I have been working on creating a fresh VM image and I thought it would be interesting to list out what I am installing. I don’t like to install every tool right away, I install what I consider the essentials and then install additional tools as I need them. Here is my list so far:
1) Windows XP SP2 (no Vista for me)
2) SQL Server 2005 and SP2
3) Visual Studio 2005 and SP1
4) Firefox
5) Firebug for Firefox
6) Adobe Creative Suite 2
7) Fiddler
Reflector
9) Notepad2 (replace Notepad with it using second method)
10) dotTrace 3.0
11) Resharper
12) TortoiseSVN
13) Filezilla
14) TestDriven.NET
15) MbUnit
16) Watin
17) Watin Test Recorder
18) Winmerge
19) Camtasia
It doesn’t include the stuff I use that is part of my various projects (Rhino.Mocks, etc) since I just copy the assemblies over.
-James
{ 9 comments }
Why no Vista? I just got a new dev laptop from work with Vista on it and I’m blasting it in favor of XP, but I wondered your reasons?
For me, it’s a performance and ease of use decision.
I like the list, because the rest of utils like sysinternals stuff or app launchers don’t need installation.
Well, I like it with the exception of Watin, testing the UI is a pain !
Great list – regarding Fiddler, I’ve actually started using Wireshark a lot more… maybe it is overkill, but it seems like I can dig into trace results more if need be.
It is good to see WinMerge and FileZilla on the list, too. Those are some of my favorite and most used open source applications.
@Patrick – I just haven’t seen a reason to upgrade. I have seen my friends have all kinds of problems with app compatibility, performance, etc. I used Windows 95 until 98SE came out, and I used 98SE until XP came out. I think I will probably use XP SP2 until Vista SP1 or SP2.
@Dan – Watin makes it so much easier though!
@David – Never heard of Wireshark, I will have to check it out.
No Launchy or SlickRun?
@Ben – Nah, I have been getting into QuickSilver in OS X but I never got into a launcher on Windows.
If you’re using Watin, you should also try Selenium. It’s not reliant on IE, so you can test your web apps for different browsers (and with the same test code).
http://www.openqa.org/selenium/
Do yourself a favor James and upgrade to Creative Suite 3. The difference is amazing — more features and better performance! First time ever that I’ve had an upgrade that was not only better but faster. On top of that, the new features are sweet!
Since we use Sourcegear VAULT for our SCC, I have long been a lover of their DiffMerge tool and now that its available for free, I recommend you dump winmerge (despite its popularity) and switch to DiffMerge 3.x; its worlds better.
As for Notepad2, I much prefer Programmer’s notepad but that’s just me
Nice list otherwise~!
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