Industrial electronics tech (retired)
Office suites: LibreOffice (preferred, for most tasks). MS Office.
Browser: Firefox
ASCII editors: Notepad, Notepad ++ (and a nod to QEdit, and TSE by Semware, and LIST by Vern Berg from back in the DOS days).
Image viewer/editor: Irfanview (my editing needs were rudimentary).
Plotting: DPLOT by
Hydesoft Computing
CAD: CADKey
Stephen Tashi said:
Electrical engineers use programs to set up "programmable logic devices". Are there lots of programs of this type?
Not only for PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), and PLRs (Programmable Logic Relays), but also HMI displays, and specialized sub-systems such as servo motion controllers. It is a chore to keep track of them all (rough count; 25+), many have software protection schemes, and several have a nasty habit of not playing well with others (as in, "I own all the serial ports, and nobody else can use them") even after their editors have been unloaded.
Add to this specialized software required to access test equipment (digital oscilloscopes, high end DMMs, power quality meters, megohmmeters, data loggers, EPROM burners, and the like), and niche software (V belt sizing, centrifugal blower sizing, servo drive/motor sizing, etc.).