Just a suggestion. Can one of the moderators start a sticky thread on recommended
free and
lightwieght utility apps for hobbyists? Keep it a tidy one, maybe with a standard submission template and categorization.
Here's my contribution on what I use.
Editors
kPad - Lightweight notepad/wordpad replacement. Good features include RTF support, tabbing features and file opening via drag-and-drop.
jEdit - Java-based open-source cross-platform editor (Not so lightweight). Features a wide variety of plugins, incorporating features like customizable syntax-highlighting, tabbing and code folding.
PCB Layout
- Functionally-limited freeware layout tool.
Schematic Input
Yet to find a good and free one.
Graphing Tools
Graph - Quick-and-dirty 2D graph plotter.
Arnab's Graph Explorer - 2D graph plotter with slightly more features.
Publishing
**broken link removed** - The newest version is shareware, but this older one is free. Good for people who need that irritating peice of graph paper once in a blue moon.
**broken link removed** - A free, decent timing diagram editor.
Accessories
**broken link removed** - Lightweight expression calculator with most widely-used functions available.
Irfanview - Popular image viewer with a wide support for various image files.
System/File Utilities
ExamDiff - File comparison tool with nice features.
**broken link removed** - Allows a command prompt window to be opened within an explorer window. The command prompt's directory is synchronized with the explorer's one.
User Environmental Utility (File attached) - Win32 utility for the creating/modifying/deleting user environmental variables.
Terminal - Best hyperterminal replacement I've found so far.