Recommended Programs
This is a list of recommended free programs you should download to your new computer. If I recommend a program that is not free, I have tried to show the price.
- Programs I consider essential are highlighted thus.
Windows
- Windows Update - Use the Windows Update website to download all the latest security fixes for Windows. Install all the critical updates and recommended updates.
Security
- Zone Alarm - a firewall that you use to control which of your programs you allow to access the internet. Also blocks incoming intrusions from the internet.
- AVG Antivirus - a popular antivirus program.
- Ad-Aware - searches your hard disk for rogue files that could present a security issue.
- Spam software - Most free spam solutions are poor, however, Spamihilator is pretty good. It’s not the easiest piece of software to use, but its worth the effort. Norton Internet Security 2006 (from about $60) has a good spam filter but comes bundled with other products (firewall, spyware etc) that you don’t need (better off with the ones recommended above).
Communication
- Skype - free or cheap telephone calls! You will need a mic and speakers. I recommend this Logitech headset.
- KishKash - useful add-ons for Skype (voicemail, address book and more).
- Windows Live Messenger - instant message and talk to friends. Alternatively, use Trillian or Gaim.
- Google Talk - instant message and talk to friends.
- Express Talk - SIP telephone program for making VOIP calls (and get a free SIP account and UK telephone number with Sipgate).
Office
- Open Office - an open-source (free) version of Microsoft Office products. It comes with 6 applications: Writer (like Word), Calc (like Excel), Base (like Access), Impress (like PowerPoint), Draw (for drawing) and Math (for mathematics).
- Adobe Reader - for viewing PDF’s (formerly known as Adobe Acrobat). Reader does not enable you to create PDFs, for that I recommend Primo PDF. More info below.
Web / Email
- Firefox - excellent web browser (much more secure than Internet Explorer). (You could try Flock but I used it for 8 months and suggest you wait until the full public release.)
- Flash Player - essential plugin for your browser.
- Shockwave Player - sometimes a required plugin for websites.
- Mozilla Thunderbird - email client (excellent alternative to Outlook and Outlook Express).
- Java - Java 2 Runtime Environment is required for some websites.
- SharpReader - decent, easy-to-use RSS reader.
Music / Video
- iTunes - for listening to MP3s and ripping CDs (comes bundled with QuickTime for watching movies).
- VideoLAN - a cross-platform media player that supports a large number of multimedia formats, without the need for additional codecs.
- Real Alternative - for playing Real movies and listening to streaming audio/video over the internet (the BBC website uses the Real format). Real Alternative is an advert-free, simple program unlike the full version of Real Player (which is clunky, slow and resource heavy).
- DivX Player - for playing movies and DVDs (like Real, Windows Media Player and QuickTime - except it is better and comes with a codec often required for watching movies on your computer).
- Google Video Viewer - for watching videos on Google.
- iPod Update - latest firmware updates and software for your iPod. (Try Outpod and Ephpod for other iPod music management).
- MediaMonkey - has tools to organise and clean up your MP3 files and meta tags (you could also try TagScanner).
- Audacity - record and edit sound files.
Other
- Picasa Web - a free program that manages your photos and helps you easily publish them for free on the web. It’s another cool program from Google.
- Izarc - for zipping/unzipping files (like WinZip, but better).
- Plaxo - synchronises your contacts so that they are up-to-date on all your computers and also online (also see the LinkedIn toolbar).
- Panorama Factory - great tool for stitching together digital photos to create a panorama ($30 approx).
- Google Earth - zoom in and out of a map of the entire world.
- Portable Apps - if you have a big USB stick, you might like to load on these portable applicartions so that you can use your favourite apps wherever you are. They are stand-alone versions and do not need to be installed on the host computer.
- Bulk Rename Utility - for renaming lots of files in one go (e.g. digital photos).
- Dr.DivX - to rip your DVDs onto your PC to make a backup.
- Free Download Manager - manages the downloading of files from the web (useful if downloading a large file or if you have a slow/bad connection).
- PSTCompactor - for compressing large Outlook PSTs (always stay under 2GB!). Free trial, then $24.95.
- PowerPanel - useful for laptop users to edit power preferences.
- DefaultMail - makes switching between email clients very easy.
- MozBackup - excellent tool for backing up your Firefox and Thunderbird settings, profiles, email etc.
- ScreenPrint 32 - Excellent free tool that takes screenshots of your computer. Use the print screen button. I have tried a few of these programs and this is the best.
- Primo PDF - Free program that enables you to create a PDF from a webpage, text document, spreadsheet, etc by choosing “Print” and selecting the Primo PDF printer.
Web Deveoper tools
- Graphics - Adobe Photoshop ($649).
- Coding - Aptana (free, recommended), NVU (free), Dreamweaver ($399), Edit Plus (shareware).
- Animation - Flash ($699).
- Xenu Link Sleuth - excellent link checker.
- FileZilla - very good free FTP program.
- Icon Sushi - for creating favicons.
- Google Analytics - use this free stats service from Google which works through a piece of JavaScript you place in every webpage. For log file analysis on your Apache server, use the free AWStats. To analyse log files on your hard disk, try Analog, WebLog Expert Lite or pay for 123 Log Analyzer ($129.99).
- Domain Name Analyzer - checks multiple domains in one go and gives status including DNS.
- PuTTY - command line and SSH login for managing servers.
- WinHTTrack - for making copies of entire websites.
- WinSCP - for secure access to server files.
Drivers
Screensavers
- Lunarmedia Clock - nice simple analogue clock.
- BBC Climate Change Screensaver - uses your computer to process climate change predictions in a huge international experiment.
- SereneScreen Marine Aquarium - amazingly realistic fishtank but you need to pay $20.
Other
- I am also building a list of my recommended websites.
- There are useful links to other popular software here.
- This is a pretty good list of the best freeware.
- For Jakes benefit when he reinstalls Windows on his Vaio.
