Software Utilities
Translations:
it
A set of Software Utilities to make your IT life simpler, every day.
Compression
| Suggested | Name | Description | Windows | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | 7Zip | The compression software that became famous for its speed and efficiency. Supports all the most famous formats (zip, rar, ...) and offers its own 7z format which gives similar speed of the more used zip, but with a higher compression ratio most of the time. | ✓ | ✓ |
| PeaZip | Compared to 7Zip this is a really new software and it's still growing rapidly, it's based on 7Zip but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be considered. It has a really simple interface and supports all the most known formats, besides offering its own (.pea) which has a nice compression ratio and a good speed; you should keep an eye on it. | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | XArchiver | A lightweight interface for a series of Command-line apps, I personally used it until it gave me issues with the most recent versions of the RAR format. Anyway it's a fantastic program for any lightweight system. | ❌ | ✓ |
| ✓ | Engrampa | A lightweight compression software used in the MATE desktop environment, so it requires those kind of libraries to work, but it's light and has lots of features. It's my main archive manager since I had to leave XArchiver. | ❌ | ✓ |
Photo and Picture Management
| Suggested | Name | Description | Windows | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | Google Picasa | Google's Solution for Picture management and organization. Efficient, fast and has a lot of features. There is a Linux Package, which runs with Wine and could be slow on older systems. | ✓ | ✓ |
| F-Spot | Gnome's solution for managing photos. Has nice features and it's fast, maybe it's a bit old-looking. | ❌ | ✓ | |
| ✓ | DigiKam | KDE's solution for managing pictures. Fast and feature-rich, it's practically the perfect software for this task. | ❌ | ✓ |
| XnView | Maybe a bit spartan, but definitely fast and efficient. Needs a try. | ✓ | ✓ |
Organizers and Task Managers
| Suggested | Name | Description | Windows | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | KOrganizer | KDE's Organizer. Great and pretty stable, integrates perfectly with the desktop environment. | ❌ | ✓ |
| ✓ | Lightning | An extension that turns Thunderbird into a full-featured organizer. Without making the program slower. | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | GCalCli | A command-line utility that, after a quick configuration, allows to access your google calendar, works great and it's fast, if used with Conky it's the best solution (in my opinion). I personally use it. | ❌ | ✓ |
| aTODO | Small command line utility that I created just because an A5-format sheet of paper on my desk was annoying me, used with GCalCli and Conky, allows to have my tasks always on sight. | ❌ | ✓ |
Data recovery
| Suggested | Name | Description | Windows | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | TestDisk + PhotoRec | Two tools that allow for a fast and really effective data recovery from formatted disks or with a damaged filesystem. They work from command line but they're pretty easy to use. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recuva | A very simple system to recover data from formatted USB sticks and disks. Not really effective without using the deep scan. | ✓ | ❌ | |
| ✓ | DVDisaster | A great program that allows to test the DVD/CD integrity and (if you created the recovery file earlier) recover your data from a damaged support. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Unstoppable Copier | Unstoppable Copier tries to copy all the data from a damaged support just by trying to read it multiple times, so to recover as much data as possible. | ✓ | ❌ | |
| IsoBuster | A good program to recover data from damaged optical supports. The free version is sadly very limited. | ✓ | ❌ | |
| CDCheck | Allows to test optical supports and to recover some data from them. The base version requires a free registration. | ✓ | ❌ | |
| ✓ | Shadow Explorer | Allows to browse through the "Shadow Copies" that are maintained by Windows. Not necessarily 100% a recovery software but can save your day, in case one of those malicious crypto-malware decided it was a good day to take over your stuff. | ✓ | ❌ |
Virtual Drives
| Suggested | Name | Description | Windows | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daemon Tools | Another historical software, can mount practically any CD or DVD image, in ISO, NRG or any other format. The Lite version is free, the Pro version is paid. | ✓ | ❌ | |
| ✓ | WinCdEmu | Simple, Small, Fast. In only 1MB you'll have a great program that can mount any kind of CD, DVD, BluRay image, in ISO, NRG or any other format. Has support for a bit fewer formats than daemon tools, but the mounting is extremely fast (only 2 clicks and 5 seconds to mount a CD) and when there is no image mounted, the empty virtual drives disappear, keeping your "My Computer" screen clear. | ✓ | ❌ |
| ✓ | Mount | Included in practically every Linux distro, mount allows to mount ISO files with only one command, using any folder as mount point. | ❌ | ✓ |
Misc
| Name | Description | Windows | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| TightVNC | A remote control program that is stable and fast, compatible with the VNC standard. Great thing the option to control the computer using just a browser, using a small client written in Java. | ✓ | ✓ |
| UltraVNC | Another remote control program, supports a lot of extensions that make the VNC experience a lot better. | ✓ | ❌ |
| TeamViewer | Great remote control program, simple to use and free for personal use. The version on Linux uses Wine to work. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Capture.Net | A "Swiss Knife" for Windows PCs, contains a lot of utilities in a single program. V2 is the free version, while the v3 version is paid. | ✓ | ❌ |
| Flexera PSI | Software that allows to quickly update all the supported pieces of software, enhancing their security. Precedently called "Secunia PSI". | ✓ | ❌ |
| FileHippo App Manager | Alternative to the previous program, stable and pretty fast, but for some reason I can't seem to be able to update Adobe AIR using this software. | ✓ | ❌ |
| WinSCP | A small SCP and FTP client that allows you to copy files between your Windows PC and another Linux PC (Or any other OS that supports the SCP protocol) via the SSH/SCP protocol. | ✓ | ❌ |
| PuTTY | Allows to connect to any machine that supports the SSH protocol from a Windows PC. | ✓ | ❌ |