Kagerjays Favorite Software List
This is a list of all my favorite applications that I have used and thoroughly tested, in as many workflow / methods I could possibly imagine. The list below meets the following criteria:
- App has wide support and future development
- App is easy to learn and is portable
- App stack is beneficial to everyone, regardless of what field you work in
I've avoided some relatively common apps like Chrome, Firefox, etc. I've also avoided putting things like programming IDE's, since different editors are specialized for different languages.
The major focus of this appstack is for quick image editing capabilities, notetaking, automating repetitive tasks, etc. Applications include project management, students who want to take better notes, developers looking for a code snippet manager and tools to supplement it, among other things.
This is a windows-only OS based list, some apps only work in windows
- Autohotkey is windows OS only, Applescript is MacOS equivalent. Linux has nothing
- ShareX
- DirectoryOpus
A hybrid between Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, and Google spreadsheets. Anytime you find yourself using excel, use this program instead.
- Database Management Tool
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Anki is a flashcard app based on a learning algorithm. I use this everyday. Pairs well with ShareX since I can annotate an image and dump it into anki.
Applications that I use it for
- Practicing interview questions
- Memorizing things that require an extensive amount of memorization (CSS rules and syntax)
- Lessons learned as I develop
- Learning new language vocab
- Flashcard Learning Tool
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- BSD
- iPad
Whatever phrase-express can't natively handle, I generally use autohotkey instead. Its not for the lighthearted, the syntax is ugly, and its hard to semantically understand. But if you want to automate XYZ, the answer is yes, autohotkey can do it but it might not be easy.
- Task Automation App
- Free • Open Source
- Windows
PhraseExpress is a cross-OS platform software for automating repetitive tasks. Its a swiss-army-knife for handling many repetitive tasks
- Text Expander
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- iPhone
- iPad
A paid service but is extremely useful when it comes to cropping out backgrounds on images. You could opt to use fiverr but I find I get very nice quality crops here. Not free program
- Image Editor
- Paid • Proprietary
- Online
I currently only use this to get access to the native WIN+S shortcut screenclipping command. It pairs up extremely well when you use this with a program like shareX
- Note-taking Tool
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- Apple Watch
- Android Wear
- Kindle Fire
I use lucidpress as a quickl layout tool. The closest thing to this is Adobe Indesign, which I use professionally as well. Pairs well with ShareX.
I use this to make my own cheatsheets for webdevelopment. For work I use it for lightweight brochure flyers / marketing
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Online
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
This chrome extension is very useful when you pair it up with dynalist + shareX for writing notes. You can have small thumbnailed images and use imagus to "zoom in" images by hovering over mouse.
- Free • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
Directory Opus is easily one of the best windows-based apps you can buy. Its not free, it costs about $100 USD for 2 liscenses. But its well worth it.
Everything about this software speaks professionalism. Youtube tutorials are topnotch. Forum and the creators of this software respond immediately to any questions you might have.
The reason why directoryOpus is better than all other file explorers in its class is as follows:
- Ability to have floating shortcut icons
- Image/Data preview for thumbnails, excel files, mp4, etc.
- File Manager
- Paid • Proprietary
- Windows
This is my main notetaking application. It is superior to any other notetaking app in the market in my opinion. I have written several blog posts regarding this topic
- Note-taking Tool
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- iPad
Don't use version 11.6+, the image editor as of 11/26/2017 is not any good. Compared to apps like snagit, nimbus note, etc this app is extremely lightweight and gets the job done with as little fuss as possible, works nicely with all other apps in this list
- Screenshot Capture Tool
- Free • Open Source
- Windows
- PortableApps.com
- Steam
Basically, this is my list, which can be beneficial to pretty much anyone