It seems it is quite common and often asked of each designer what hardware, software, and apps they use regularly, and why they chose the route that they took.
My Main computer (Desktop in my office) is a Custom Built PC, built by myself. This computer runs Windows 7 and can handle just about anything I need it to and more. I know most designers are mac-only, but I’ve never been this way, and see positives and negatives to both. So attached to my main PC is dual Asus VH236H 23″ Monitors. These have done me well over the years, but soon will be time for an upgrade. I have a Logitech Performance MX Mouse which I absolutely love, and with that a equally impressive Logitech K800 Wireless Keyboard. Nothing too crazy in addition to this for hardware, 3 internal HDDs, and one External simply for backup.
My alternate (portable) computer, is a 2010 MacBook Air 13″ full upgraded. I also love this computer. It is the first Mac I’ve owned, and still am not a huge fan of the OS, but really enjoy the build quality of the laptop itself. With it I have a Magic Mouse which I absolutely hate because of the accelerator in it. It is simply too slow for me when trying to move around the screen, and I fight it more than get any use out of it (this is even after adding additional software to speed it up). That is about it for hardware for the Mac, nothing too crazy as it is my portable machine.
Now on to Software…
On the PC:
- Adobe Photoshop CS4 – raster imaging
- Adobe Illustrator CS4 – vector imaging
- WinSCP – file uploads
- Notepad++ – preferred windows code editor
- Google Chrome – my browser of choice
- Market Samurai – great piece for SEO & Marketing
- TweetDeck – for twitter of course
- Digsby – for chatting on AIM, GTalk, and getting email notifications
Now onto the MacBook Air:
- Adobe Photoshop CS4
- Adobe Illustrator CS4
- FileZilla – file uploads
- Coda – great code editor (I’ve found this is the biggest place Windows is lacking)
- OmniGraffle – Mindmaps & trees
- Google Chrome – yeah, again
- ColorSchemer Studio – great simple program for colors
- LittleSnapper – great for storing images and categorizing
To sync my client and personal site folders between my PC and Mac, I’ve found nothing works remotely as well as Windows Live Mesh (which many apple fanboi’s may not find believable), but this program works wonders and keeps all my folders I’d like it to synced between the 2 computers with no effort from me what-so-ever. I had tried 3 or 4 Mac Applications, and all left tons to be desired. Last, but definitely not least, I love 37Signals, and the Suite by them. Bascamp, Highrise, Backpack, and Campfire.
So that is about