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Another vote for Thunderbird. Be sure to get the portable[^] version. I recommend using portable versions of your apps, as far as possible.
/ravi
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I use Outlook and I actually enjoy it.
I used Thunderbird and I really didn't like it. User interface is fine, but I didn't enjoy the thousands of individual files it created for each message. Created a big problem when the indexer ran and really slowed down my defrags.
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The only one I've never had any big complaints about is, remarkably, Outlook Express.
Simple, does what it says on the tin, with no highfalutin or open-source overtones.
You could also look here[^].
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I'm sitting here trying to get a project out for a customer by Workboat Show (link[^] if you are interested in marine automation)...
Anyway, I've been family jewels to the wall on this project for the past 2 weeks, and will continue to be for the next 3 weeks, including 2 weeks of travel in there. I have an insane amount of work to get done and I find that having some fast-beat music at just under conversation volume going in the background helps me concentrate and get this stuff done.
So do you prefer to work in complete silence, or with something in the background?
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Good noise! Pandora playing in the background. 
David
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Usually a little music helps, volume and genre depend on mood. Anywhere from Bach to Metallica!
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Ron Beyer wrote: So do you prefer to work in complete silence, or with something in the background?
It depends. 1% of the time, when I have to think through a complex problem I like quiet so I can hear my own thoughts and the occasional whispers from the angels "Do it this way, moron!", and if I'm doing incredibly boring stuff (which is 98% of the time) I like something in the background, and the other remaining 1%, where things are mildly interesting, I can go either way.
Programming is 99% boredom and 1% terror as "I don't have an f***ing clue."
Marc
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Although I prefer silence - if it is silence I need it to be, well, silent; No distant phones ringing, barking dogs, developers snorting, coughing, farting etc. I find the odd noises in otherwise silent environment to be more distracting!
So I end up preferring a little noise, at a low enough volume to allow me to ignore the plinks and plops of the office environment.
Occasionally, when I am writing a lot of code, and I'm excited about it (less often these days  ) I confess to cranking up the volume somewhat, but sometimes find myself slipping out of 'rockstar programmer' mode and into 'rockstar rockstar' mode!
MVVM # - I did it My Way
___________________________________________
Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011
.\\axxx
(That's an 'M')
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Music under headphones. I work in the middle of a cube farm and it's considered impolite to play music "out loud". I have to have something to listen to, as I've got a group manager over one cubicle wall who's constantly on the phone, and the rest of the folks are constantly talking back and forth.
I listen to smooth jazz, New Age, 70's funk, 80's pop, and rock from any era, depending on what I'm doing. Instrumentals usually when I'm debugging, as vocals are distracting. The New Age helps when I'm fighting a migraine and when I'm writing documentation (no correlation implied). Rock is good when I'm doing UI layout, for some inexplicable reason.
And yes, I know I'm going to lose what little credibility I have here, since I didn't list my 27 favorite metal bands.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Complete silence. Since that's rarely possible at work (during normal work hours), I feed my head with white noise.
/ravi
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Some quiet music helps me...
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is (V).
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Utter Silence.
No-one can hear you scream in white-space.
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Always noise/music. But it has to be a (to me) well known Metal album. New (to me) music is distracting.
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I prefer headphones and not have to hear other people at all. I don't work in a such happy place, but lately I'm working on a full-time project so I love to have an excuse to tell other people to take their * somewhere else 
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That depends on whether I'm at the office or at home. The office is a noisy environment; without my headphones on and music playing, I'm too distracted by others' comings, goings, rantings, ravings, and pleadings to concentrate. My home is quiet, except for the occasional boisterous visit from my Newf or my German Shepherd, so there I don't need to "blockade my ears" against an adverse auditory environment.
If I were God-Emperor of the Universe and could compel my work environment to be one way or the other, I'd opt for silence...but God-Emperors don't often have to read or write C++ code. At least, none of the ones I know do much of it.
(This message is programming you in ways you cannot detect. Be afraid.)
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Fran Porretto wrote: If I were God-Emperor of the Universe [...] but God-Emperors don't often have to read or write C++ code.
Was that a Dune or a Warhammer 40k reference?
Either way, 
Full-fledged Java/.NET lover, full-fledged PHP hater.
Full-fledged Google/Microsoft lover, full-fledged Apple hater.
Full-fledged Skype lover, full-fledged YM hater.
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(chuckle) Neither, in all sincerity. It's more of a "stock phrase" for me. Others might say "If I were King," but, as God-Emperors hire and fire mere Kings, I tend to go with the more exalted title.
Apropos of titles, someone once asked me, in a completely different context, what title I would choose if I could choose whatever I like. After some thought, I selected one from Jack Vance: "Plenipotentiary High Exterminator." It has a rather authoritative, don't-mess-with-me sound, doesn't it?
(This message is programming you in ways you cannot detect. Be afraid.)
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Fran Porretto wrote: Plenipotentiary High Exterminator [...] It has a rather authoritative, don't-mess-with-me sound, doesn't it?
Yeah, kinda does, but again I'm stuck with Warhammer references today, so that makes me think of this badelephant[^]
Full-fledged Java/.NET lover, full-fledged PHP hater.
Full-fledged Google/Microsoft lover, full-fledged Apple hater.
Full-fledged Skype lover, full-fledged YM hater.
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It depends really...
When I have something complex that I think to think about on how to aproach it, then music just makes me go crazy and I end up throwing the headphones across the room most times.
If I have to develop soe code but I already have the aproach and design figured out and layed out in my notebook ( can't go without paper sheets still, there is no substitute to scribling with a pen when you are trying to figure something out ) then i jsut put on some music to get my gears going.
Same as when I am doing routine/maintenance/data adjustments.
As for the style, depends on the mood. From metalica to dubstep to classical music to rap. It's just random 
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In the office I HAVE to be wearing my headphones, even if nothing is playing in them. I have worn headphones since the late 1990s. Before internet radio I would wear 2 sets simultaneously, one set was plugged into the radio and the other into the PC so I could hear all my audio cues, break point sounds, new mail notification, the special sound event that was tied to email from my wife because I NEVER ignore those.
People are more polite to someone wearing headphones because you appear to be concentrating more.
Music, eclectic, ChristianRock.net to bluegrass to Celtic to Chuck Berry to BowWowWow to HappyHardcore.
Music goes off at noon for Rush Limbaugh as been my habit for nearly 25 years. Don't care if you with agree with him or not, I do so I listen.
At home, it comes through speakers.
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Definitely music in the background. Otherwise part of my mind wants to create some and I'd rather have 100% of my mind working on the problem.
WinAmp runs in the background and I have several playlists. One for general programming and a special set called Hot Programming with a beat to encourage speed.
Psychosis at 10
Film at 11
Those who do not remember the past, are doomed to repeat it.
Those who do not remember the past, cannot build upon it.
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If I can get complete and total silence, then I prefer silence, otherwise I put some electronic (Trance) music either on speakers or headphones.
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Yes. Depends on my mental state at the time.
I have some headphones with 29dB passive noise reduction (converted shooters muffs) that allow me to choose whatever I need to aid my concentration.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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I listen to Bluegrass music. Ricky Scaggs, Earl Scruggs, Tony Trishka, etc. The beat is always fast and melodies can be tuned in or out as needed. Definately do not code in a quiet room!
"Courtesy is the product of a mature, disciplined mind ... ridicule is lack of the same - DPM"
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