Mint has now launched its much-loved financial software application for Android tablets. Mint.com is an awesome way to keep track of your spending and savings. It allows you to set goals, keep track of where you are spending your money, as well be reminded when you have bills coming up to be paid. If you have a hard time keeping track of your money, Mint.com is the solution for you. We have covered Mint extensively at MakeUseOf, because it really is that damn good.

Mint.com offers browser-based solutions as well as apps for iPhone, Android Smartphones and iPad. For owners of 9 and 10 inch Android tablets, now there is an app for you. For now, this app is designed to work on 9 and 10 inch models, although it seems that you can use it with 7 inch ones as well. At this point, there has not been word if the amazingly popular Kindle Fire will be supported. Obviously, Mint has supporting Android in their sights, and it’s impossible to ignore the popularity of the Kindle.

The app offers no new functionality from the earlier versions, but that’s not a bad thing, since the earlier version got nearly everything right. The only visible changes are some reordered modules and font changes.

For Mint, this is a great move. It opens a whole new market, and one that is growing fast. If you are a Mint user with an Android tablet, the time to download is now.

Source: Tech Crunch

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Chances are, those of you who are buying a brand new computer in the next year will be getting your hands on something running a 64-bit operating system. x64 has its pros and cons, but it is the future. Not even the strongest personal complaint about software incompatibility is going to be enough to bring technology to a halt!

Windows has managed to do a pretty good job of putting together the x64 version’s emulation mode (WoW64) and I’ve had no experiences where 32-bit software wouldn’t run as expected. Device drivers though, is a big one. Don’t you dare go putting x86 device drivers on your x64 machine. However, x86 64-bit systems often lack alternative software to those that are written specifically for 32-bit architectures. So here I am with three solutions that ought to put you on to some brand new, 64-bit compatible freeware goodies.

Just a note before jumping in: All three of these websites are very trustworthy and I have experiences with them all. Feel free to check their WoT ratings if you’d like a third-party opinion. However, I do not personally support downloading software from anywhere but the software’s original website. Too many websites wrap their downloads with garbage, and though these don’t I’d still recommend that you search up and navigate to the author’s site and download the programs from there. Just a safety practice!

Start64!

Start64! is one of the most trusted repositories for updated software compatible with 64-bit systems. Those of you who have been really laying it on me about now posting much about OSX will be pleased as Start64! has a whole section set aside for Apple fans.

The site is very easy to navigate, which is something I’ll always be a fan of. The listings are clear, large, and include a short summary of the software.

Each and every listing includes live screenshots and an easy-to-read recap of the program’s features. They make it very clear in just about every specific software’s listing that the software is 64-bit compatible and go as far as to list OS compatibilities overall. If you read my warning earlier (which I hope you did) then you don’t have to worry about Start64! because they send you directly to the website the software originates from for downloads instead of making you jump through hoops.

64x Software

64x Software is for both users and developers, so if any 64-bit coders have managed to slip upon this post then there’s a little added bonus for you.

This website can be a little confusing at first and I’m not crazy over the design and listing layout, but it’ll get the job done. The site is used best when checking their top software listings, or their categorical ones:

• CD/DVD
• Communication Software
• Developer Tools
• File Management
• Graphic Software
• Internet and Network Software
• Security Software

Software display pages are a little bit “meh” but again, gets the job done. Never been a fan of websites that allow open comments and a bleak rating system, but 64x Software does have a vast range of 64-bit compatible software.

X 64-bit Download

X 64-bit Download has that Download.com feel to it and I’d suggest it for the more novice user. My recommended landing pages would be at their featured and top pages (though I’m unsure of the difference). I’ve used both to find some of the better software listed here.

The site has a lot of information per software, and just as many ads. Gets a little annoying, but this is a safe website.

They’ve got software separated by category and from my experiences I do believe this is a website that features only Windows software. Sorry guys. Downloads are hosted on their servers so consider my warning earlier. Again, safe site but don’t mind me trying to condition you to be a paranoid downloader!

You can find some of the 64-bit architecture’s best software using these websites, but remember that dabbling in the world of 32-bit applications isn’t going to harm your system either. We’ve got a whole lot of articles that can help you find the software you’re looking for.

Leave a comment and let me know some of your favorite 64-bit compatible programs to use!

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A few weeks ago, I decided to do something wild and crazy:

Buy Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. I already own a legal boxed copy of Adobe Creative Suite 3, so how hard can an upgrade be, right? I went over to the Adobe website, to be greeted with this encouraging message:

That’s great, right? 20% savings! After telling Adobe I own a copy of CS3 Design Standard, I got an upgrade price of $699 for Design Standard (not Premium, mind you). That’s a lot of money, but I decided to bite the bullet and buy it anyway. That was when surprising things started happening.

What I Would Expect (Sane Pricing Policies)

Above you can see a screenshot of Steam, one of the main ways to buy downloadable PC software today. Sure, it’s games, but my point is that you see a price, you click, you pay, and you get your download. Pretty simple, right? The Android Market makes this even simpler by converting prices to your own currency. I could find numerous other examples of organizations selling software like this, because this is how software is being sold these days.

So, since I am purchasing a downloadable product, I was expecting to pay for it, get a link and a key, and be on my merry way. Sure, $699 is a lot of money, but that’s the price so I guess I just need to cough up the money.

What Actually Happened

Just before checkout, the promised 20% discount was applied, and the price dropped to $559.20:

And then… I clicked Checkout.

What’s that? An error? That’s odd – I didn’t even get a chance to enter my credit card information. Perplexed, I called the number shown above and explain I was trying to buy Adobe CS 5.5 with a valid international credit card.

Adobe’s rep told me that she’s very sorry, but I simply cannot buy CS 5.5 via the website. I must have an American billing address, or else they can’t sell me the product. Country-based limitations are nothing new; Amazon’s Android App Store only works within the US, for example. Hulu and Netflix are also geographically limited. But what’s different in this case is that the product I am trying to buy is available for sale in my territory, by the very same company, Adobe, who keeps offices in Israel (my territory). They just won’t sell it to me via the website.

If this was where the story ended, it would just be an example of corporate inefficiency. Can’t buy it on the site, big deal. But wait, the plot thickens.

Once I realized my only option would be buying the application locally, I had to work with Adobe’s network of local distributors (Adobe would not sell directly to me, a lowly customer). I had to email each of them separately and wait for quotes. After a few days, the quotes started flowing in, and were around the $800 mark for an upgrade from CS 3 to CS 5.5. Adobe sells a separate Middle Eastern version, but I asked specifically for the English version, so the price difference is not because of any difference in the product.

One distributor went so far as to tell me that I would have to wait two weeks after paying, because Adobe does not allow them to hold upgrade boxes in stock. And this is for a product that is available for download from Adobe’s official site, and which I didn’t even want boxed in the first place.

So an Adobe product that costs $559 in the US costs around $800 in Israel, a country where the standard of living and the GDP are by no means higher than in the US. And you can’t download it, but must buy it boxed. And you might have to wait two weeks before you get it.

Interesting, right?

An International Situation

At first, I thought Adobe must have something against Israel (it happens). But then I started searching online, and started finding articles like this one (shown above, PC Pro), this one (from The Next Web), as well as forum posts discussing Adobe’s pricing policy. Take Adobe CS 5.5 Master Collection, for example. This item costs $2,599 in the US. If you buy it in the UK, you would have to shell out £2,268, not including the 20% VAT. That is $3,499 pre-VAT – a $900 difference!

It turns out Adobe has an intentionally discriminatory international pricing policy. If you are outside of the US, you will often have to pay much more for the same exact bits and bytes a US customer gets.

PC Pro put it best when they said: This isn’t just a question of best business practice. Adobe’s whole cross-platform design vision is built on the principle of a universal and level playing field. The same can’t be said of its pricing policy and it needs to be changed.

Adobe’s Official Response

I wrote Adobe’s Senior Channel Manager Israel, Mr. Avi Zrihan, to ask what gives. It took him three working days to reply, but he finally got back to me with the following boilerplate:

We establish our prices for Creative Suite products on a regional basis using a consistent methodology. Local market conditions significantly influence our pricing.

Local market conditions include: the costs of doing business in different regions and customer research that assesses the value of the product in the local market.

The cost of doing business in EMEA is significantly higher per unit of revenue earned than it is in North America. For example, in a large homogenous market like North America, we can achieve certain economies of scale that affect pricing. Outside the US, by contrast, we must support diverse regional market situations with 2 major currencies, and 15 major languages—which results in higher costs.

That’s very interesting. How come other companies (Microsoft, Corel, and others) can support the same “diverse regional market” without hiking up the price by a crazy margin?

Another part of corporate newspeak that I like: “The cost […] is significantly higher per unit of revenue earned”. In other words, not as many people buy Adobe’s products in this market. Gee, I wonder why!

Bottom Line

Adobe’s pricing policies seem to be as creative as their products. Their inventive regional pricing and bizarre practices leave users with two choices: Pay a crazy markup for the same product, or be a “pirate”. Or am I reading this the wrong way? Let me know below.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/intro5.jpg" alt="" />A lot of times when you need to get something done on your computer and think that perhaps there’s a program that can do it for you, you most likely go to your favorite search engine and research away. By the time you’re an expert looking for free software, you might find yourself a fan of freeware, so you might even look forward to receiving updates on cool new programs. Sound familiar?

Looking for software online has actually become easier these days. Do you want to see a comparison of all similar software for a specific task? There’s an app for that. Do you want to see all alternatives to a specific program? There’s an app for that too. You probably knew this from using the many rich repositories of software available on href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-best-most-reliable-surces-to-download-freeware-programs/">FileHippo, SourceForge, etc. However, there are other more recently developed applications with interesting approaches to listing software that might just help you find what you need quickly and painlessly.

Use href="http://catchfree.com/">CatchFree To Compare Similar Software

Have you ever wanted to find a program that can solve a specific problem and ended up tempted to try multiple applications because you didn’t know which one was superior? href="http://catchfree.com/">CatchFree is a website that can save you time and even money.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image177.png" alt="image" width="578" height="439" border="0" />

href="http://catchfree.com/">CatchFree is a brilliant site that offers a very useful approach to software. You simply type the task you’re trying to accomplish on the site’s search bar, and you’ll be presented with software suitable for your specified task. What makes it stand out from other software repository sites is that it lists several products at once and displays in a nice comparison chart all the common features of the products so you’ll know exactly which ones can perform additional tasks or not.

You’ll also know how popular the application is currently, as well as user ratings, which can help you when you’re indecisive after being exposed to so many different solutions. It’s also noteworthy to add that the site only shows you free software. If you’re not looking for a specific software but are just exploring and browsing, you can find common tasks such as listening to music online, sharing desktops, etc.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image178.png" alt="image" width="552" height="524" border="0" />

Other cool features of the site include ways to filter software by platform (desktop or mobile) and ask questions about the software. href="http://catchfree.com/">CatchFree is one of those sites that you’ll see and immediately think: “Man, this is a great idea someone should have come up with a long time ago!” It’s definitely a bookmark-worthy tool you won’t want to miss.

Use href="http://alternativeto.net">AlternativeTo.Net To Find (You Guessed It) href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-sites-to-find-free-alternatives-to-popular-software/">Software Alternatives

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image179.png" alt="image" width="580" height="460" border="0" />

Catch Free is a nice tool for finding software, but since it lists free solutions only, you may be limiting your options. Sometimes, what you need may only be performed by paid software. Or you may be looking for open-source software only. In either of these cases, I absolutely recommend one of my most-visited bookmarks, href="http://alternativeto.net">AlternativeTo. You can use this site by first typing in the name of the software you’re trying to find an alternative for. After that, you’ll see a list of similar software sorted by user “likes”. You can filter by platform, just as you can in CatchFree.

What’s cool about this site is that you can add suggestions easily. You don’t even have to register since you can actually use your account from Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Additionally, if you aren’t particularly looking for alternatives to anything but enjoy discovering new software, AlternativeTo’s front page is also a great way to explore new programs.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image180.png" alt="image" width="580" height="472" border="0" />

If you’re interested in more sites that can show you what other users prefer, check out the social network href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/all-your-little-utilities-make-wakoopa-smile/">Wakoopa, href="http://www.appsandoranges.com/">Apps & Oranges, href="http://osx.iusethis.com/">iusethis, href="http://filepig.org/">FilePig, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-sites-to-find-free-alternatives-to-popular-software/">etc.

Use MakeUseOf’s “Best Of” Lists, Directory & “Cool Websites & Tools”

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image181.png" alt="image" width="580" height="463" border="0" />

There are plenty of resourceful lists on our site that will point you to some of the best applications and services for a variety of platforms. Here are a few of them:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-windows-software">Best 117 Windows Programs
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-mac-apps">Best 103 Mac Apps
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-linux-software">Best 100 Linux Applications
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-android-apps">Best 100 Android Apps
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/the-best-of">and more

Another good source of information regarding all things applications is our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/">Directory, where we present quick reviews for new programs or web apps.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image182.png" alt="image" width="500" height="615" border="0" />

The methods listed here assume you’re actively looking for software. If you’re just generally excited about software but not exactly seeking new software, you can always just let technology blogs do the job and present you with new, exciting suggestions. All you have to do is keep yourself updated with technology blogs like this one via your RSS feed reader.

One feature post to look for is our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cool-web-apps/">Cool Websites & Tools posts, which are published every day, and feature new and free applications in easy-to-digest chunks. It’s where you can still catch absolutely free apps now that we have switched to reviewing all types of free and paid software.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image183.png" alt="image" width="580" height="460" border="0" />

Now it’s your turn. How do you discover new software and apps? Let us know in the comments!

Image credit: href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=73565842" rel="nofollow">Matthias Pahl

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-free-software-smart/">3 Websites To Help You Find The Best Software is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/biosthumb1.jpg" alt="" />Malware researchers and malware programmers are in constant competition, the latter hunting for new ways to hide, the former sniffing out those methods. BIOS, the basic operating system pre-installed on computer motherboards, is the perfect place to hide, but has been thought generally safe from intrusion.

A new piece of nasty known as Trojan.Mebromi has been found capable of re-flashing a computer’s motherboard BIOS in order to insert new code which, in turn, corrupts a computer’s master boot record. In doing so, this Trojan hides in a place where href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/anti-virus/">anti-virus programs can’t look and executes its payload in an environment where they don’t exist.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/BIOS1.jpg" alt="" width="570" height="299" />

That’s not to say removing this threat would be impossible, but it is difficult, as pointed out by security researcher Marco Giuliani. “Developing an antivirus utility able to clean the BIOS code is a challenge, because it needs to be totally error-proof, to avoid rendering the system unbootable at all.”

There is some good news. The current incarnation of this href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-free-realtime-malware-protection-removal-tools/">malware can’t run if it isn’t given escalated privileges, so UAC should keep you safe if you use it. The Trojan also can’t infect computers running href="http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/difference-64bit-32bit-operating-system/">64-bit operating systems, either. Finally, Award BIOS is the only target.

Mebromi is not the first malware to exploit the BIOS, but it is the first to be caught in the wild for over a decade.  I wouldn’t worry about a rash of BIOS infections just yet, however. This malware targets a security flaw discovered in Award BIOS five years ago, but never used and apparently never patched. If the developers finally fix that flaw, the window of opportunity will be closed – for now, at least.

Source:  href="http://blog.webroot.com/2011/09/13/mebromi-the-first-bios-rootkit-in-the-wild/" rel="nofollow">Webroot Threat Blog, href="http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/bios-threat-showing-again" rel="nofollow">Symantec

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/HostsFiles05.png?54167" border="0" alt="block malicious websites" />Any website you visit potentially tracks your browsing habits, loads annoying ads, or distributes malicious software. Most of the time, common sense and standard class="vt-p" title="MakeUseOf Tag: Malware" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/malware/">malware protection software, such as antivirus programs or browser addons can help you steer clear of the worst sites. If you would like to add an additional layer of security, however, and block known offenders, you should look into the possibilities the Windows Hosts file has to offer.

In this article I will show you how you can block unsafe websites by adding blocking lists to the Windows Hosts file. The Hosts file allows you to re-direct domain names to an IP address of your choice. Subsequently, you can use this knowledge to block any domains, such as those distributing advertisements, banners, cookies, and more.

What Is The Windows Hosts File?

The Windows Hosts file is a plain text file Windows refers to for mapping hostnames to IP addresses. The file is loaded into the cache at startup and every time Windows queries a DNS server, it first checks the Hosts file for redirection information. Simply put, the Hosts file can be used to re-direct a domain name to a different IP address and hence to a completely different website or simply back to the local computer.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Hosts_MUO_Net.png?54167" alt="" width="500" height="369" />

What Are The Benefits Of Blocking Sites Using The Hosts File?

First of all you can block malicious websites using excluding lists that contain known offenders.

Secondly, if those lists contain ad servers or trackers, you will experience faster website loading times, as all ad and tracking related apps are blocked from loading. Moreover, this protects your privacy and enhances security since your browsing habits are shielded from many known trackers.

Finally, you can play a prank on people by re-directing any website you like, for example Bing to Google.

How Can I Edit The Windows Hosts File?

Mark wrote an article explaining how to block websites via the Hosts file, which covers almost everything you need to know: class="vt-p" title="Create your own Internet Filter with the Windows Hosts file" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-your-own-internet-filter-with-the-windows-hosts-file/">Create your own Internet Filter with the Windows Hosts file.

I will briefly describe how to edit the file in Windows 7.

• Open Notepad as Administrator. For this go to > Start > All Programs > Accessories, right-click > Notepad and select > Run as administrator. When asked whether you > (…) want to allow the following program to make changes to the computer, select > Yes.
• From within Notepad go to > File > Open and browse to the Hosts file, which is located under > C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. The folder will be empty as it’s only showing *.txt files. In the bottom right of the folder click the drop-down menu and select > All Files.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/HostsFiles01.png?54167" border="0" alt="edit windows hosts file" />

Where Can I Find Blocking Lists?

A great resource for a customized Hosts files to block ads, banners, and other parasites, can be found on class="vt-p" title="WinHelp2002" href="http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm">WinHelp2002. The Hosts file on offer has been updated regularly, most recently in June 2011. You can download the file in class="vt-p" title="Plain Text Hosts File" href="http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt">plain text or as a class="vt-p" title="Zipped Hosts File" href="http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.zip">ZIP file. The Zip file contains a batch file (mvps.bat) to automatically rename and replace your current Hosts file. However, you can also manually add the list via copy and paste from the text file to your Hosts file, following the instructions above.

You can also find Hosts files on class="vt-p" title="hpHosts" href="http://amada.abuse.ch/blocklist.php">hpHosts. You can either follow the installation instructions on the website, or manually copy and paste the list from their Hosts text file into your existing Hosts file.

There are other resources that share blocklists. However, you need to make sure you get a list that has the format ‘IP address domain name’ (without quotes), for example ’127.0.0.1 google.com’ (without quotes), which would redirect the domain name google.com to the IP address 127.0.0.1 (localhost). Of course you can manually add the IP address in case you get a list that is lacking it.

What Tools Can I Use to Manage My Hosts Files?

I recommend class="vt-p" title="HostsMan" href="http://www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman">HostsMan. Apart from providing a simple interface to add entries to your Hosts files, it also allows you to import blocking lists from hpHosts via the > Update Hosts button.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/HostsFiles03.png?54167" border="0" alt="hostsman" />

You can either merge this data with your current Hosts file or overwrite it. I recommend merging, since this allows you to simply delete the added information later and not lose anything you have in there already.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/HostsFiles04.png?54167" border="0" alt="merge blocking lists with hosts file" />

You can also edit the Hosts file using a convenient user interface.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/HostsFiles02.png?54167" border="0" alt="manage hosts file" />

Unfortunately, HostsMan does not currently allow you to import your own text files and merge them with your Hosts files. This is something you need to do manually.

If you liked this article, also check out the following posts on MakeUseOf:

• class="vt-p" title="3 Best Resources To Find Sites That Are Known To Have Spyware & Viruses" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-resources-find-sites-spyware-viruses/">3 Best Resources To Find Sites That Are Known To Have Spyware & Viruses
• class="vt-p" title="Block Websites Without Any Network Experience using Any Weblock" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/filter-block-websites-network-experience-weblock/">Block Websites Without Any Network Experience using Any Weblock
• class="vt-p" title="3 Free Real-Time Malware Protection & Removal Tools" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-free-realtime-malware-protection-removal-tools/">3 Free Real-Time Malware Protection & Removal Tools

Did you know about the Hosts file before and what are you going to use it for now?

Image credits: class="vt-p" title="Pixel Skull" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=45202618">John David Bigl III />
/> Follow href="http://twitter.com/MakeUseOf" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.

/>

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/block-unsafe-websites-blocking-lists-windows-hosts-file/">How To Block Websites On Your PC Without Using Software [Windows] is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/content-filter/" title="content filter" rel="tag">content filter, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/firewall/" title="firewall" rel="tag">firewall, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/safer-browsing/" title="safer browsing" rel="tag">safer browsing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/security/" title="security" rel="tag">security, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/security-tips/" title="security tips" rel="tag">security tips />

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/2642-12745437615W1311.jpg" alt="hacker software" />If you’re a computer geek, chances are you like fiddling around with things. You are, in short, a hacker. Although most hackers probably use Linux, there are some that use Windows. Maybe your business requires you to use Windows. This post covers some essential hacking and coding tools for all you Windows hackers. Why should the Linux crowd get all the fun, right?

Before we begin, what is a hacker? Well, Wikipedia defines a hacker as “a person who heavily modifies the software or hardware of their own computer system” while Google defines a hacker as “an enthusiastic and skillful computer programmer or user“. I bet most of you here fit that second description at least.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.jedit.org/"> jEdit

This is less known than Notepad++. It supports many advanced features, such as syntax highlighting, which is a must if you’re a programmer. It also has features such as a built-in macro language, which allows it to be incredibly extensible. It’s written in Java, which allows it to be cross-platform.

As a programmer, you are constantly removing code to optimize your program, to fix bugs or any number of other reasons. Sometimes, you may need it back. The so called “Kill Ring” stores deleted text, so you never have to worry.

It supports 130 languages, including AppleScript and Objective-C, which surprised me. So even as a stranded Mac developer, it’s worth a go. It comes with a nice amount of documentation that’s easy to understand, so if you’re ever stuck, don’t worry. It’s a powerful text editor that no Windows programmer should go without.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screenshot-2011-06-13-at-08.06.35.png" alt="hacker software" width="386" height="560" />

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screenshot-2011-06-13-at-08.01.52.png" alt="free hacking software" width="464" height="421" />

class="vt-p" href="http://getfirebug.com/">FireBug

FireBug is the number one free web development tool for Firefox which allows live inspecting and editing of webpages. It is is a powerful tool for testing your websites and fixing problems without having to reload the page all the time. Similar to Safari’s built-in ‘Element Inspector’ but for Firefox. Safari is not extensible enough for a web developer, though that may change with Safari 5. For now though, Firefox is the way to go for web development and FireBug makes it even better.

One use for FireBug is downloading page elements, such as Flash games.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screenshot-2011-06-19-at-00.29.09.jpg" alt="free hacking software" width="560" height="350" />

Jorge covered  class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/install-firebug-for-browsers-other-than-firefox/">how to install Firebug on other browsers than Firefox back in 2009, and James class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/steps-road-css-mastery">also covered it in his recent CSS tutorial.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.autohotkey.com/">AutoHotKey

style="margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screenshot-2011-06-13-at-08.13.46.png" alt="free hacking software" align="left" />This is like class="vt-p" href="http://www.phraseexpress.com">TextExpander for Windows, although it goes much further than that. It’s a macro utility which runs in the background and intercepts any key or mouse presses you have ordered it to. It is easily script-able and allows you to do many things, from reversing your scrolling, to auto-correcting text, to the aforementioned text substitution.

I can have it set to substitute “@habib” with “habib@makeuseof.com“. I can set it to do it after the space, or immediately. My choice. That’s the beauty of it: everything can be tweaked. Here’s one line of code that replaces @habib with my email:

:*:@habib::habib@makeuseof.com

The block of text can be as long as I want. I can have pre-written email responses. For the budding coder, you can set it so that +ifelse writes out an if, else statement for you. Then just enter the condition, statements, and other elements. It’s obvious how this can speed up development substantially. In fact, with AutoHotKey, you can optimize a machine for any task, from development to gaming. If the game doesn’t allow you to choose the controls, just fire up the associated AutoHotKey script.

Tina wrote about class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pimp-windows-autohotkey-scripts-activaid-2/">ac’tivAid, a set of useful AutoHotKey scripts, last year.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.virtualbox.org">VirtualBox

This is a no-brainer for web developers, especially if you run a geeky-type website, where a lot of visitors use Linux. Mac OS X can be installed, albeit without support and you’d be breaking the license, which is illegal.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Untitled.jpg" alt="hacking software" width="580" height="428" />

Some of you may be asking why not just install Linux here and dual-boot, or even replace Windows and have all these tools available out of the box, or with a better alternative? Well, some people are required to run Windows and may not want to keep VirtualBox running all the time, while dual-booting would be a pain in the ass. These tools allow you to have some of the power and extensibility of Linux without having to give up your job, dual-booting or keeping 2 whole OS’s running. VirtualBox allows you to test your websites with other OS’s, or develop for Linux in your spare time. If you are trying to port an application, virtualization is a lifesaver.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screenshot-2011-06-19-at-11.58.51.jpg" alt="hacker software" width="560" height="350" />

This app has been covered many times on MakeUseOf, e.g. two posts by Jorge in class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/installing-windows-7-on-a-virtual-machine/">January and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/free-operating-systems-to-use-on-virtualbox/">February 2009, while Justin wrote about class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/virtualboxs-seamless-mode-combine-operating-systems-desktop/">VirtualBox’s seamless mode last year.

What do you think of these tools? Do you have any other suggestions? Did you already know of these tools, and their uses? Are you going to consider retrying some of these programs? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!

Image Credit:  class="vt-p" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=6884&picture=child-with-laptop">Alan Toniolo de Carvalho

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-hacker-software-tools-budding-coder/">4 Hacker Software Tools Every Budding Coder Should Have is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/linux-300px.png" />Following the success of our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-windows-software">Best Of: Windows Software page, we decided that it would be a good idea to put our heads together and come up with a similar page for Linux. Today, we’d like to announce the launch of our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-linux-software">Best Of: Linux Software page!

Populated by 100 of the best free Linux apps available, the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-linux-software">Best Of: Linux Software page is a one-stop shop for all your Linux software needs.

We hope that this page will come in handy to Linux users both new and seasoned. We’ve included some all-time favourites like KeePassX, Rhythmbox, and Docky.

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-linux-software"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/The-Best-Of_-Linux-Software.png" />

If you use Linux or plan to sometime in the future, please check out our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-linux-software">Best Of: Linux Software page — you might find a hidden gem.