VMware Player vs. Workstation

I am currently using VMware Workstation 5.5 to do my Windows development on my Ubuntu laptop, the problem is I need to buy VMware Workstation to keep on using it and I do not really have $189 to spent on it, especially since I am only using it run Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.

I considered using the VMware Player instead but could not find any meaningful benchmarks or comparisons so I decided to download SiSoft Sandra 2005 and do some tests myself and I am very impressed with the Player's speed.

I am not allowed to publish any benchmarks but suffice to say that I will be using the free VMware player to do my development on from now on and not the VMware workstation anymore.

JDiskReport and Unison

In my search to find utilities that can replace the Windows utilities I was used to I discovered these two applications.

jDiskReport is a utility that allows me to analyze my hard disk to find directories that are becoming a bit bloated. The added benefit is that it is a 100% Java application which allows for easy installation.

Unison is a utility that allows me to synchronize my files on my hard disk to my backup hard disk. I always used FileSync for this on my Windows machine and this utility has equivalent functionality.

CodeWeavers' CrossOver Office

I use Ubuntu exclusively now but my job requires me to still use Microsoft Office. Now I used MS Office inside my Windows 2000 VM but then I tried a product called CrossOver Office and it works great.

I am now using Microsoft Office XP on my Ubuntu machine without any problems, the little envelope from Outlook even appears in my Ubuntu notification area. I am definitely going to invest in this application very soon.

My Desktop even has the MS Office icons as any other Windows PC would have.

Just more reason not to ever go back to Windows again except maybe for gaming.

Ubuntu Printing

Again I am very impressed with Ubuntu, everything just works so far. I setup my machine to be able to print to PDF from any application and I setup my network printing to our company's network printer on the Windows server.

Both work perfectly and it took my only 30 minutes about to do it all. Still a bit longer than in Windows but I think I am able to setup a printer in Windows much quicker because I've done it so many times before.