Summary 1

What's On MY Desktop?

Summary 1 -

by Michael E. Callahan aka Dr. File Finder �

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Over the last three months we've had computer professionals tell you about their computer systems - what they like, what they don't like. They've told us how long they've been in computers, what their favorite programs are and lots more. I've gotten lots of e-mail about the What's On MY Desktop? column. Users like you seem to like it. In fact, it's interesting just how many computer professionals also like reading about how other computer pros use their machines.

A computer is a very personal piece of equipment. Depending on your experience, training, background and the like, each person sets up their computer differently. You know where your files are, but what is obvious to you might not be so obvious to anyone else. Each of us has our own habits and idiosyncrasies. For example, I have the hard drives on all my computers configured with three drives -- C, D and E. Other people have everything on one big C drive. It's a matter of personal taste, just like software. A program that one person can't live without another person can't live with.

So far we've had ten computer professionals participate in this column. Before we go forward with input from more professionals, it's time to summarize for you.

Experience: Our ten computer pro's have a combined experience of well over 200 years. That's a lot of experience. The average is about 23.4 years.

Desktop: In going over all the articles it seems that the majority like to stick with the default Windows settings. The majority also don't seem to fiddle with all kinds of fancy wallpaper on their computers. When it comes to desktop icons it averages somewhere between 20 and 50.

Computers: Our professional computer users all have more than one computer and the average number is approximately 6 computers per household. Among our professionals, nearly all have their computers on a network. Roughly 80% have laptops and 50% have PDAs - either Pocket PCs or Palm Pilots.

Backgrounds: Of our ten pros, some became interested in computers when they were younger, but only a couple went into computers on purpose. Their backgrounds include such diverse areas as photography, animation, theater, medicine and corporate programming.

Favorite Programs

Our ten professionals each listed some of their favorite programs - programs they use every day. From all the programs mentioned, one program was mentioned more than any other: The Bat! by RITLABS. This is the e-mail program for 60% of our pros. It was the top choice for a number of reasons. Its Quick Templates feature lets you quickly put in text for e-mails that you may send over and over. Another popular feature are the filters for directing e-mail to different folders. Of those who use it, most felt that The Bat! is more resistant to viruses and spyware.

NoteTab Pro was mentioned by several as their text editor of choice. Perfect for editing documents and creating HTML pages, it is loaded with useful features.

PaintShop Pro was another program that was mentioned by a number of our computer pros. Great for creating and working with graphics.

Photoshop, by Adobe, was also mentioned a couple of times.This high-powered graphics program does just about everything.

ProShow Gold is perfect for making slide show presentations of your digital pictures. It's easy to use, intuitive, and makes shows for computers or DVDs (or both - all on the same CD!).

Pretty Good Solitaire is another program that was a favorite with several of our pros. Hundreds of solitaire games to choose from.

Black Hole Organizer is a powerful, freeform database that's perfect for keeping track of random bits of data.

Second Copy 2000 is perfect for backing up data and it has a scheduler so your backups can be automated.

ClipMate is perfect for handling and managing the things you copy and paste. Create collections, handle text and graphics, and lots more.

FTP Voyager, by Rhino Software, was another program that several of our pros use. It keeps all of your settings for multiple Web sites and makes it easy to do file transfers.

Other programs mentioned by our group included:

• Firefox - Web Browser
• Group Mail - Bulk Email
• FeedDemon - News Feed Reader
• Trillian - Instant Messaging
• Dreamweaver MX - Web Site Design
• Book Collector - Book Organization
• LifeJournal - Journal Software

So, there you have it. A summary of the first ten computer professionals to participate in the What's On MY Desktop? column. I'd like to thank all of them for participating. It'll be interesting to see what the next ten have to say about their desktops. Stay tuned and take the time to check out the programs that our professionals liked the best.