This is the list of stuff I use to do my work and get other stuff done around the computer. If you want to see more lists like this, check out uses.tech.
Hardware
My main machine these days is a MacBook Pro. I hook it up to a CalDigit dock and an external monitor.
Software
OS
I spent most of my life as a Windows user, then went to Linux (Mint) and then to MacOS. Each has it's own pros and cons. I enjoy the stability and overall smoothness and lack of fuss that Apple gives you. I don't miss the customizability of Linux as much as I thought I would, but what I do miss is the warm feeling in my heart that running an open-source OS gives you.
Browser
I use Firefox. Not because it is better in any significant technical way than Chrome and other browsers (although it is not worse either), but because I am old enough to remember what a for-profit company being in control of a browser with over 90% market share brought us last time around. I believe in privacy and an open web. If this sort of stuff is important to you and you're on Chrome out of habit, consider switching.
I don't use very many plugins, but the few that are essential to me are: uBlock Origin, Vimium, Wappalyzer, React Developer Tools and Redux DevTools
IDE
- VS Code for the majority of my coding
- My font is Fira Code, I use Material Theme and Icons
- Plugins: GitLens, Live Server, Prettier, ES Lint are the general ones I'd recommend, all the other ones are technology-specific.
- And yes, I have GitHub Copilot, it's... occasionally useful.
Terminal
- iTerm2 as my terminal
- Zsh is my shell with Oh My Zsh (I'm very vanilla in my choices as you can see)
- zoxide as a cd replacement. Here's a video about it. Trust me.
Other Dev Stuff
Design and Graphics
- Adobe Photoshop is probably the first piece of "real" software I learned to use
- Figma for most of my UI design work
- Inkscape for when I have to screw around wtih vectors
- Adobe Lightroom Classic for managing and editing my photos
- Coolors for brainstorming color schemes (online tool)
Utilites/Productivity
- Toggl for time tracking
- Obsidian for long term storage of information
- Joplin for keeping notes (it replaced Evernote for me but it's kinda clunky honestly)
- CommanderOne I'm still a two-pane Total Commander geek. Sorry
Media
- Navidrome for streaming my own music. I hate the whole music-as-a-service Spotify thing
- VLC Player for video
- Calibre for ebooks that I can then toss onto my Kindle
- YACReader for comics
- Feedbin for keeping up with RSS feeds