This is the second part of "Home Office Software Essentials" that I recently wrote.  In these articles I give my recommendations on software that is useful for home office setups.  As said in last weeks article, home offices are growing, and having the right software can make your job that much easier. 

Now the type of software you need will obviously vary on what type of work you do, but the applications I have listed are perfect for general use, even for people who just use their offices for personal use.

Last time I covered office applications, security, and backup programs.  Today I will cover graphics and utility programs.

Graphics

This is an area that will really depend on your needs based on the type of work you do.  Many people could just by with a basic image editor to modify digital photos, but some may need a really power and complete graphics solution. 

I will start with the one I'm sure most people are familiar with....Adobe Photoshop.  CS3 was recently released with Vista compatibility and other new features.  Photoshop is available stand-alone or part of the Creative Suites which include other applications such as Dreamweaver or Flash.  Photoshop is no doubt the industry standard when it comes to graphics, but there are plenty of alternatives if Photoshop is more than what is needed.

Corel Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photoshop Elements are two lower cost alternatives that offer much of the same functionality of Photoshop, and are especially good for people looking to edit digital pictures.  If you need more of a vector/drawing program than CorelDraw is something to take a look at.  Expression Design by Microsoft is still in beta, but it looks likes a very promising application for illustration and graphic design.

If all these suggestions are just too much for your needs, then the free Paint.NET is something I can definitely recommend.  It was has many features and is a big step up from Paint that is included with Windows.

Utilities

Another trend I see is more and more people having multiple computers, and multiple monitors.  With some offices having limited desk space, having 3 sets of keyboard/mice on the desk is not always practical.  Multiplicity by Stardock lets you control multiple computers with a single keyboard and mouse, so when you move your mouse to a given monitor, you are then in control of that system.

I have dual widescreen monitors on my desktop, one hooked up to my main PC, and the second hooked to a Mac Mini running Windows XP.  Being able to control both computers and with the ability to copy files (pro version), Multiplicity has become an extremely invaluable asset to my office.