[eemerkacken]

I've searched a bit, and didn't find a Thread where people can show the software they use on their Netbooks. Please tell me if i'm wrong.

@Mods: I didn't really know where to put the thread, as, in fact, it concerns Netbooks in General. But as i use a Dell mini 10v (soon, Lenovo S10e at the moment), i put it (selfish as i am) here . Please move it if there's a better place for it.

When giving a suggestion always tell which OS you use.

EDIT: By useful programs i mean programs which work well in spite of the weak CPU, small screen etc, like fastest/best fitting browser etc. In fact, every suggestion which makes working with a netbook more comfortable is welcome.


WINDOWS/OSX

Compact Classic: (Addon for Firefox) another one to maximize screen for browsing. It replaces the Menu,Tabbar etc with smaller ones. Works great on OS-X and WinXP.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3699

Hide Caption Bar: (Addon for Firefox) The name speaks for itself great in combination with Compact Classic. (haven´t tried in Osx)
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13505

NoScript: (Addon for Firefox) Blocks scripts, great when visiting sites with a lot of advertising, they load faster. You´ll be able to allow scripts when needed.
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/722
THX to reflex

Celestia: "... The free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X." (Quote from their site)
Celestia: Home
THX to reflex

Portable Applications :Portable Apps are programs you don't need to install for use. So you can run them from a flash drive, and take programs like Firefox with all your Bookmarks, or your mail-client with you. Useful if you have an SSD and want to save diskspace. Once launched, they apparently are not slower than the installed versions of the apps.
OSX: OS X Portable Applications — FreeSMUG
Windows: Portable App Directory | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB drives
THX to soccer6x


Windows only

Foxiframe: (Addon for Firefox) maximizes space while browsing, with the capability of Full-Screening the Webpage you´re looking at. All the menus are then set to auto-hide. Caption is also hidden. Unfortunately it doesn´t work that great on OS-X as on WinXP.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/71425

WinSetupFromUsb: Very useful to install WinXP or Vista from a USB-Stick, with GUI (i'm sorry i didn't find a english Download site, prog is in english though)
WinSetupFromUSB - Download - COMPUTER BILD
DataFileHost - WinSetup-1-0-beta6.7z (newer Version, beta though)
How to install from USB- WinSetupFromUSB with GUI - MSFN Forums (how-to, features listed, up-to-date versions)
THX to Strephon Alkhalikoi

Panda Cloud Antivirus: Free Cloud-computing based Antivirus, apparently using less ressources than usual Antivirus-Software
DOWNLOAD FREE ANTIVIRUS - The first free cloud antivirus against viruses - CLOUD ANTIVIRUS (i was forwarded to a german download-site, it may depends on where you are, anyway, just push the big green button )
THX to jdcnosse


OSX only

iStat Menus 2.0: It's a system monitor to keep an eye on temperatures, ram/disk use etc.
iStat Menus, a Mac app by iSlayer



You're welcome to add stuff!

[voodoodaddy]

Can you elaborate on the winsetupfromusb? I put OSX on my 10v with a flash drive. Id like to put XP back on but have seen a dozen variations on how to do it with a flash drive. I have the re-install discs that came with the system, but seems there are almost useless unless you have an external drive.

[eemerkacken]

Well you put your cd in your computer, or load the image with a virtual drive program, start winsetupfromusb. Indicate where the CD is located (C:,D:,H: etc), indicate where the flash drive is (you need to format the flash drive) and click GO! It´s pretty easy! Just try it out.

After it´s finished, you´ll have a bootable Flashdrive from which you can install Windows from. Then you boot from the Flashdrive (there´s always an option somewhere in the bios-setup to boot from USB-Devices) and it´s like you booted from a normal Windows CD.

What i don´t know is if your re-install CD will work, i did it with an Original Windows disc.

[Strephon Alkhalikoi]

WinSetupFromUSB certainly would have made my Windows 7 installation life easier. I used diskpart to make the USB stick.

The version of WinSetupFromUSB linked here is way out of date. New version was released a few days ago: How to install from USB- WinSetupFromUSB with GUI - MSFN Forums

[jdcnosse]

I have Win 7, but I use Chrome for browsing, and I have Dropbox for transferring files. I originally has MS Security Essentials, but that takes up too much RAM on my 1GB of RAM netbook lol so I switched to Panda Cloud Antivirus. With the cloud antivirus, only gets up to about 13MB of RAM (haven't checked it while running a scan though)

[eemerkacken]

Panda Cloud Antivirus works great, i´m trying it out, thx

[reflex]

One the programs I've been using alot on my Mini recently is Celestia. Being able to explore the Solar System, stars and galaxies on a 2.5lb device is pretty cool (and educational). At night, Celestia is also helpful in spotting and identifying REAL stars and planets.

To make the most of the GMA950's limited 3D abilities, I recommend playing with the render options (Ctrl+v to toggle, I like "multi-texture") and changing star display to simple points. Celestia also seems to take a fair amount of CPU, even when "idle", so don't leave it running in the background when you're on battery. But it's still educational and fun, even running at reduced settings.

[eemerkacken]

nice one! what browser do you use? Firefox is great because of the addons but seems slow to me

[reflex]

Originally Posted by eemerkacken

nice one! what browser do you use? Firefox is great because of the addons but seems slow to me

I use Firefox on Linux, so my experience isn't necessarily comparable, but I'm happy with its speed. I have made some tweaks, though...

I take advantage of the NoScript and AdBlock addons to reduce Firefox's workload. I also have the Firefox disk caches turned off, since disk writes are slow on my STEC SSD. And I also have "toolkit.storage.synchronous" set to 0 to reduce disk writes (but that might be a more Linux-specific tweak). I also have Firefox set to download files to a RAM disk, so when I download large files, no disk I/O is required until I decide to save the file permanently.

I also have a couple Linux-specific tweaks to make the best use of the slow SSD in my Mini 9 (disabled file access time updates, larger commit interval, deadline I/O scheduler, and probably a couple others I don't remember at the moment).

[soccer6x]

Nice thread ill chime in here.

I love anything i can run off of a thumbstick.
VLC Portable
->Movies on the go
FireFox Portable
->Internet
Skype Portable
->Chat
Gimp Portable
-> Light photo editing
Open Office Portable
->Word

My idea is that these machines have a small HDD or SSD and i always carry a thumbstick so why not put it to use.