Small Business Computing announced their list of Top Software for 2003 back in December (a tip of the hat to Len Witt at Public Journalism Network for the link) and I’ve been using three of the ones on the list for the first time.
OpenOffice, an open source replacement for several of the apps in MS Office.
The Google Deskbar
ActiveWords; here’s the magazine’s description of it:
The $50 ActiveWords Plus is sort of the antithesis of Windows XP Media Center� an interface that reacts when you type words on the keyboard. A throwback to the memory-resident DOS utilities of 15 years ago? Well, yeah, but ActiveWords is also an exemplary power tool for quickly performing repetitive tasks, launching favorite programs or Web pages, and applying the idea behind Word’s AutoComplete to customize and optimize your whole computing environment. Who’d have guessed that keeping your hands on the home row could be such a productivity booster?
What’s hooked me on the product is its ability to learn the words I associate with doing the many different tasks on my PC and to treat them as one word commands, no matter what window or app I have open. I can be using a photo app and if it occurs to me that I need to go to this weblog, all I have to do is type “wig” and press the F8 key and it boots up my browser and takes me here. I’m just scratching the surface of this intriguing little app.
I met the creator of ActiveWords, Buzz Bruggeman, at last week’s Trend Agenda conference in Minneapolis.
Here’s Buzz with his hand on the frost-covered window in Gallery 8 of the Walker Art Center. It had been 24 below earlier that day. He grew up in International Falls, MN but has lived most of his life in Florida. So he’s pretty much a wimp when it comes to cold weather. 
