Why tablets don’t work for me

Here’s all the programs I’m currently using as seen on my taskbar.

imageNote that this isn’t unusual; sometimes it’s more. Also note that for the pedants in the group, no I don’t use these programs “all at once” but many I like to use side-by-side and consult between as well as copy and paste between them frequently.

In addition, I switch between them rather rapidly so having them open at the same time on a 30″ monitor is a real win time-wise for me, especially as the window then stays where I want it to.

For the really bored, here’s what they all are in order from top to bottom:

1) Firefox – two windows, 17 tabs. One window for work, one for play. Small number of tabs for me. Usually it’s 40+.

2) Locate32 – Best search out there by far, replaces the abysmally criminally terrible Windows search for me.

3) VirtualBox – With two virtual machines running. Use for all testing and labbing. Sometimes there are 10+ running if I am working or studying heavily. Main machine has 32GB of RAM.

4) Transmission RemoteGui – Used for monitoring the Transmission Daemon on our Linux server.

5) CPUID HWMonitor – Temperature monitoring.

6) ConEmu – Console emulator that can run multiple consoles at once (PowerShell, Putty, Windows command line, etc.) side by side. Check it out, it’s great.

7) MetaPad – A text editor.

8) KeePass 2- Password manager.

9) VCE Player – Exam simulator for practice tests.

10) PDF-XChange PDF Viewer – Duh.

11) NotePad++ – Text editor I use when MetaPad is not hefty enough.

11) Control Panel for Windows – Umm.

12) GNS3 – Router simulator.

13) PuTTY — Associated with GNS3, part of that package is why it’s not in ConEmu.

14) Calibre e-book viewer – Yep.

15) Calculator – It calculates and stuff.

16) Windows Explorer – That’s what it do.

17) Microsoft Word – When I want to torture myself.

18) NoMachine NXClient – Remote GUI for the Linux server.

19) Microsoft LiveWriter – Blogging software, far better then the web interface.

20) Adobe LightRoom – Editing photos.

21) Terminals – Remote desktop, VNC, etc. into other machines.

22) Thunderbird – Email.

To those tempted to say that I am using my computer wrong: get a life. I’m using it in exactly the way that works for me and furthermore I am probably faster than you at it. Also, I am a cocky bastard.

Anyway, that’s what my computer usage looks like. All of these are open and are being used, by the way. None of them are pinned to the taskbar (I use RocketDock so nothing is pinned). Sometimes there are 20-40 more programs open than this when I am really working and/or studying, but this is my more casual usage.

I also jump between things a lot which is supposed to be bad, but there doesn’t seem to be much if any context-switching penalty for me even if I am working on something complex. That is a very lucky thing — I am aware of that and grateful for the ability.

And this is also why I can’t use a tablet for anything productive. The things I do on a real computer are outright impossible (router simulator, VirtualBox) or would take a day to do what I can do in five minutes on my main box.