I have a new CPU (Dell Dimension 8400), running Windows XP SP2. I am setting it up to be my primary windows development box. This article is to show what I have installed/use on a daily basis. Below is a list of installed software and the current version in use:

• Blindly take anything from windowsupdate.microsoft.com, because it has to be better than SP2
• Firefox (1.0) Don’t forget to install extensions: Web Developer Toolbar, JavaScript Debugger, and ColorZilla.
• WinZip (9.0) Mostly to open all the .tar.gz files. Bought it too long ago to drop it now.
• Tortoise SVN (1.1.2)
• Emacs (21.3)
• nxml-mode for Emacs(20041004) nxml-mode has replaced xslide for my xml editing needs.
• Apache HTTP Server (2.0.52)
• Python (2.3.4, until mod_python has a binary for 2.4) Also cheetah, sqlobject, ctypes, mysql_python, pywin32, and wxpython
• mod_python (3.1.3)
• Putty and friends (plink, pscp, etc)Great ssh client for Windows
• TextPad (4.7) Great replacement for Notepad/Wordpad
• XMLSpy(2005) Still the best visual XML editor (nxml-mode is better day-to-day for simple editing)
• PHP(5.0.3)
• JDK(1.4.2, don’t need 1.5 yet) (Don’t forget the documentation)
• MySQL(4.1.7) Don’t forget to turn query logging on, for development. Also install the Query Browser, Adminstration Console, and Control Center.
• CVS command line executable (1.11.12)
• JBuilder(X)
• Delphi 7
• IDEA 4.5
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0
• Trillian Trying it as a multi-IM client.
• MKS toolkit, for unix utilities (tried cygwin, didn’t like it, and have not tried Windows Services for Unix yet, since mks ‘just works’
• Ant(1.6.2) How to build anything java without it?
• Subversion(1.1.2) Good to also have the command line client in addition to TortoiseSVN
• Zend Studio(4.0 Beta) Trying it out for PHP development.
• VMWare Workstation Great for testing installers by using the snapshot functionality. Also used it at a previous job to run Linux/Windows/etc on the same machine. Much better than Virtual PC.

Stuff I don’t use everyday, but do need for the odd project:

• SQL Server 2000 Developer
• Mozilla Suite (1.7.5)
• Mozilla Thunderbird (1.0)
• Cisco VPN Client
• Microsoft Office 2003, everyone makes me use it, because I believe in text files.
• Visio 2003
• Project 2003
• Eclipse 3.1M3, testing the water again
• NSIS (2.0.3) Awesome installer product for Windows, and free to boot (Don’t forget to try nsisedit)

Other stuff I should not forget:

• My .emacs file
• antrc_pre.bat (Sets the max memory for Ant to 1GB)
• Edit the httpd.conf for mod_ptyhon integration:
  
  +LoadModule python_module modules/mod_python.so
• Environment variables:
  • HOME=c:/usr
  • PATH += HOME/bin
  • JAVA_HOME = C:/usr/java/j2sdk1.4.2_06
  • PATH += JAVA_HOME/bin
  • PATH += C:/usr/mks/mksnt
  • ANT_HOME=c:/usr/java/apache-ant-1.6.2-bin
  • PATH += ANT_HOME/bin
  • CVS_RSH=plink.exe
  • CVSROOT=???
  • FORREST_HOME
  • INSTALLSHIELD_HOME

Stuff I did NOT install:

• Tortoise CVS (icon overlay in 1.6.3 sucks!!!)
• Yahoo! IM
• AOL IM
• MSN Messenger (though it is still forced upon me)

Should I install these again?

• Google Desktop search
• Visual Studio
• Anything related to the D language (doesn’t seem to be going anywhere)

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