Jelle Druyts

Pretty much every blog on the planet linked to this one already but just in case you were interstellar for a while: go check out Scott Hanselman's Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tools List!

The ones that were new to me but I will definately install on every dev machine I get my hands on:

• CommandBar for Explorer: hosts a command prompt window right in your windows explorer. Great for all your command line needs such as csc, javac, regsvcs, ildasm, ...
• QuickCode.NET: a brilliantly simple and extensible keyword expander for Visual Studio .NET. Type in propv int Test [Alt+Q] and shazam: you get a new property Test with a private variable _test and xml documentation. Sweeeet.

Also cool on the list:

• Snippet Compiler: just punch in some code on-the-fly and run it. No need to start Visual Studio .NET, great for demo's!
• Web Services Studio: use web services interactively. Point to the proper WSDL endpoint and you get an immediately callable .NET Proxy for it.
• GhostIt: make 'ghost' windows with a single click. These are semi-transparent background windows, perfect for instant messengers and the like.
• NetPing: where a regular ping just doesn't cut it. See operating system, uptime, memory and disk space usage, manage the pc, portscan, start remote desktop, ...

So these are a welcome addition to the tools I'd been using already:

• Lutz Roeder's Reflector: the slickest way to look at assembly contents, referenced assemblies, metadata, ... Goodbye ILDASM (except for an actual full decompilation to IL of course). Used to be in conjunction with Anakrino but since Reflector also has a built-in decompiler these days I stopped using that. So no more worries: need to know what happens inside an assembly? Decompile it and have a look! Or - if it's something the likes of the Framework Class Library - browse the Rotor Source Code (which is kind of what the Java folks would call a reference implementation for the CLI I guess).
• NAnt: a pretty powerful build tool for .NET (ported from Apache Ant).
• NUnit and the NUnitAddin: a widely used unit-testing framework for .NET (ported from JUnit). The addin lets you run your unit tests straight from Visual Studio .NET. Cool!
• Process Explorer and other great tools from SysInternals: need to know which process is locking a file, which TCP connections are open, which registry keys are being modified, ...? Look no further!
• PowerMenu: a little utility that lets you do some nice things with your windows very easily (minimizing to the tray, setting transparency, keeping on top, ...).
• SharpReader: my preferred news aggregator. Although I've also been using FeedDemon lately but that won't remain free.
• E = m c²: not to blow my own horn but I use it all the time on all my machines It's a utility that can check various sources for messages, then filter and redistribute them (read: check mail, rss feeds, events, ... and show popups, send mails, ...).

The best thing is, these tools are all free and almost none of these require installation. Drag'n'Drop/Unzip/Xcopy (whatever you want to call it) deployment is so my bag