These are apps that work on multiple OSs and for the most part are free.
- Firefox. I originally put this list together and when I got to the bottom realised that I’d missed the most obvious piece of software, the one I probably use more than any other on every OS I use. Partly this was because it is so obvious to most people. However, for anyone who hasn’t tried it, I’d recommend it. To make this a little more worthwhile, I’ll also include my “must have” Add-ons.
- AdBlock – who wants Ads? Not me. I actually still prefer this to AdBlockPlus.
- NoScript – this blocks unwanted scripts and is a great way to stop Ads not picked up by other means. Domains can be set to allow scripts which means that you don’t lose any functionality from sites that you trust.
- IETab – this is Windows only but it renders pages using IE’s engine within a Firefox tab which is useful for those sites that haven’t tested against FF or plain don’t work (but don’t get me started on lame ass web developers who insist on any particular browser).
- TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt is a free encryption tool that is ideal for protecting data. The software offers many different encryption types and methods and can be use to encrypt files or entire drives. Even comes with a USB key drive creator for use when the host system doesn’t have TrueCrypt installed. I use this on both OS X and Windows (there is also a Linux version) and find it fast and faultless.
- Twhrirl. This is the Twitter client that I use on both Windows and OS X. It’s an Adobe Air app and has a clean interface. Allows you to do all the things you need including retweeting, direct messages and user lookup.
