Periodically I get asked the question, “So, what are you running?”, in relation to my computer box, its OS, the apps I use, the hardware I use and so on.
Before I list off my stuff, Dave uses a Mac Pro quad-core with I believe 9GB of RAM. His monitors are dual Dell 24-inchers and an older third one that I can’t remember the make/model of at the moment. 
The hardware:
- My box is a custom case with a Biostar motherboard.
- My CPU is a 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
- I run 2GB of RAM.
- My hard drive is 250GB (and yes I know I should really add in another drive given how cheap they are these days).
- I use a plain-jane wired optical Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000 with the wheel-click set as a double-click (very handy) using the Microsoft Intellimouse software. (INTERESTING TIBIT: On that link for the software, Windows 7 is already mentioned. Interesting, eh? There’s even a support page for it already.)
- My keyboard is a Saitek Eclipse blue LED backlit, bought on sale for $29.99 with free shipping so it was a true $29.99. Works fairly well. Not the best keyboard I’ve ever owned but does the job. I appreciate the fact the Saitek does not require any special drivers at all to use. Just plug in and go.
- I run a dual-monitor setup, one is a BenQ FP202W at 1680×1050 and the other an now-ancient Sony SDM-S73 17-inch which has definitely seen better days but functions fine as a secondary monitor. I do appreciate that the base on the Sony is heavy. It stays put.
- The video card I have is 512MB EVGA which is an nVidia 8400GS dual-head (one DVI, one VGA).
- I own three USB sticks, all Sandisk cruzer micros. One is an older 512MB, one 2GB and one recently purchased 4GB. My next one will most likely be a 16 or 32GB because it would be very cool to offload most if not all the stuff I have backed up on DVD on to a single USB stick. The dream situation (which may happen in less than 2 years) is to have a 120GB stick or at least 80GB. For all intents and purposes, that’s a backup drive and a darn good one at that.
Some of the software I use (if I listed it all it would be a bit too lengthy on read):
- My primary OS is Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3 with all the latest updates. No, I do not own Vista and don’t plan to considering Win 7 will be here in less than a year.
- My primary office suite is OpenOffice. I have been using this for a long time. And since version 3 was released it looks and feels just about right.
- My secondary office suite is a now-ancient Microsoft Office 2000. This in my opinion was the last version of MS Office that ran fast before it got all bloated up and ran like crap. Some say that the current Office 2007 goes back to how fast the software used to be, but I personally don’t feel like shelling out $500 just to find that out, nor do I feel like installing the 60-day trial (although it is nice Microsoft offers a trial run for that long). OO does the job, and if not, MSO 2000 will.
- I use Launchy a lot. A whole lot. It is faster than using a mouse to launch apps and I like speed.
- I use Sizer to quickly resize windows to specific dimensions. It comes in handy when I record screencasts.
- My primary browser is Firefox. I use only a scant few plugins to keep memory use down. The two I use most are Foxmarks and ScreenGrab.
- My primary text editor is Notepad++. It’s the best text editor for Windows, period.
- My PDF reader is FoxIt Reader. It is lighter and faster than Adobe Reader.
- I create PDFs using OpenOffice (there’s a “PDF” icon right in the software) or PDF Creator as a pseudo print driver.
- My primary instant messenger is AIM Lite, and if I weren’t using that I’d most likely use Miranda. Both these IM apps are not about features but all about being lightweight and speedy.
- My primary blogging tool is Windows Live Writer. If I had to go without this, that would suck.
- My email application is Mozilla Thunderbird. No matter what mail I go with I inevitably always come back to t-bird.
- I backup my mail using KLS Mail Backup.
- I use KeePass Password Safe as my password manager.
- Being the GPS nut that I am, I have a host of mapping utilities including Garmin’s MapSource, WebUpdater, and POI Loader. I also use Google Earth, KMLCSV, GPXTOPOI and a few others.
- I do have Steam installed when I feel like playing a few games every so often.
- For easy dual-monitor wallpaper I use Display Fusion.
- For screencasting I use Camtasia Studio.
Well anyway, that covers about, oh.. 35% of the apps I use.
What’s your hardware?
List the stuff in your computer box. Does it work for you? What do you plan to upgrade later?
What’s your software?
What do you use most often and why? Do you prefer to stay with older versions or go with the latest/greatest?
Let us know.
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Hey Great list Rich. Thanks for sharing. There’s a lot of great information here. I like to use the latest and greatest software. Not so much with Hardware. I’m a sucker for new technology. I’m actually running Win7 beta and it’s been great. But I can see why you don’t want to upgrade. I think a lot has to do with drivers and having to buy new peripherals.
It’s not an issue of compatibility, it’s cost. If I buy Vista now, less than a year later I have to buy Windows again when 7 is released. And even though it would be the lesser-cost upgrade version, I still have to open my wallet twice in less than a year just for Windows. If I wait until 7 I only have to do it once and it will cost less.
Custom box with Gigabyte motherboard, Q6600 CPU Quadcore 2.4GHZ, 3GB memory (looking at increasing that), a 500GB SATA drive and two other 160GB EIDE drives, an LG DVD-DL writer, 8600GT Nvidia (256MB), a Microsoft Optical Trackball Explorer for a mouse, a Microsoft 4000 keyboard that I picked up for $25 at a computer show (I won’t compromise on keyboard and mouse!), and a SyncMaster 204B (1900×1600) and a Dell 17″ (that’s going dark…), and a bunch of sticks and SD cards that I stick in various cameras and computers, of which two live on my keychain, 8GB SDmicro chips in Kingston USB adapters. My PS is about maxxed out as well. And a 160GB 2.5″ USB drive. I want a bigger hard drive, bigger RAM and a bigger PS when I do upgrade.
As far as software, I’m using Windows 2003 Server as a workstation (updating to Windows 7 when it comes out – I’m tired of trying to fool programs that refuse to work on 2003), I use Ultraedit for all my text and programming needs, Firefox 3.0 and 3.1beta for browsing (I have Safari and Opera installed, they just don’t get used much) with a number of extensions, Gmail manager, Forecastbar, NoScript, FireFTP being the most heavily used, Office 2003 here, it’s what my wife uses at work and at home, so it’s consistent. Acrobat is loaded, but I’ll be running FoxIt when I reinstall. I don’t create PDFs. :-p. I’m currently using Digsby, trying it out for all my IM stuff, but I was using Meebo before that. I have Windows Live Writer installed, but I usually end up just blogging from Blogger’s web interface. And all my email is accessed via Gmail now. Thunderbird is installed, but I haven’t started it in months. I had Keepass around here somewhere, but I need to download that and restart that (I managed to blow away the database file I had with it too.) Wallpaper is by Wallpaper Master. Sysinternals ProcExp and Desktops are loaded on login. And I’m running BOINC for SETI@Home. I have WAMP installed for playing with some websites (beats playing with a hosted account). And upgrading to Windows 7 when it’s final is the most I have planned on upgrading to right now.
Is your PC slow running a 1.8 CPU Rich?
HP dx5150 w/ Athlon 64 X2 4200+
3GB DDR433 : VERY nice card at $70 IMO
4 250GB HDDs (2 from dead external enclosures
Presonus FireBox Audio
Dididesign Mbox Academic Audio
Dual AOC 17″ monitors for dorm room.
Wireless HP keyboard, Kensington Trackball Mouse (highly recommended!)
Dual Boot:
XP Home SP3
AutoDesk Maya Unlimited 2008 Academic
ProTools LE 8.0
Office 2007 (quite fast actually, once you learn keyboard strokes to omit the stupid ribbons)
LAUNCHY!
Development (XHTML, XML, CSS primarily) on EditPad Lite and Notepad
Browser: CHROME. Firefox is bloatware in comparison!
Linux Ubuntu 8.10
OpenOffice! Also fantastic.
Develop in VIM and gVIM
Maya installed here too. Yay
ioGear KVM (including one monitor
to:
MacBook Pro 2Ghz Dual Core
2GB DDR2 RAM
OS X 10.4.9
Mac Office 2004 or something. Okay, but a bit clunky.
ProTools 7.4
Final Cut Studio 6.0 Academic (Excellent software)
Firefox
System is awesome except for one issue: my pc runs very very hot, likely due to the 4 HDDs and intense graphics card. That makes the fan spin hard, and you can tell I’m set up for sound design, so that kinda screws up things :<
Waiting for next iteration of Mac OS X, and Windows 7 out of Beta before upgrade.
Self built system:
- Abit IP35 Pro motherboard
- 8 GB G.SKill memory
- 2 1 TB SATAII drives
- 2 750 GB SATAII drives
- 8800GTS 640 MB video card (2 DVI)
- Q6600 quad core over clocked to 3.6 GHz
- Antec 900 case
- Zalman CPU cooler (quiet and efficient)
- HANNS-G HG281D 28 inch LCD monitor (1920×1200)
- Acer AL2016W LCD monitor as secondary (1680×1050)
- Logitech S510 cordless keyboard and mouse combo
- Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
- HP Officejet Pro L7590 all in one (I love it)
Software:
- Steam (too many games)
- Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise (needed for work compatibility through employer purchase program)
- Firefox 3
- IE 8 (compatibility testing only)
- Opera
- Chrome
- Safari 4 beta
- Nero 9
- DiVX with converter and Author
- Sunbelt Software VIPRE (anti-virus and anti-spyware)
- Display Fusion (love this one)
- Any DVD so I can rip DVDs I own for portable use
- Trillian for chat
- Roboform for password keeping
- GoodSync Pro for backing up/syncing with my server
- Emerald community Editor for programming (was called Crimson Editor in the past)
- iTunes (Yes I use iTunes) for my 120 GB of purchased music (some Apple, some elsewhere, some ripped from my CDs)
Self built server:
- Supermicro Motherboard
- Core 2 Duo 2.53 GHz CPU
- 8 GB memory (runs a lot of programs off an on)
- 500 GB SATAII boot drive (don’t need this much but it was what I had on hand)
- 2 TB RAID5 SATAII array on a highpoint RAID controller for data storage (I have 4 ports left on the controller and will likely build another 2 TB RAID5 for more data storage. All of the PCs and laptops in my house backup to that server and then it is all backed up from there)
- Microsoft Server 2008 Enterprise 64-bit (MSDN subscription) used for learning administration, etc.
- Build in video (Intel something or other) hooked up through my 4 port KVM switch
Self-built router:
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz CPU (a lot of users so more horse power needed than most home users)
- 2 GB memory (what I had on hand)
- 80 GB boot drive
- Built in video
- Abit motherboard (I forget which model)
- IPCop Linux router distribution (this is quite good)
- 2 Realtek Gigbit Ethernet controllers
Network:
- 16 Port Netgear business Gigabit Ethernet switch (non-managed)
- 3 Linksys power network adapters (network through the power lines of your house) used to connect my son’s computer upstairs to downstairs and to hook up my Roku Netflix box in my bedroom to the downstairs. These are the 200 Mb versions and I get 50-80 Mb/sec which works quite well.
I am looking forward to Windows 7 as well after testing the beta on spare hardware. I have been on Vista since it was released and quite happy with it. But Windows 7 removes a number of the annoyances and the enhancements to the interface are nice.
Custom Box with Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00 GHz, Intel original 915 GAV motherboard, 1.7 GB DDR1 RAM (3 stick 256MB, 512MB, 1GB) Two SATA HDD 320GB for win xp pro and 120GB for Ubuntu Linux, DVD RW , Samsung 17″ 732N LCD display, Creative 2.1 speakers, Logitech keyboard and mouse both wired.
Software: Win xp pro SP3, Open Office 3.0, Pidgin IM, Firefox and Opera web browser. These are the basic softs.
Custom box:
-AMD x2 4850e 2.5GHz
-2G RAM
-250GB SATA hdd
-40GB IDE hdd
-Wired keyboard & mouse
-15″ LCD (can’t remember brand right now)
-5 port – USB PCI add-on card (1 internal port)
-128MB USB stick (internal on card)
Software:
-Ubuntu 8.04.2 LTS
-Opera 9.6 (Firefox 3 gets almost no use on my machine)
-OpenOffice
-Abiword & Gnumeric (when I really want speed)
-FileZilla
-Ubuntu Tweak
-Buddi (home budget software)
-Inkscape, Gimp, Scribus, Audacity
-VLC, Amarok
-Pytube (download & convert youtube videos)
-Evince (pdf reader)
-Thunderbid
-Lynx
-K3B for disc burning (excellent)
-K9copy for DVD backing up
-gLabels for label printing – handles every label thrown at it so far
I have chosen to stay with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS because it is a Long Term Support release, http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/serveredition/benefits/lifecycle. This means that it will have support for 3 years, instead of version 8.10 which will have support for only 18 months. I upgrade some software regularly, like Opera. Others I leave in their old version if it works just fine, I don’t need the newest & greatest, I need things to work, and if it ain’t broke…
Custom box:
AMD Athlon64 x2 +5400 processor
Biostar TF7050-M2 mobo
4 GB pc6400 dual channel ram
EVGA GeForce 8600GT 512MB DDR2
Ultra 550W modular x2 power supply
160 GbBIDE Seagate Barracuda HDD
250 GB SATA Seagate Barracuda HDD
20 in 1 card reader
Memorex internal FDD
DVD-RAM Lightscribe drive
Apevia Black X-Plorer case
Blue LED 80mm fans
Blue cold cathode lighting
OS:
Linux Mint 5 x86-64
Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 x86-64
Windows XP Professional SP3
Don’t want to type out all software but I will tell you this:
On Windows I have Adobe Acrobat Professional and Office 2007 along with some diagnostic software for when I repair other’s Windows boxes (for hire of course). These 3 things are the only times I boot into Windows, I have been using Linux since July and love it.
If only Pro Tools and abc.com player worked in Linux, I’d operate ONLY in Linux :<
Wow! I use a notebook (IBM Thinkpad) but my software is what I really treasure:
FeedForAll is a must!
FeedDemon is another necessity
FireFox (with plugins)
Dreamweaver
The Bat email client
TopStyle CSS Editor
GroupMail
RecordForAll audio recording
and a pile of graphic editing tools!
Groove for collaboration
MS Office