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This is a list of programs that I always find myself installing and using on a new machine. I tend to find programs that are lightweight enough to use on a laptop with a limited screen size, so that I have the same but bigger experience when moving to the desktop. These are all free application, and most are open source. For a greater and much more comprehensive list, check out Scott Hanselman’s Tool List.

Programmer’s Notepad – there are a number of alternatives that have a similar look and feel but this is the most comfortable one I’ve tried. A lightweight, tabbed text editor with syntax highlighting without the overhead and confinement of a full IDE. The only issue is the built-in file browser which reopens already open files, and it would be nice to be able to create files and folders directly without having to use Explorer, but I’m yet to see a file browser in a text editor than can.

µTorrent – an extremely lightweight BitTorrent client.

TweetDeck – an Adobe AIR based Twitter client that also interfaces with Facebook (which I use) and MySpace. It feels a bit buggy, as the scrolling flicks around sometimes when updates come in and replying in Facebook can be tricky. Of course it is in beta so it can only get better.

FileZilla – a straightforward, easy to use FTP client that remembers connection details – excellent for managing multiple websites.

OpenOffice.org – not that I have anything against Microsoft Office but if all I need at home is basic word processing and spreadsheets, OpenOffice.org is more than suitable. The UI isn’t as intuitive as Office 2007 and does tend to get in the way, but it is relatively small, fast, and free.

Winamp – over the last ten years this has had a bit of bloat added, but as long as you don’t install all the AOL crapware, switch to the classic theme, minimise everything to a tiny bar at the top of the screen, and only use it for what it does best (playing MP3s and OGG files), Winamp still manages to kick the llama’s ass. Hey – I’m oldskool.

VLC media player – this isn’t as pretty as many other media players, but it loads in an instant and plays just about every video format I’ve tried.

TortoiseSVN – this is a Subversion client that hooks into Windows Explorer so that version control is integrated with normal file operations. This makes using a Subversion repository simple and quick, which reduces barriers to actually using version control. If it’s possible to have a crush on software, colour me crushed.

Cygwin – "a Linux-like environment for Windows", this provides command line tools like Grep, which is vastly superior to using search features in Windows.

7-Zip – file compression that’s fast, efficient, support for most formats, and has a simple, usable UI. It’s got strong command-line options as well.

PuTTY – Telnet and SSL client.

Nmap – security audit and network analysis (port scanning) tool.

Color Selector – although this hasn’t been updated since 2004 and is basically source-available abandonware it doesn’t matter as it still does the job better than any other colour picker I’ve used.

TightVNC – a light and fast VNC (remote control/remote desktop) client and server.

Microsoft Web Platform Installer – easy way to set up MSFT stacks.