control the timing of startup programs.  Which can get you and booted and productive while some of the stuff you might want running eventually can lurch to life minutes later.  Good for when your machine starts showing its slowed-down age.
2. If I ever have to move back to Outlook again from corporate GMail, MessageExport and MessageViewer are both solid utilities for saving messages to the hard drive that I need before the corporate email retention policy bitbuckets them.

Farewell to Apps

1. SplashID – I’ve used this password/ID manager for years, since I first got a Palm Pilot.  It’s never worked well on my Blackberry, though, and LastPass does 95% of what it does, better, and the remaining 5% can be worked around.  Farewell.
2. azzCardfile – I just can’t figure out what I need this very keen Rolodex-style database for.  Which is a shame, because it’s very keen.
3. Corel PaintShop Pro – I’ve got a fairly old version, and, honestly, I almost never use it any more; between SnagIt’s editor, and what I can get for free elsewhere (the Picassa client has a nice photo touchup editor), I don’t do enough heavy-duty graphics any more to warrant figuring out how to migrate my license, let alone buy a new one.
4. Linear / ecto:  I’ve been using WordPress’s native editor exclusively for the past six months (with Clippings in Firefox giving me my canned text/pictures/formats).  I don’t need a separate blog client any more.
5. HeroBuilder and HeroDesigner – I don’t micromanage my City of Heroes toons any more.  Nor do I use my work PC for playing it, either.

I still have a lot of the secondary stuff to take care of, but I was actually able to do most of my work today — once the browsers were in shape — on my new machine.  I’m typing this on it, in fact.  Cool beans!