I think there have been less changes in the last year in spite of finding and testing dozens of tasty things thanks to donationcoder.com.

So what’s changed?

My Classics

Outlook - beats everything for imap
Total Commander - the tool i have owned the longest and still use. Does everything - too much almost with all extensions, but then i dont use all extensions
Penguinet - great little tool for ssh, scp. I have also used the freeware Tunnelier on my less used pc
Ulead PhotoImpact - a good graphics editor that I find easy to use. Have had it since version 3 and about to upgrade to v12 or 13… but then i thought i’d update in 2007
Opera - my browser of the year. Just works very nicely out of the box, no need for a million add ons to make it useful
Local Website Archive - web page archive capture. I use it all the time, for recipes, articles, software finds, order receipts… it’s the only one that works with opera, firefox and about every browser i have used. I just wish it could capture selected snippets only, and multiple pages at once, as the workflow is a bit clunky for me.
ACDsee - the best workflow I have found for scanning and tagging all my negatives. I have both an old version in “normal” and the newest pro version, as they have different strengths (quick edit tools in the old version are very nifty)
Flexible Renamer - the best renamer i have found, thanks to its preview function (http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA014830/FlexRena/)
Internet Download Manager - works really well for me. I have one license on my main computer, on the others i use the opera module
Bitdefender Virus Scanner - dont care too much which one, as long as it has a small footprint. Using bitdefender at the moment - good track record and good pricing.
Remote Administrator - great since the file i want is always on the *other* machine
Topstyle 3 - still a great stylesheet editor. Incidentally i still have my registration email from homesite 1, when it was bradbury’s own software, so I have been a faithful customer of his for a very long time… Since i have been clearing a bit more web work on this site, i appreciate it again
No Hands Backup - i like the way that backup program thinks
aimp2 - a simple, clean, and yet powerful media player

Other software used

Pidgin - when I think to turn it on
Wirekeys - I dont use its features as much as i should. Lots of shortcuts and tools to simplify your life. I really should make the effort to add a new feature to my “learned” list every week
Object Desktop - lots of tools to customise windows. I have had it since OS2 times but might stop renewing this year as all the new transparency in almost all the toolsseem to cause problems on my ATI system (i tend to play games in a window!).
Evernote - a nice twist on the quicknote/outliner concept
Sumatrapdf - i just got fed up with the new acrobat reader constant nagging for document indexing, upgrades etc etc etc. this is a quick and light alternative. It was that or go back to acrobat 5!
Copernic Agent Professional - search is becoming more and more of a pain, and tools like this do help
Skype - used it more this year
Ace Money - simple financial program. Worked better than the commercial offerings for me
TAS - ace money is for home accounts, this is for the company accounts
Taxcalc - i’m always doing it at the last minute. this helps.
AMP font viewer - a way to browse, install and deinstall font
Hostsman - a great way to change DNS on the fly, when testing websites etc.
Open Office - sure does the job better abd better every time. I just havent “liked” an office suite since the good old lotus smartsuite but i dont need to like them, just use them.
Ashampoo Office - a better job when opening other people’s office files than open office. and it was a bargain.
Pspad - a good editor for web development
Winmerge - file and directory comparison and sync, freeware
Context - my previous editor of the moment, a great little tool
Presto Pagemanager - came with the scanner, and since i cannot find my keys for paperport anymore I was glad to have this

Utilities

Direct folders - a launcher/quick folder thingie
Teracopy - fast copy which doesn’t get interrupted by questions/errors
Audiosliders - to help with my 2-sound card system woes
Paragon Disk Manager - covers partition level backup, a boot manager, a simple defrag, and a partition manager. I took it for the partition manager&backup as they had a great multiple license deals and i have several computers to manage
Find and Run Robot - a quick search/launcher. donationware.
Winpatrol - i have 3 pcs and couldnt just put regrun on all. so i found this. I plan to donate/upgrade it eventually
vcom power desk pro - I’m learning to appreciate this file manager again
Peazip - nice clean compression tool
Gamedrive - Gamedrive can make a virtual CD of any game or software CD so that one does not need to juggle CDs anymore. I still have and use it but I tend to use CloneCD for any new games I get.
CloneCD + Any DVD - lets me get virtual CDs for many of my games so I dont need to juggle CDs/DVDs (or can use them on laptop without the energy drain of a drive). AnyDVD bypasses all the “sorry you cant play this CD on a pc” nonsense.
Crap Cleaner - freeware quick cleaner. just dont let it install the yahoo toolbar . I also have Registry First aid and regrun for the registry. And the ashampoo cleaning tool but i dont use that one as much. not sure why, I think CC is just quicker to use.
Acronis True Image - Lets you get single files out of partition backups and works most of the time without even a reboot. I am a bit annoyed as they totally changed their lineup and I went from having the “pro” version to only being able to upgrade to the “home” version.
Spinrite - disk failure insurance
O&O Defrag - a good defrag tool
jkdefrag - freeware defrag. I only have one license of O&O but I have multiple computers. The others use this.
Registry First Aid - i found it a better registry checker and cleaner than any i have used in a long time
Stardock’s tools - mostly i use windows blinds and object bar (although haven’t reinstalled that one yet)
UltraIso - another media tool to create/convert disk images. from a very helpful company
v-com system utilities - disk check and other tools

Graphics & media:

ScreenSteps - screenshots & demos
Xara X - very nice illustration software. I also have Freehand 9 and inkscape. Seem to use PhotoImpact for simple illustration anyway.
snagit - screenshots & demos. old version.
Fraps - now and then i record gaming footage
Jriver Media Center - I have been playing less music lately, as I left most of the stereo equipment in the second house. Does a bit too much (i’d prefer it didnt try to “play” slideshows with my images) but has a few wonderful features such as the smartlists, good rename/retag options, and media server options. Only installed on the main music machine, the others use aimp2
Ashampoo Burning Studio - I like it as a quick and easy CD/DVD burning tool
Zoner draw, photo studio, barcode generator etc. - they had a great offer in the summer I couldnt resist

Removed from my machines:

Ascomp Synchredible - a really well done sync tool.  Don’t use it much at the moment with less PC’s to sync. Had a bug when one of the media was disconnected which kind of put me off it for a while
Dachshund’s anticrash - back when i was in win98 and even 2000 it helped a lot. i still have it installed but i have no idea if it still is needed
Regrun - watches what is happening on my pc and blocks anythig suspicious. protection for the registry. I use it on one machine but it is almost too much, so on my other machines I use the (free) winpatrol tool
quick notes - i registered it but i keep forgetting to use it.
Poco Mail - a great mail client but has started to struggle with the amount of mail in it. Might upgrade to give the new version a chance but a bit worried I might waste my money.
Ashampoo Uninstaller - don’t actually use it very much lately but I really should to watch what is installing what where. I have a lot of the ashampoo tools because they are quite ok and can be gotten cheap.
Kmeleon, Firefox and Slimbrowser - opera suits me better
Trillian - I switched to pidgin
Miranda - I switched to pidgin
Winorganizer - i really need to use a pim and i own that one (not up to date) but I dont seem to use it very much anymore
videolan and democracy.
Pikybasket - allows to easily pick and move files. neat little free tool but I never thought to use it
camtasia - screenshots & demos. old version.
paperport - cant find the key code anymore. I have the CDs and the manuals but not the bit of paper that had the code :(
Other Graphics Tools - ashampoo photo commander, ulead photo explorer - tools to browse and manage images, but neither really works the way i would want it. Acdsee won that battle.