In comparison to High School, the world of university is fast paced and equally overwhelming to new students who have never before experienced such intense workload. Being a frosh at McMaster, I have had the honor of  just recently experiencing the difficult transition myself. One of my most beneficial investments that significantly aided in the easing of the process was  non other than my handy Aluminium 13″ Macbook pro. For those of you who are in the process of purchasing a notebook, I would highly recommend looking at 13″ laptops as, larger models will become a living nightmare to sit with in lecture halls. Although the greater screen estate is always nice, the convenience of mobility is a far greater priority (trust me). Anyways, my laptop was loaded with open-source/paid software which enabled me to take notes with ease, collaborate with others, and manage my time. In this article, I will go over some of the software that I currently use in hopes that it may make your life a little easier. The article will cover options for both Windows and Macs (Sorry Linux, I just haven’t had the time to use you yet).

File Backup Utilities

You spent countless hours completing projects. Why not secure your data by using the free options listed below? Even if you think your hard-drive is immune against crashes, there is always a possibility of computer theft. Many of the online services below will allow restoration of important data to a second computer when disaster strikes.

• Dropbox ( OS X | Windows)

  

  • Dropbox has got to be one of the most useful pieces of software that I have ever used (I said it).  It works by assigning a folder on your local desktop. When a file is placed within this folder, it is automatically backed up to their remote server and can be accessed around the world via their website interface or by linking another computer to the account. Folders and files can also be placed within the Dropbox folder and be shared amongst friends who have an account. This in turn opens up opportunities for collaboration as, the files within the shared folders will always remain synced. When one person uploads or modifies a shared file, it will effect all the collaborators. When performing a task such as editing essays, Dropbox also saves every revision of the file and allows easy restoration.

  Free accounts start off with a 2GB limit and can be upgraded to a maximum of 8GB by simply referring friends. To sweeten the deal, there are no features restricted to paid accounts only.

  Sign up: Dropbox

• Mozy (OS X | Windows)

  

  • Mozy is yet another backup utility that I have used in the past. Unlike Dropbox which only stores the files placed in the specified folder, Mozy backs the contents of your entire computer to their remote servers (You can exclude folders). Using their utility, the restoration process is very straightforward and they’ll also send you a DVD copy of your data for a small shipping fee. Additionally, the backup process can be scheduled to occur automatically when CPU usage is low and can throttle bandwidth automatically. In terms of features, Mozy saves snapshots of your data up to 30 days in the past and also generates a local copy of the backup to to be stored on an external hard-disk as well as the SSL encrypted remote version.

  Free accounts start off with a 2GB limit and can be upgraded by referring friends & family. Each referral adds a not-so-miniscule 1GB of space to your account.

  Sign up: Mozy

• Ubuntu One (Ubuntu Linux)

  

  • I admit I lied when I said I wouldn’t be covering Linux in this article. Ubuntu One is a built-in utility available on Ubuntu 10.04  that acts similar to Mozy and Dropbox. The software allows uploading of files to a cloud storage, ability to share files with contacts and automatic syncing to an unlimited number of computers.

Learn more: Ubuntu One

• Windows Backup Utility (Windows)

  • If you are using Windows 7 or Vista and wish to store backed up data on a local network, the built in utility may be more than enough for your needs. Lifehacker has a decent writeup on how to operate the utility under Windows 7.  For Windows XP users, the instructions can be found on Microsoft’s website. Personally, I have used the utility in the past but now prefer the accessibility of online services such as Dropbox.

  Learn more: Windows Backup

• OS X Disk Utility (OS X)

  • The disk utility is located under the utilities folder of your Mac. To backup data using, simply select the disk you wish to backup and click the create new image button. You may need to specify a destination folder and an image name before the process initiates.  There is a complete guide which can be found on Apples Website.

  Learn more: OS X Disk utility backup

Note-taking software

Although the traditional paper/pen method is still excellent, there are times when it is difficult to keep up with lecture material while manually writing. In these instances, taking electronic notes using the options below can prove to be a better choice.

• Evernote ( OS X | Windows)

  

  • On OS X, this is by far one of my favorite note taking tools. Evernote can be used to capture line by line audio recordings of a lecture, organizing notes by various courses/chapters, searching through written content, and also allows notes sharing amongst friends. In addition, Evernote also stores an online version of your notes to their remote server. The program is easy to use and is cross platform, allowing data to be transferred between different platforms with ease.

  Although Evernote is completely free to use, there is a limit to how much data can be transferred to their online servers. Free users have a monthly bandwidth restriction of about 25Mb of data. Although this may seem like a negligible amount, it has been more than sufficient for me when working with text-only notes.

  Sign up: EverNote

• OneNote & Notebook mode (Windows | OSX )

  

  • This is by far the most popular software amongst students. Although OneNote for Windows is arguably more advanced than it’s OS X counterpart, both offer an unparalleled list of features that will suffice the need of most individuals. Before I lost my product key in the process of moving, Word 2008 notebook mode was hands down my preferred choice for taking electronic notes. It is simple to use, allows line by line audio recording and is integrated with the rest of the office suite to make implementation of items such as graphs and charts hassle free. OneNote and Notebook mode both simulate an actual notebook with dividers on the right hand side and page titles.

  If you already have Office 2008, OneNote should be included on the Windows platform. On the Mac, Notebook mode can be accessed through Microsoft Word by simply clicking the notebook button located on the bottom right corner. If you do not have the Office Suite, I would highly recommend you purchase for compatibility reasons. Various online essay submissions only accept the .docx/.doc format and converting between document types can lead to formatting errors.

  Purchase with Student Discount: Office Academic Edition

• Notepad++ & TextEdit (Windows | OS X)

  

  • Sometimes complexity can be a bad thing. For simple text notes, a basic text editor such as Notepad++ or TextEdit on OS X can be more than enough to take quality notes. TextEdit served me well when I took Evolutionary biology last semester.

  Sign up: Notepad++

Collaboration

Working in large groups is a big component of university (especially true if you are in a problem based learning course). At times, you may be placed in groups containing 7+ members and arranging meetings can prove to be quite a cumbersome.  In order to keep group members up to date with the progress of a project, we used several of the services listed below.

• Dropbox (OS X | Windows)

  • When collaborating as a group, Dropbox was used to share research findings, updates on our individual tasks and was also used as a place to communicate with other members. For our biology project, we had setup a folder where group members could upload questions in a text document to be answered by others. In addition, discussions that took place during meetings were also uploaded to keep members unable to attend up to date.

  Sign up: Dropbox

• Skype (OS X | Windows)

  

  • With the ability to do video conferencing, instant messaging, and desktop sharing, it is easy to see why Skype was often used as a collaboration tool. Skype is also available on numerous mobile platforms and works flawlessly over wifi.

  Sign up: Skype

• Adobe ConnectPro (Online)

  

  • Although ConnectPro is not free, Adobe does offer a free 30 day trial which in most cases is more than enough to complete a project. Through ConnectPro, conferencing can be performed through an internet browser such as Firefox. One of the greatest features that Adobe ConnectPro offered at the time was the ability to present and share documents in real time. Using this feature, we were able to practice presentations and communicate our findings despite being several miles away from each other.

Sign up: ConnectPro

• Google Docs (Online)

  

  • During the editing process, Google Docs was hands down the most useful. One of Google Doc’s greatest features is the ability to display changes to a document in real time. This also prevents data overwrites from occurring as group members continuously save their changes. Google Docs also allows easy export/import to Word documents and is a completely free service capable of holding upwards of 5000 documents.

  Sign up: Google Docs

• Zoho Suite (Online)

  

  • Very similar to Google Docs and also allows online collaborative editing in real time. Zoho is one of the most popular online office suite available right now. They also have a standalone editor that can exist outside the browser.

  Sign up: Zoho Onine Suite

• FreebCode 2 (Online)

  

  • FreebCode allows group members to create and share their schedules through the use of an automatically generated code. Once the codes have been generated by each member, they can be combined through the use of the website to determine times when all group members are available. This tool was extremely useful when arranging group meetings and ensured that all members would be present.

  Instructions/Usage: FreebCode2

If you feel that anything has been left out of this list, feel free to leave a comment and we will update the article ASAP. If you liked this guide or are a senior and wish to leave a tip for all the froshies, we encourage you to do so in the comments!