Gnomie Kim Monroe writes in with “three programs I find extremely useful and couldn’t do without”:

1. Launchy (Open Source) is really beautiful. It uses a very minimal amount of system resources (4 MB) and it indexes everything in your HDD just like Vista’s own indexing system.Whatever you can’t find through it can be added through options; it has built in Google search and calculator, and you can Wikipedia anything by just typing wiki+tab and then search.

   So with that you can also use a Windows shell that removes all the clutter that Windows loves to create. I removed all of that as Launchy has each and every single item already in there; all I’ve got to do is start typing and, within the first three letters or so, it almost always gives me exactly what I want right at the top..

   Launchy also comes with a whole bunch of nifty skins and its own community that swears by it.

2. RocketDock is an application launcher that mimics the Mac Dock system. If you love Macs and know what that means, then you know what you’re in for. If you’re a die-hard Windows user and wonder what all the Mac fuss is all about, give this a look and you might have a better understanding of the hoopla.
3. Miro (Open Source) is good for people who want to find informative online programs (such as yours) without shelling out huge amounts of money. It’s essentially a YouTube on crack — it has very nice HD feeds and I personally love it. Just choose the channels that you care for (Discovery Network and Red Bull are included there, for instance), then, when you start Miro, it automatically starts downloading the latest episodes from the subscribed channels. It’s very fast and is a good substitute for the TV.