Restart: Setting up the new laptop
I recently picked up a new laptop. After getting Vista installed, I made list of everything I'd need to get started. Most were from my head as I use many of these things daily, while others I noticed from my work machine, after I had made the list.
Software
<li><a href="http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp">Camtasia Studio</a> - I use this for my screencasts now. I love this program. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php?mode=ViewCategory&catid=5">Daemon Tools Lite</a> - ISO support is always needed, especially around installing time. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.digsby.com/">Digsby</a> - This is my IM client of choice these days. I wish the twitter support was better though. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/?from=getfirefox">FireFox</a> - Do I need to say anything else? This has its own section below. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php">FoxIt Reader</a> - Much nicer than Adobe Acrobat Reader for my needs. </li>
<li><a href="http://guildwars.com/">Guild Wars</a> - One game to rule them all...</li>
<li><a href="http://get.live.com/writer/overview">Live Writer</a> - The best blogging tool I've seen yet. </li>
<li><a href="http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm">NotePad++</a> - My text editor of choice these days. </li>
<li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx">Office</a> - Word, Excel, PowerPoint,... you know the drill. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.getpaint.net/index.html">Paint.NET</a> - A great free .NET based graphics program. </li>
<li><a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/">PDF Creator</a> - Great for making PDFs. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.skype.com/intl/en/">Skype</a> - IM and Voice chat. A must have tool these days. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/sql/default.mspx">SQL Server</a> - It is an occupational hazard. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/">UltraMon</a> - Multi-monitor support at its best. </li>
<li><a href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/products/default.aspx">Visual Studio</a> - Both 2005 and 2008 installed. </li>
<li><a href="http://vmware.com/products/ws/">VMWare Workstation</a> - I prefer it to Virtual PC. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.windowclippings.com/">Window Clippings</a> - A nice little screenshot maker. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.winzip.com/index.htm">WinZip</a> - I know there are lots of others but this is what I'm using. With all the other new stuff on my box, you can consider this my "comfort food" software. </li>
<li><a href="http://code.google.com/p/wittytwitter/">Witty</a> - My Twitter client of the day. The current beta works fine or me, but I'm not completely sold yet. It is .NET based and open source, so I could look into the changes I'd like to see, I guess. </li>
Development Specific Things
<li><a href="http://www.asp.net/mvc/">ASP.NET MVC</a> - An alternative to ASP.NET Web Forms in its current state.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.mbunit.com/">MbUnit</a> - Unit Testing Framework of choice. (I'm interested in trying <a href="http://www.codeplex.com/xunit">xUnit</a>, but I haven't yet.)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.winterdom.com/weblog/2007/10/13/RagnarokAVS2005ColorScheme.aspx">Ragnarok Grey (VS Theme)</a> - My current favorite Visual Studio theme. Both for <a href="http://www.winterdom.com/weblog/2007/10/13/RagnarokAVS2005ColorScheme.aspx">VS2005</a> and <a href="http://www.winterdom.com/weblog/2007/11/22/VS2008ColorSchemes.aspx">VS2008</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/">ReSharper</a> - A awesome tool. I've been using the early 4.0 with 2008. So far, so good. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.ayende.com/projects/rhino-mocks.aspx" title="http://www.ayende.com/projects/rhino-mocks.aspx">Rhino Mocks</a>- Mock objects anyone? While it doesn't need installed per se, I like to have the files in a known place.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.codeplex.com/SvnBridge">SVN Bridge</a> - The only way to use Subversion at CodePlex. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.testdriven.net/">TestDriven.NET</a> - Great testing add in </li>
<li><a href="http://tortoisesvn.net/">Tortoise SVN</a> - Great Subversion Client </li>
<li><a href="http://www.visualsvn.com/">Visual SVN</a> - TortoiseSVN that works perfectly inside Visual Studio </li>
<li><a href="http://winmerge.org/">WinMerge</a> - Nice Comparison Utility </li>
Browser Specific things
<li>IE Extensions
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=e59c3964-672d-4511-bb3e-2d5e1db91038&displaylang=en">IE Developer Toolbar</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.fiddlertool.com/fiddler/">Fiddler</a> </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>FireFox Extenions
<ul>
<li><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865">Adblock Plus</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/26">Download Statusbar</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.getfirebug.com/">Firebug</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/684">FireFTP</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419">IETab</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/gmail/">Remember the Milk for Gmail</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/">Web Developer Toolbar</a> </li>
</ul>
</li>
Well, that is what I've downloaded and setup to start. I have a lot more stuff installed elsewhere, but I decided to start with the basics and add things as I need them. I'm sure there will be plenty of adding over the next few weeks. If I've completely missed something that I shouldn't be living without, you can let me know in the comments.