For my Platform I use something I like to call VIMP.NET – running Vista, IIS7, MySQL, Python and .NET. I’m using Vista Ultimate with the additional “Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (SUA)” installed to give me access to commands like ll, and touch, as I like to have a couple of command windows open to allow me to quickly create or copy files, whilst I’m developing. 

For a web development framework I either use the Django framework which I find a good fit with Python and my coding style or Visual Basic .NET with the .NET3.5 Framework which is still my language of choice when costs and interoperablity aren’t a factor.

For a development environment I use a combination of Komodo, Notepad++, Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft Expression Web. Komodo is used for writing Django/Python code, Notepad++ used for JavaScript, some Django, VBScript and XML, and VS2008 is used for .NET, the small amount of SilverLight development I do, and debugging my (very buggy :) )JavaScript. (I Use jQuery for my JavaScript Framework as again it fits well with my coding style). For (x)HTML\CSS code I really like Expression Web, it has one or two minor “quirks” but I find it much easier to use compared with things like DreamWeaver.

For image editing, doing quick mockups of designs or alterations, or making placeholder images until I get the proper artwork from lollylu, I use Adobe Fireworks which is ideal for web use, and I don’t know how I coped editing images until I bought a copy of this.

For Version control I use SVN both “managed hosted” at beanstalk and “self hosted” on my web account with WebFaction. I use TortoiseSVN for my windows SVN client as I really like its integration with windows explorer. I also have to use Git to get some Django stuff from GitHub, and SourceSafe for VB but I don’t like to talk about that :)

For issue tracking I use lighthouse which suits my needs as it integrates well with beanstalk and as it is a managed hosted service means I don’t have much admin to do for it.

For code releases I use FileZilla as my FTP Client, and PuTTY for my SSH client. I’m also trying to get Fabric (An open source deployment tool for Django) to work on windows, although currently I just SSH to my web account and use a custom script to pull from SVN onto my test server and change the settings file over.

If anybody out there uses a stranger combination of tools, please let me know :)