Workstation Setup

A list of tools, utilities and links that I find useful when configuring a new development workstation.

Looking for a new utility? I always start at Scott Hanselman's Ultimate Tools List.

###Quick links: Git

• Git Config

PowerShell

• PowerShell Config

Software

• Text Editor
• Source Control
• File Compare
• Terminals
• System Utils
• Networking
• Screen Capture
• Image Utils

Git Config

• .gitignore [VisualStudio]

  Git ignore file for use with VisualStudio projects. This is a slightly customised version of the .gitignore found here, but includes an exclusion for the Mac OS X .DS_Store files, which is really useful if you run Paralles for Mac and access your Mac filesystem.

• Configure aliases.

• Configure BeyondCompare

PowerShell Config

• Add aliases to PowerShell profile.

Software

Text Editor

• Sublime Text [Mac, Windows]

  Incredible text editor with a myriad of plugins, a couple of my current favourites are:

  • Jekyll package
  • MarkdownEditing Package

Source Control

• Git for Windows [Windows]

  Git ... and don't forget to setup your .gitignore - this is a slightly customised version of the .gitignore found here, but includes an exclusion for the Mac OS X .DS_Store, which is really useful

• Source Tree [Mac, Windows]

  For those rare times when the Git console doesn't cut it, I like Source Tree. There are numerous alternatives, including:

  • GitHub for Windows [Windows]
  • Git Extensions [Windows]

  I don't use Git GUI's enough to know if one is significant;y beter than another.

• PoshGit [Windows]

  Really nice Git enhancements module for PowerShell.

File Compare

• Beyond Compare [Mac, Windows]

  My all time favourite file and folder comparison tool.

Terminals

• Cmder [Windows]

  Fabulous console replacement based on ConEmu. Defaults to Monokai colour theme and allows you to run PowerShell side-by-side with Git Bash and a regular console. Nice.

• iTerm2 [Mac]

  Nice Terminal replacement. Goes very nicely with the next item ...

• Oh My Git [Mac]

  Super powerful Git prompt.

System Utils

• WinDirStat [Windows]

  Nice free disk usage viewer.

• Windows SysInternals [Windows]

  Some nice utilities for analyszing Windows system processes and performance. Thikn Task Manager on steroids.

Networking

• Fiddler [Windows]

  Great free web debugging tool.

• WireShark [Windows]

  Network analyzer.

• Proxy Switcher [Windows]

  Handy little utility for automatically switching your proxy settings when you're network connection changes. Eg, switching between an ethernet and WiFi connection.

• Cntlm [Mac, Windows]

  Great tool for accessing Windows NTLM authenticating proxy servers. Also great at working-around NTML authenticating proxies.

Screen Capture

• Skitch [Mac]

  Free (and paid for Pro edition) screen capture tool for Mac, with some basic but nifty annotation tools. Grab it from your local App Store.

• Snagit [Windows]

  Great screen capture tool, although it does a lot more than just grab screenshots. Record video, edit captures plus loads more. Not free though ... if you're just after screen grabs, then:

• Greenshot [Windows]

  Great free screen capture tool for Windows.

Image Utils

• Paint.NET [Windows]

  Fabulous free image editor for Windows. Customisable through a large number of available plugins. Just be careful to click on the correct link on the download site.

• Gimp [Mac, Windows]

  Free Photoshop clone. Available for Windows as well, but I much prefer Paint.NET.

• Handbrake [Mac, Windows]

  Great utility for transcoding pretty much any video format into any other video format :)