MBrownieBytes

A blog for software engineers, sys admins, devops, and the technically inclined.
How to guides, Tutorials, Tips and Tricks

  1. You are here:  
  2. Home

Blog

Windows Development Software

Details
Published: 07 May 2026
  • windows
  • utilities

Windows Development Software for you local human laptop

App Short Desc URL Suggested Replacement
Browsers:
FireFox main https://www.firefox.com/en-US/
Chrome dev test https://www.google.com/chrome/ FireFox
Edge dev test https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/
Vivaldi backup dev test https://vivaldi.com/
Hardware:
Headset Software:
Corsair Icue https://www.corsair.com/us/en/s/icue
Steelseries Sonar https://steelseries.com/gg/sonar
Turtlebeach Swarm II https://support.turtlebeach.com/s/downloads?language=en_US#/319/Swarm-II
Logitech GHub https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/software/ghub
Mouse/Keyboard Software:
Logi Options+ https://www.logitech.com/en-us/software/logi-options-plus
Steelseries Sonar https://steelseries.com/gg/sonar
Cam Software:
OBSBot Center https://www.obsbot.com/download/obsbot-meet-se
Printer Software:
Canon Generic Plus UFR II https://my.canon/en/support/0101227001
VPN:
CiscoAnyConnect VPN oec vpn https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/security/anyconnect-secure-mobility-client/series.html
Azure VPN oec vpn https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9np355qt2sqb?hl=en-US&gl=US
Docker:
WSL2 container manager https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install
Docker Desktop for wsl, ddev https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/
DDEV container tooling https://ddev.com/
LMStudio local AI when out of credits https://lmstudio.ai/
Podman container manager https://podman.io/  
Rancher Desktop container manager https://rancherdesktop.io/
IDEs
JetBrains:
JetBrians Toolbox updater, launcher https://www.jetbrains.com/toolbox-app/
PhpStorm php ide https://www.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/
WebStorm nodejs ide https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/
Rider dotnet c# ide https://www.jetbrains.com/rider/
DataGrip mariabd,  postgres, sqlsrv  manager https://www.jetbrains.com/datagrip/  
PyCharm python ide https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/
Office 365:
MS Teams chats, meetings https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software Slack, Proton Meet
Outlook email https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 ThunderBird
Excel xlsx https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 LibreOffice
Word docx https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 LibreOffice
PowerPoint pptx https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 LibreOffice
OneDrive oec shared files https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onedrive/online-cloud-storage
LibreOffice when office fails https://www.libreoffice.org/
PDF-XChange Editor pdf viewer, editor https://www.pdf-xchange.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor
Database:
NaviCat main db manager; mariabd, postgres, sqlsrv manager https://www.navicat.com/en/ DBeaver
SSMS sqlsrv manager https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ssms/ NaviCat
DBeaver mariabd, postgres, sqlsrv manager https://dbeaver.io/ NaviCat
HeidiSQL mariadb manager https://www.heidisql.com/
PgAdmin postgres manager https://www.pgadmin.org/
Languages:
PHP5.6 php https://www.php.net/
PHP7.2 php https://www.php.net/
PHP8.1 php https://www.php.net/
PVM manage php versions https://github.com/hjbdev/pvm
NodeJS 14 node https://nodejs.org/en
NodeJS 18 node https://nodejs.org/en
NodeJS 20 node https://nodejs.org/en
NodeJS 22 node https://nodejs.org/en
NodeJS 24 node https://nodejs.org/en
NVM manage node versions https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm
Dotnet 8 dotnet, c# https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0
Dotnet 10 dotnet, c# https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/10.0
Python 3.14 python https://www.python.org/downloads/
PyManager manage python versions https://www.python.org/downloads/release/pymanager-261/
Utils:
File:
7Zip compress, encrypt https://www.7-zip.org/
Everything quick search windows https://www.voidtools.com/
FreeFileSync backup files https://freefilesync.org/
grepWin grep code across repos, files https://tools.stefankueng.com/grepWin.html
PeaZip compress, encrypt https://peazip.github.io/ 7zip
WinDirStat find large files https://github.com/windirstat/windirstat
WinMerge diff files external to ide https://winmerge.org/downloads/?lang=en
wiztree find large files https://www.diskanalyzer.com/
Multimedia:
Audacity audio recorder, test microphone https://www.audacityteam.org/
AviDemux simple video frame editor https://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
foobar2000 audio player https://www.foobar2000.org/
HandBrake reduce video sizes https://handbrake.fr/
Image Glass image viewer https://imageglass.org/ IrfanView
IrfanView image viewer https://www.irfanview.com/
Krita graphics editor https://krita.org/en/ paint.net
OBStudio record screen https://obsproject.com/
paint.net graphics editor https://www.getpaint.net/
VLC video player https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Dev:
Git for Windows git https://git-scm.com/about
insomnia api testing https://github.com/Kong/insomnia
KeePass2 local password manager https://keepass.info/index.html
mRemoteNG tabbed ssh putty https://github.com/mRemoteNG/mRemoteNG tabby
NetBeans edit large gigabyte files https://netbeans.apache.org/front/main/index.html
Notepad++ light text editor https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
Postman api testing https://www.postman.com/ insomnia
putty  generate ssh keys,manage putty sessions, so can update mRemoteNG putty https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html
Remmina tabbed connection manager https://remmina.org/
ShareX screen captures https://getsharex.com/
tabby tabbed ssh https://tabby.sh/
Windows Terminal windows term https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/
WinSCP sftp files https://winscp.net/eng/index.php
Utility:
CCleaner remove temp,  cache files; manage startup programs https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner
CurrPorts ports running/blocked https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html
EarTrumpet manage audio sources, mixer https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nblggh516xp?hl=en-US&gl=US
MalwareBytes scan for adware https://www.malwarebytes.com/
OOAPB uninstall mstore apps https://www.oo-software.com/en/ooappbuster
OOSU10 increase privacy,  reduce telemetry https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
PowerToys windows usability https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/
Process Explorer process viewer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer
Process Monitor file/process monitor https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon
simplewall firewall https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall
SoundSwitch manage audio sources https://github.com/Belphemur/SoundSwitch
SpeedCrunch calculator https://heldercorreia.bitbucket.io/speedcrunch/
SystemTrayMenu simpler menu launcher https://github.com/Hofknecht/SystemTrayMenu
UniGet update apps https://github.com/Devolutions/UniGetUI
VSCode code editor, backup https://code.visualstudio.com/ JetBrains
VSCodium open source vscode, backup https://vscodium.com/ JetBrains
Winaero Tweaker customize windows https://winaerotweaker.com/

HDMI and Display Port versions

Details
Published: 30 October 2023
  • utilities

 HDMI and Display Port versions:

In general, lower refresh rates the same, higher + variable fresh rates:
dp 1.4     > hdmi 2.0
hdmi 2.1 > dp 1.4
dp 2.1     > hdmi 2.1
 

Capabilities depends on graphics card, monitor, cable

Good read, overview of current hdmi + display port versions
source https://www.tomshardware.com/features/displayport-vs-hdmi-better-for-gaming

nvidia RTX 3000/4000 and amd RX 6000/7000: hdmi 2.1
nvidia RTX 3000/4000 and amd RX 6000: dp 1.4
amd RX 7000: dp 2.1
usbc 4, thunderbolt: dp 1.2 to 2.1
source https://www.cablematters.com/Blog/HDMI/displayport-vs-hdmi

               HDMI    HDMI    HDMI     DP      DP      DP      DP 
  	       1.4     2.0     2.1     1.2     1.3     1.4     2.0
1080p @ 120Hz 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅
1440p @ 30Hz 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅
1440p @ 60Hz 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅
1440p @ 120Hz 	❌ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅
4k @ 30Hz 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅
4k @ 60Hz 	❌ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅
4k @ 120Hz 	❌ 	❌ 	✅ 	❌ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅
8k @ 30Hz 	❌ 	❌ 	✅ 	❌ 	✅ 	✅ 	✅
8k @ 60Hz 	❌ 	❌ 	✅ 	❌ 	❌ 	✅ 	✅
8k @ 120Hz 	❌ 	❌ 	✅ 	❌ 	❌ 	❌ 	✅
HDR 	        ❌ 	✅ 	✅ 	❌ 	❌ 	✅ 	✅

source https://www.cablematters.com/Blog/HDMI/displayport-vs-hdmi

 

-End of Document-
Thanks for reading

Useful Linux Commands

Details
Published: 09 October 2023
  • ubuntu
  • devops

Some useful Linux commands

 

  • cat

    cat [file]

    • cat = dump file contents to terminal; ls -l to ensure small file
  • df

    df -h

    • df = show disks space per partition
      • / = separate volume/disk for root os, logs
      • /data = separate volume/disk for websites, apps
    • -h = human readable size
  • grep

    grep [search] [files]

    • grep = filter results, look for patterns in files
    • Example: grep Error *.log
  • htop

    htop

    • htop = top list of processes, nicely colored; can sort, filter
  • kill

    kill [pid]

    • kill = force stop/kill a process; only use for 'hung' process
    • [pid] = pid from ps aux list
  • ls

    ls -lhtr [dir]

    • ls = list contents of directory
    • -l = details
    • -h = human readable sizes
    • -t = sort by time
    • -r = reverse sort, so new shows at bottom
    • -1 = just list names in a single column
    • Example: ls -lhtr logs/*
  • ps

    ps aux

    • ps = process list
    • a = all, including other users
    • u = user format
    • x = register format
    • Example: ps aux | grep nginx
  • reboot

    sudo reboot

    • reboot = reboot server; should not be needed; restart individual services
  • systemctl

    sudo systemctl [action] [process]

    • systemctl = manage services such as nginx, php-fpm
    • Example: sudo systemctl status nginx
    • Example: sudo systemctl restart nginx
    • Example: sudo systemctl status php-fpm
    • Example: sudo systemctl restart php-fpm
  • tail

    tail -f -n50 [file]

    • tail = returns the last few lines of a file
    • -n# = number of lines
    • -f = follow, useful for tailing an active log file
    • Example: tail -f logs/app.log
  • vim

    vim [file]

    • vim, vi = text editor; ls -l to ensure small file
    • arrow keys = move cursor
    • shift G = go to end of file
    • ctrl u = page up
    • ctrl d = page down
    • /[patttern] = search for pattern
    • esc = get out of most vi modes
    • :q = quit
    • :q! = quit without writing
    • :wq = write, quite
    • note, if quit a SSH session with a file vi-ed/open, be sure to SSH in again and cleanup the vi auto backup [file]~; vi-ing the original file again will prompt you about
    • Example: sudo vim /var/log/messages

-End of Document-
Thanks for reading

DevOps SysAdmin Tips for researching a slow or unresponsive app or system

Details
Published: 18 September 2023
  • nginx
  • devops

Some general tips for researching a slow or unresponsive app or system

Starting checklist

  • SSH to EC2/server 
    • Check disk space
      • df -h

    • Check processes
      • htop

      • ps aux

    • Check app logs
      • cd app/

      • ls -lhtr logs/

      • vim [log]

    • Check system logs
      • ls -lhtr /var/log/

      • tail -f -n50 /var/log/messages

  • SQL Processes
    • DB Gui: Tools -> Server Monitor -> SQL
  • Check AWS console
    • EC2 list
      • Monitoring
    • RDS list
      • Monitoring
      • Performance Insights
    • Cloud Watch
      • Alarms
      • Monitoring
  • App specific
    • grep (Find in Files, Search)
      • grep cron for script name
      • grep code for database table names, fields
      • grep [everything]
    • Check logs
      • Often located relative to script, in logs/ or log/
      • Can be also be in /var/log/[app dir]/

Logs

App logs

Locations will vary
Some apps may be relative to their PHP (or other language) files, often log/ or logs/
Some cron or processing logs may be in /var/log/[process dir]/

Note, log locations should be consistent to facilitate finding them.

Web Server logs

On some errors, such as fatal or configuration errors, PHP (or other language) info is outputted to the web server logs, such as Nginx

Nginx logs

nginx is the process name
PHP runs as a separate process, php_fpm
ls -lhtr /var/log/nginx

tail -n50 /var/log/nginx/[site]_error.log
tail -f /var/log/nginx/[site]_error.log
ls -lhtr /var/log/php-fpm/

System logs

ls -lhtr /var/log/

You may need to login as sudo user ec2-user to view system logs

/var/log/messages

Common log for OS messages

sudo vim /var/log/messages

/var/log/secure

Common log for login, security messages

sudo vim /var/log/secure


Web Server Config

Nginx is a common web server 

You can grep for dns or web directories to know

  • server_name = what dns is being used
  • root = which directory a site is being hosted from
  • error_log = where the log files are

grep [site] /etc/nginx/sites.d/*
vim /etc/nginx/sites.d/[site].conf

    server_name [site].com;
    set $env "dev";
    set $app_dir "[repo name]";

    root   /data/sites/$env/$app_dir/public/;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/[site].com_access_log;
    error_log  /var/log/nginx/[site].com_error_log error;

 


Cron

# .---------------- minute (0 - 59)
# |  .------------- hour (0 - 23)
# |  |  .---------- day of month (1 - 31)
# |  |  |  .------- month (1 - 12) OR jan,feb,mar,apr ...
# |  |  |  |  .---- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday=0 or 7) OR sun,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat
# |  |  |  |  |
# *  *  *  *  * user-name  command to be executed

# EXAMPLE CRON
*/10 * * * * [app user] /usr/bin/php -q /[process dir]/[script] [args if any] &>> \
/var/log/[process dir]/[script].log
  • ensure specify the app user
  • &>> [log] is shorthand for >> [log] 2&>>1
    • > = overwrite
    • >> = append
    • 2&>1 = redirect errors to standard out eg capture errors in log
  • compare to other crons to keep a consistent pattern

System crons

ls -lhtr /etc/cron.d/

Preferred
Crons in /etc/cron.d/ allow for custom runtimes. A cron file per concept/process/logical grouping should be created, and can contain multiple scripts/commands.

Note, there are other potential system crons such as /etc/cron.daily which will run crons .. daily, but without the flexibility of specify when during the day they run; cron.daily often runs at 2am or 3am depending on the OS. Only use /etc/cron.d/

User crons

crontab -l

view cron of current user

crontab -e

edit cron of current user

Not recommended
Crons can also be attached to a user. User crons are not easily accessible and are stored in one file per user, making a large number of crons harder to manage, and overly easy to delete (crontab -r = poof gone).  

To manually backup a users cron 

cd ~
crontab -l  > cron_[Ymd].txt

 


-End of Document-
Thanks for reading
  1. DDEV for local development in containers
  2. Valid local self signed certs

Page 1 of 21

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10

Search

Tags

php 21 windows 11 git 10 aws 9 nodejs 7 security 6 virtualbox 6 android 5 portable 4 redhat 4 ubuntu 4 react native 3 reactjs 3 docker 3 devops 3 utilities 3 nginx 3 bash 3 symfony 3 apache 3

Most Read Posts

  • Handle HTTP 302 response from proxy in Angular
  • PHPUnit exceeds memory limit
  • Adding camera api to react native
  • Clear out old MSMQ messages
  • Portable Java

Older Posts

  • Windows Development Software
  • HDMI and Display Port versions
  • Useful Linux Commands
  • DevOps SysAdmin Tips for researching a slow or unresponsive app or system
  • DDEV for local development in containers
  • Valid local self signed certs
My Blog