What are your essential (non-cartographic) software picks?

[Greason Wolfe]

Lots of stuff in these lists that I already use but here are a few that I didn't see;

Abiword for Text editing/Web-page (quick formatting features for both CSS and mark-up) editing. Freeware with downloadable spelling dictionaries in various languages

Nerosystems for Audio Rip and Burn

Dover Design Manager - Not really free, but a great plus from Barnes and Noble as far as finding little accents for graphics/maps based on various themes.

ASFTools for video editing (used rarely but a nice freeware application that is much easier to use than Moviemaker)

And then, of course, as mentioned in my profile software list, a number of Javascripts for developing quick details when it comes to astronomy and/or astrology.

Other than that, I really don't use a huge number of software apps or packages. But that's my two and a half cents worth.

GW

[Wordman]

I maintain a list of Mac software recommendations on another server. Might need to update that fairly soon.