Handy Windows utilities

I recently got a new computer at work, and I’ve been setting it up just the way I like it over the past couple of weeks. It’s a Dell Precision 340 running Windows XP.

My job includes a lot of data wrangling, and my preferred environment to do that sort of thing is a Unix-style system of some kind. The only Linux box I have access to is a somewhat-aging Dell that serves the web site for my group’s project.

What’s a Windows user to do? Grab these useful utilities, of course, and make Windows more Unix-like!

• UnxUtils—native Win32 ports of a bunch of GNU utilities. No need for screwing around with Cygwin.
• ActivePerl. I first learned about this about seven years ago in high school. The goodness of Perl on Windows. Life is good.

Any other cool utilities that you can’t live without?