A Windows Survival Kit for Linux Users

No Administration Rights Required to install/run the programs mentioned here. Enjoy 🙂

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Two months have passed since i started working at an IT solutions company here in kuwait. it’s a “Microsoft Gold Certified Partner”, which is probably why it has windows running on every machine capable of running it (except for an old P2 which runs fedora). I have been using linux/gnome for a while now and i have to tell you, it’s rough. there are a lot of things that you miss like:

1: workspaces:

each time i try to switch workspaces, the screen flips upside down or sideways.

2: The ‘Third Click’:

got to use CTRL+A now. i know it’s available on windows but only in firefox.

3: bash:

If you’re a CLI guy, and cmd doesn’t even come close.

4: smooth performance:

I actually got a BSOD the next morning after they installed it. a friendly reminder that i’m using windows now.

And to top it off, I’m not the admin! so vista is pretty much locked up. i can’t even install firefox, or so i thought.

The following is a list of some of the software that made working in a hostile locked-down windows environment a little more easer. (NO INSTALLATION OR ADMIN PRIVILEGES REQUIRED):

Portable Firefox

source:Firefox portable This app might be the reason why i’m still sane. this is good news to anyone who has an addiction to firefox (which probably includes 92.327% of real PC users out there*). just don’t forget to modify the proxy setting for firefox if you work behind a proxy. if you don’t know how, just follow these steps: 1: open IE 2: go to Tools->Internet Options 3: select the connections tab 4: click “LAN settings” 5: copy the address and port 6: open firefox 7: go to Tools->Options 8: click on advanced 9: select the network tab and click “settings” 10: fill the required fields and don’t forget to enable “Use this proxy server for all protocols”. and you’re set :).

PuTTYPortable & winscp

source: winscp PuTTyPortable If you have an ssh server running you will appreciate these two. if you don’t, then you should! here is a detailed guide on how to do it. basically you can ssh into you’re box from work (even behind a firewall using a few tricks) and you can transfer files as well. just don’t forget the proxy.

Portable GIMP

source:GIMPPortable For those of you who haven’t worked with windows for a long time, MS-paint is retarded. it doesn’t even give you hex values. if you’re a web-developer, you need this if you want to avoid a headache.

These are the Tools/apps i needed so far to make my job more easier. but these aren’t the only ones i use, one of the notable applications i use is Blender which comes in an unzipable package and

In conclusion, this group of software is what i was able to find useful for a linux user working in a locked down windows installation, and i’m sure the are a lot of great apps that don’t require installation but haven’t been mentioned here. if you know any application that hasn’t been mentioned but should have, please help me out by letting me know 🙂

SIGTERMer

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* based on speculation.