Main computer (iBook, 2004, Mac OS X 10.4):
Dock:
-Finder
-TenFourFox
-Classilla
-iCab 2.9
-WannaBE PPC
-MacVim
-Skype
-MacTubes
-Terminal
-Settings
—
-Applications folder
-Applications (Mac OS 9) folder
-Home folder
-Thrash
Tray:
-Spotlight
-Fast user switching
-Keyboard language selector
-Standard power managment
-Volume control
-Airport control
-Classic menu
-SMARTReporter
-ClamXav sentry
-Dropbox

Secondary computer (PC clone by POMI, around 2000, own linux distro with kde 3.5):
Tool bar 1 (Right, show always) :
-Konqueror
-Kate
-Konsole
-Tray
Tool bar 2(top, show when mouse on top right corner):
-Quick file manager: ~
-Quick file manager: /
-Run command
-Shutdown/reboot
Tool bar 3(bottom, show when mouse on bottom left corner)
-K-menu
-Iceweasel
-Kwrite
-Lynx
-Desktop selector (4 desktops)
-Running applications
Kasbar(bottom, show always, windows grouped by application):
-Clock
Tray:
-Language
-Volume

Server/tinkering machine(PC clone by POMI, 1994, my own linux distro with JWM):
Tool bar:
-JWM menu
-aterm
-Xedit
-Xfm
-Clock

Other computers I use either run OS that doesn’t have a tool bar/tray or use Linux+window manager without tool bar/tray(I use wwm, twm, openbox, mwm and keytools with key bindings to xmove(M-m), xresize(M-r), xclose(M-w), xraise(M-u) xlower(M-d) and xterm(M-n))

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Heh, I generally like to have it that way too. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way, usually because I’m lazy. When I need to use for example Daemon Tools I want to be able to use it immediately. That might have made more sense a while ago though, since I don’t use it that much anymore.

I haven’t used Sysinternals Autoruns myself, maybe I should try it. Thanks for the tip :)

My personal philosophy is: “if I’m not using it right now this second, it doesn’t need to be running”. First thing I do on a windows machine is to download Sysinternals Autoruns and banish all the unnecessary apps from my system tray, and forbid them from starting with windows.

When I need to run Daemon Tools, I double click on the icon before I launch whatever requires it to be running. I don’t let it sit in the tray and boss me around as if it owned the place. :)

Quick Launch:
1) Show desktop (see below)
2) Switch between windows (I’m actually not sure why I still have these. They came with Vista, and I just haven’t removed them. I think I’ll do that now)
3) Firefox (always the first application I launch when logging on, and last thing I close when shutting down)
4) VNC Viewer (use it frequently to connect to my server)
5) foobar2000 (well…music :D fb2k is my favorite, and looks great with the Brumal Treeline skin/theme (which strongly inspired the PocketBar design). And it’s usually the second application I launch when logging on)
6) mIRC (third application I launch)
7) Internet Explorer (I try to avoid it, but sometimes the sites on the tubes just don’t agree with Firefox)
8) Widescreen (see below)
9) Standard (UltraMon display profiles. I move the computer between two places once a week. One has a widescreen monitor, the other does not)

System Tray:
1) Windows Update (…)
2) DAEMON Tools (useful for…legal backups…)
3) X-Fi Mode Changer (nowadays I just use it to change from headphone to speaker mode with a hotkey, when watching TV shows from the computer on my TV)
4) SpeedFan (they don’t need to blow at 100% all the time ;))
5) uTorrent (for downloading Linux distros and…other stuff)
6) DVD Ghost (for watching all DVDs with my Region 2 reader)
7) Safely Remove Hardware
8) avast! Anti-Virus (2 icons actually)
9) Standard Windows network icon thingy
10) Standard Windows volume control
11) Clock

[quote post=”2562″]I use Launchy which at a first glance seems to be a bit more powerful variation on the same theme. Have you tried it?[/quote]

I tried Launchy, it had install issues or didn’t work on some versions of Windows (I can’t remember which). Slick Run has worked every time.

[quote post=”2562″]There’s also commonly the little yellow shield from Windows Update, waiting for me to reboot. This is because I generally go to standby instead of off and I’ll be damned if I’m doing any different just ‘case some snotty yellow shield says otherwise.[/quote]

Heh. Same here. I don’t reboot the computer. I just lock the screen and walk away and let it go into standby by itself.

That said, at some point I got annoyed by that thing and set up my Windows update to run at like 5am every day. This way if the machine needs to reboot, it will reboot by itself while I’m sleeping and when I need to use it I will simply need to log in.

[quote post=”2562″]I primarily use Slick Run on my non Vista / Sever 2008 machines. I try to avoid the mouse as much as possible.[/quote]

I use Launchy which at a first glance seems to be a bit more powerful variation on the same theme. Have you tried it? Or do you prefer SlickRun for some specific reason?

I primarily use Slick Run on my non Vista / Sever 2008 machines. I try to avoid the mouse as much as possible.

All my Quick Launch menus contain these basics: Firefox, Notepad++, Thunderbird, and Skype. On my dev machine I have these additional items: Visual Studio, SQL Sever Manager, and Reflector.

Running XP, I made myself a custom toolbar across the top of the screen and stuck all the programs I use on there. That way they’re accessible whatever window I have open, I rarely have to delve into the start menu and my desktop is relatively clear of icons.

Up on there I have shortcuts to My Computer, My Documents, My Videos, My Music, My Pictures and my downloads folder, Firefox, Msn, VLC, Foobar2000, GIMP, uTorrent, SUPER, Alcohol, CloneCD and CloneDVD, Steam, Team Fortress 2, OOo Writer and Calc, MSOffice Word, Excel and Publisher, Notepad, Paint, Paint.net, the Windows Calculator and the Recycle Bin (hooray for horizontal screen space)

Having that, I don’t use the quick-launch bar. My systray is kinda cluttered… I don’t like it hiding the things I use, so I turned off the hide inactive icons thing, this means the one’s I don’t use are also not hidden. So in there we have a VNC server, the default network connection icon, Steam, PeerGuardian, MSN, the “catalyst control” thing from my graphics card, Volume Control, “Safely remove hardware” because Windows thinks my printer is a USB mass storage device, AVG, Flashmute (useful thing that) ATNotes, another audio control thing from my sound card, Logmein’s icon, and a little doodad that keeps my clock synced up to the right time.

There’s also commonly the little yellow shield from Windows Update, waiting for me to reboot. This is because I generally go to standby instead of off and I’ll be damned if I’m doing any different just ‘case some snotty yellow shield says otherwise. Since AVG now requires a reboot after every update (fucking v8, v7 would update fine without a reboot) so that’s normally displaying the “something’s wrong” icon to guilt me into rebooting.

Pinned to my Start Menu I have Firefox, MSN, VLC, Foobar, uTorrent, Notepad, Paint and the Calculator. I like having Notepad/Paint/Calculator on hand for the myriad little simple jobs where a more sophisticated program would be overkill.

So yeah.. that’s all the shortcuts that are a click away on my setup.

I use a two line taskbar.

Quick launch: Top line: Show desktop, IE, Outlook, Windows media player.
Bottom line: Firefox, Opera and safari.

In the taskbar I have Task manger, Resource Manager, outlook, Opera, RoyalTS (Terminal services), first firefox window, MSN Messenger, WMP, Programmers notepad. The rest is random, there’s some putty, more firefox windows (because I like not having to swich between tabs in firefox, easier just to open a new instance), Word 2007, serveral open emails (recived and writing), some httpheader thingy (Live HTTP headers, a plugin for firefox), VMware management thingy, two IE windows (with serveral tabs open each).

Sysytem tray: Whatpulse, outlook new mail, printer thingy, java runtime, opera icon, network, outlook standard icon, MSN Messenger, sound icon, task manager and another sound icon.

I’d like to consider myself a power user, but I don’t have enough ram to do so :(

/Mads