Productivity Apps For Your PC

Getting new programs for your MAC or Windows PC has never been easier, thanks to dedicated app stores. Just like you would on a smartphone, you can now download and install new applications in just one step.

MAC THE MAC APP STORE OFFERS EASY ACCESS TO 
thousands of application for OS X, both free & paid. Only available for systems running Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) and above, the Mac App Store is easily installed with a software update. Just click on the Apple icon on the top left, select Software Update and install available updates. Reboot the system and the App Store icon will be present on the dock. Note that several applications mentioned here can also be downloaded directly from the developers website (in case you have MAC OS X 10.5 Leopard). 
ALFRED Alfred is your one stop shortcut to everything. It allows you to launch applications, search your MAC and even search the web from a single line command box. It even offers basic calculations and site-specific search from within the command box using simple keyboard shortcuts. Get it from the Mac App Store. 
AUDIONOTE LITE AudioNote Lite is a notes taking application — but it also features a voice recorder. Not only can it record voice notes but it also syncs each audio note with the respective text notes. Using the pen tool you can highlight different notes or create drawings. Get it from the Mac App Store. 
FLUID Fluid offers a quick way to turn your favorite website into a desktop application right in your dock. The application basically provides a site-specific browser that can be kept running in the dock instead of keeping multiple tabs open in a browser. Get it from www.fluidapp.com. 
MINDNODE MindNode is a mind mapping application that does not restrict itself to the size of the page. It automatically resizes the maps to fit on the canvas, allows multiple mind maps to be created and offers a node resize feature on the canvas itself. Get it from the Mac App Store. 
NEOOFFICE NeoOffice is a free office suite for the MAC based on the OpenOffice code. It offers a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation programs. The application claims better stability and performance than the OpenOffice suite by using their own MAC OS X code. Get it fromwww.neooffice.org. 
OPUS DOMINI LITE Opus Domini lite is your personal diary right on your desktop. Just like using a diary, you can input your daily tasks, goals, missions, plans for future weeks and even get weather information! It also allows synchronization with iCal for upcoming events. Get it from the Mac App Store. 
TASKMATE Taskmate is a simple and easy to use to-do list for your MAC. It has a basic interface to add/remove tasks with one click access to completed tasks. The application even allows a user to export the tasks to TextEdit to use with other applications. Get it fromwww.gettaskmate.com. 

WINDOWS WITH WINDOWS, YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS FOR APP stores: Intel’s AppUp Center and AllMyApps. AppUp (www.appup.com) is a downloadable application originally designed for netbooks with 1024 x 600 screens, but it also works just fine on larger screens. It can only be installed on Windows PC powered by Intel processors. AllMyApps (www.allmyapps.com) on the other hand, is web-based. Both require a quick registration process and you’re all set. Note: Credit card information will need to be entered once, in order to download paid apps. 

ABIWORD If you haven’t already guessed, Abiword is similar to Microsoft Word. Compared to complete Office suites you can download, Abiword is just about 8MB, so it’ll download and install in just a few minutes. Perfect when you just need document editing, and in a jiffy. Get it from AllMyApps. 
DISPLAYFUSION This is great tool if you have dual monitors. DisplayFusion stretches the taskbar to fill both monitors and also has certain extras like multi monitor screensavers, customisable hotkeys, better wallpaper management (tile, scale, crop across monitors) & custom logon screens. Get it from AllMyApps. 
FREEMIND Similar to MindNode for the MAC, FreeMind is a Java-based mind mapping tool. Use it to generate ideas, make notes, do rersearch or keep track of projects. It offers fast one-click navigation — just one click will fold/unfold a map. Get it fromhttp://freemind.sourceforge.netor AllMyApps. 
KEEPASS KeePass is a password safe — use it to store all your various passwords for different email IDs, website login info, forum passwords and other sensitive information. All the passwords are encrypted and locked with one master password. Get it from http://keepass.info or AllMyApps. 
LINGOES Lingoes is a dictionary and text translation tool. Over 80 languages are supported, including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, Greek, Polish, Arabic and Hebrew. Get it from www.lingoes.net. 
SUPERCOPIER Once you install SuperCopier, it replaces the standard Windows copy dialog and offers several additional features. You get more acurate speed computation, pause & resume copy, copy speed control and an editable copy list during the copy process. Get it fromhttp://supercopier.sfxteam.org. 
VIRTUAWIN VirtuaWin is a virtual desktop manager for Windows. If you’re somone who likes to keep many different programs and windows open, using VirtuaWin, you can organise them into different virtual desktops for easy access. Get it from http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net.