My Software Recommendations
There are certain programs that I install on every PC that I set up, including my own. These are the programs that I consider to be the most important for the usefulness of that machine.
All these programs are free, unless indicated by a $. NOTE: There are other good programs out there. I don't mean to dismiss them by leaving them out. These are just what I use and recommend.
means that I strongly recommend the use of that software.
BROWSERS
Mozilla Firefox
A better alternative to Internet Explorer; safer, faster, did I mention safer?
Internet Explorer
Microsoft's latest version of IE is better than version 6. If you insist on sticking with IE, PLEASE upgrade.
MULTIMEDIA
VLC Player
Good free, open-source player that plays just about every format of audio or video.
Winamp
Good software that is compatible with most audio and video formats
Apple Quicktime
From Apple, but runs on Windows PCs. Plays .mov (a specific movie type) files. Look for the Standalone player on the site.
UTILITIES
Malware Bytes
Spyware detection.
Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Spyware detection.
Spybot- Search and Destroy
Spyware detection.
Windows Defender
Microsoft's anti-spyware program that monitors your system in real-time, and performs scans. This has proven to be quite effective. Defender is included in Vista, and runs in the background.
Webroot SpySweeper$ / Sunbelt CounterSpy$ / Spyware Doctor by PC Tools $
Very good products that scan detect, and protect your computer against spyware in real-time. All very reasonably priced. I'd buy and recommend any of them.
WinZip$ or WinRar$
Winzip and WinRar open and create compressed files, most commonly with the .zip or .rar extension. Compressed files are...well... compressed, in order to cut down on file size for downloading or emailing.
Acrobat Reader
Reads .pdf files, which are very commonplace on the Internet. A better alternative to Reader is:
Foxit Reader(Very good in Vista)
A free PDF document viewer and printer.
ANTI-VIRUS (Remember: only one Anti-virus program on your computer!)
NOD32$
My preferred anti-virus solution that costs money. There are many paid anti-virus programs out there, like Panda, Norton AntiVirus, and PCCillin.
Grisoft AVG Free Edition / Avast!
Free antivirus software.
OFFICE SUITES
Microsoft Office$
I wholeheartedly recommend Office 2007, the latest and greatest version of Office.
The de facto standard for Office software, including word processing, spreadsheet, database, and e-mail. BUYING TIP: It is possible to save money when you buy Office, by looking for the Student and Teacher Edition. It's about 1/2 the price of the standard suite. It's intended, as the name implies, to be sold only to students and teachers. But some stores will sell it to anyone. Plus, Microsoft can claim greater market share for the Office suite if more units are sold. They kinda look the other way. Note, however, that this edition does NOT contain Outlook (e-mail).
OpenOffice
Absolutely free software. OpenOffice is compatible with MS Office files, meaning it can open and write to MS Word, Access, and Excel files.
This is a BIG download. Since this is an "open source" program, you can contact me and I can legally send you a CD. A donation to support this site would be greatly appreciated.
There are other free options, especially in the area of word processing:
Google Docs and Spreadsheets
Free Word Processing and Spreadsheets online through a Google account.
Zoho
Free Word Processing and Spreadsheets online.
Abiword
Another free Word Processing program similar to Microsoft Word
E-MAIL
Outlook Express / Windows Mail (Vista)
If you have Windows, you have Outlook Express or Windows Mail.
Microsoft Outlook
A more full-featured version of Outlook Express, contained within Microsoft Office. Very good at handling spam.
Mozilla Thunderbird
Sister software to Mozilla's Firefox, Thunderbird is a free email client that aims to compete with Outlook Express and Outlook. It handles spam much better.
Free Online E-Mail
These are great because you can access the accounts in a browser from any computer that is online. Some businesses are even getting away from maintaining their own email and are using these for regular day-to-day email. You can also create a "Junk" email account that you can use for websites. That way, you will cut down on spam and other junk mail in your regular ISP account, and save it for normal, more important communication.