We all like to have choices in the applications we use, right? Here’s a pretty great list of the top 50 applications commonly used and their open source alternatives.

The list contains a mix of applications for Windows, Mac and Linux so everyone gets to join in on the games!

So here’s something that had been a bit of a headache for me. I do my ColdFusion development on a local server on my laptop with debugging turned on. Now, when you make calls to a script, ColdFusion adds 2 links (and a bunch of javascript) to the bottom of each page. These 2 links are a huuuge pain when you use the Coldfusion pages for AJAX calls.

In my case, I was getting “div has no properties” errors in the Firefox error console.

What happens is, well. I don’t really know for sure, but I DO know how to fix it.

For any scripts that you’re going to use for AJAX GETs, start off with:

<cfsetting showdebugoutput=”no” />

And end with:

<cfabort />

This will save you a ton of headaches in the end. I don’t know why just the cfsetting doesn’t work but without the cfabort at the end, the links still appear.

One of the neat features of Windows Vista is its ReadyBoost technology which allows the use of a USB 2.0 flash drive for system cache. What was once limited to just Windows Vista, is now availble to Windows XP users by way of eBoostr!

Not only does eBoostr give you the features of ReadyBoost, it adds a few extras on top making it even more powerful than what Vista provides. From the eBoostr website…

• Vista’s ReadyBoost benefits on your Windows XP® machine;
• Smart caches frequently used applications and files for maximum performance speed up;
• Supports both USB and non-USB removable media devices, as well as additional hard disks;
• Allows up to 4 devices for simultaneous smart caching;
• Cache file size of up to 4GB on each device;
• Compatible with all ReadyBoost® ready devices.

A free trial is available for download which will only work for 4 hours after each reboot, or a full version can be purchased for $29 giving you a full year of upgrades to the date of your purchase.

I haven’t tried it yet as I don’t have a USB device I can use at the moment, but I’d be very interested to hear from you if you do give it a go!