Those of us who spend a large part of our time settled in front of a computer pick up ingrained habits. From time to time I like to check mine to make sure they still seem sensible. Usually there's something I can improve, and by improve I generally mean simplify. Cutting something out in other words. Economy is good.

The result of the last desktop audit is now in. I have a new computer system, the barest I've ever owned, and the best too. Here's a list of what's changed.

First, I've moved from two monitors to just one. I've been a dual monitor chap for the best part of a decade or more. It seemed to make sense when I began because at that time I was working as a journalist and a novelist. The left hand monitor dealt with the daily burst of emails and appointments. The right hand one was for writing. Until this latest change I had a 15 inch MacBook Pro working as the left monitor and Apple's 24 inch screen as the right.

<!--more-->

The problem is that more and more I found these two monitors competing for my time while I write. I'm no longer a journalist. I work most of the time at the computer on a single manuscript. Life's a lot simpler than it used to be. I get fewer emails too. I wanted to be able to focus on the real work more and get nagged by the ephemera a little less. That said, I still need to divide my screen time into different areas -- writing, book research, and the web stuff such as email and a browser. The Mac has something called Spaces -- a virtual desktop I'm sure you can find on Windows too. This lets you set up virtual screens and cycle through them with keys. So I have my writing screen, my research screen and my web screen. Most of the time I'm in the first. When I need the others I go to them just by pressing a keystroke set up for Spaces. I see the distracting stuff only when I want to. Brilliant.

The MB Pro is now a laptop, as it's supposed to be. In its place is the latest Mac mini (4 gb, memory 2.6 ghz chip or something, 320 gb of hard drive which is plain ridiculous of course). Dead simple, dead compact, dead good.

Second, software. I've had an awful habit of picking up stray applications over the years. It's a bad one and I'm curing it. More software costs money, clogs up the computer and slows things down in the end. The mini has on it just the few applications I intend to use on a day to day basis, nothing more. I don't run Microsoft Windows in any form, in Boot Camp or Parallels, because I no longer need it. I absolutely refuse to install any utility programs that offer to automate some aspect of my life. It's just a handful of simple, cheap apps and that's it. They are...

<a href="http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html" target="_blank">Scrivener</a> ($39.95) for writing. I imagine most of you know what this is about already -- for those who don't it's specialist writing software I use to write all my books from now on.

<a href="http://www.apple.com/iwork/" target="_blank">iWork</a> ($79). Apple's office suite consisting of Pages, a word processor, Numbers, a spreadsheet (which I rarely use) and Keynote, a presentation package I use for any illustrated talks I give. Pages imports and exports Word files so I use this to prepare my exported Scrivener draft to send off to my editors.

<a href="http://www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=85" target="_blank">MacJournal</a> ($39.95). Journal and diary-keeping software. I use it to keep a diary on each book project containing reference material and development notes.

<a href="http://www.evernote.com/" target="_blank">Evernote</a>. (Free at its most basic though I pay for the premium service which has more features and costs $45 a year). Evernote is a note and data storing service that stores your information on the web and can sync it between computers, phones and iPods. I use it for storing very general data which may or may not be useful for different potential projects. Then if they become live I will usually transfer the information to the MacJournal diary devoted to the project. I really wish Evernote would introduce hierarchical folders but they seem dead set against it which is annoying. But still a good service.

<a href="http://xtralean.com/IWOverview.html" target="_blank">Imagewell</a> ($19.95). Cheap and simple image editor which I use for resizing images for blog posts. Simple drag and drop process and much, much easier than Photoshop.

<a href="http://flyingmeat.com/acorn/" target="_blank">Acorn</a> ($49.95). A more sophisticated image editor for more complex editing jobs. Don't use it much to be honest and could probably do without it.

<a href="http://illuminex.com/ecto/" target="_blank">Ecto</a> ($19.95). Fantastic offline blog editor which lets me write these posts anywhere, anytime.

<a href="http://echofon.com/twitter/mac/" target="_blank">Echofon</a> (Free). Handy little Twitter client.

I use a free <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/home#/" target="_blank">Dropbox</a> account for simple backups and transferring files between machines. Dropbox is a fantastic service for storing data on an external server. If you store a lot of stuff on Dropbox you need to pay but I barely get over a handful of Scrivener of files so it costs nothing. I also back up locally to Apple's Time Capsule and online to Apple's MobileMe service which costs £60 a year or so.

By my reckoning that gives me a fully operating office software system for under $250 plus another £90 a year for Evernote and MobileMe. Rather less than Microsoft Office alone used to cost me not long ago. I'm very happy with this new simplified system. It does strike me, too, that there isn't a single piece of Microsoft software on there any more, something I've never been able to say in something like twenty five years. And here is what it looks like (excuse the photo quality but I'm not good with a camera and this is a rather grey afternoon). Click for a bigger view.

<a href="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/desk.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1784 alignnone" title="desk" src="http://www.davidhewson.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/desk-300x225.jpg" alt="desk" width="300" height="225" /></a>