Recommended software for your computer

Despite the large increases in storage space over the years, operating your computer doesn't mean having truckloads of software installed on your system. In fact, the less you have installed, the faster it will run and the longer it will take for your registry to degrade and conflicts to occur, necessitating a reinstall of your system. And creating a great collection of useful software doesn't have to be expensive. Here is a list of software that I have found either essential or very useful:

Retail Software:

• Operating system: Windows 2000 or XP (both are rock stable, 32-bit and better at memory management than previous Microsoft OS's. Free alternative: Linux
• Microsoft Office (for Outlook, Word, and Excel files you might receive). Low-cost alternative: Star Office. Free Alternative: Open Office. Try also Easy Office.
• Anti-Virus software such as Norton. Or, conduct frequent free online virus scans.

Useful Freeware/Shareware:

• MSN Messenger or other text messenger like Yahoo Messenger. Actually, Yahoo is more stable, with slightly better features. It also has fewer firewall issues and better webcam stability. ICQ has a terrible user-interface, opens security holes and stability/memory problems.
• Winzip: Industry-standard software to unzip zipped files. Comes with Windows XP.
• Internet Explorer browser: Faster than Netscape, more stable, more features. Some people like Opera for its speed and small file size.
• Google Search Toolbar: Extremely powerful addition to your browser for searching the web and within any site.

• Quicktime: for media that is not supported with Windows Media Player. BTW, don't update Windows Media Player past version 8 due to proprietary conversions to your files that Microsoft will force on you automatically.
• Realplayer Basic version 8: for media that is not supported with Windows Media Player or Quicktime. Don't download any version after 8, such as RealPlayer One, unless you like persistent pop-ups that you can't stop unless you reformat your whole computer.
• RealJukebox Basic: Version 1 was great. Best sounding mp3 player--better quality than Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc. I'm not sure if version 2.0 is though or it is infested with pop ups like other recent software from RealPlayer.
• Outlook Express: free, more powerful than Hotmail or Yahoo. Can be used to backup mail from Hotmail to keep account size low. Be sure to turn off preview feature to prevent unwanted virus activations. Included with IE browser.
• Adobe Acrobat reader: for reading .pdf files.
• Copernic: meta-search browser (will find what Google can't).
• Pow!: for stopping those pesky pop-up and pop-under ad windows while surfing. See my page on getting rid of pop-ups.

Bells and Whistles

• Microangelo: icon customization tool. Free 30-day trial available.
• Webshots: popular screen saver and desktop wallpaper program. Free.
• MyCorkboard: powerful screen saver with keystroke and mouse movement monitor to recommend stress breaks. Free (comes bundled with Gator spyware though).
• Citrus Alarm Clock: small program with many powerful features.
• Kazaalite: version of kazaa without the ads and spyware.

Web Building Software

• Dreamweaver: The best web building software on the market. Free fully-featured 30-day trial available. Free alternatives: 1st Page 2000. Netscape Composer, and Araneae.
• Fireworks: Integrates well with Dreamweaver. For image optimization, slicing, and quick JavaScript coding. Free fully-featured 30-day trial available.
• Photoshop: Industry standard image editing software. Free trial available but doesn't allow you to save I think. Lighter and much cheaper option: Adobe Photoshop Elements Free trial available. You could also try Paint Shop Pro (much cheaper, almost as powerful, easier to use than Photoshop). A free alternative is Gimp (I have not tried it myself yet).
• Hemera Photo Clip Art: High-quality royalty free photos (This is where I get the images for this website).
• Snagit!: Powerful screen-capturing utility. 30-day free trial available.
• Flash, or the much cheaper and easier Swish, or a free alternative, blender, which is a free and fully functional 3D modeling/rendering/animation package for Linux/Unix/Windows/BeOS systems (I have not tried this yet).
  
  

Note: If you are installing a new OS, have just bought a new computer, or are reformatting a boot drive, don't forget to check for the latest updates and patches to your operating system, hardware, and peripherals (e.g. motherboard bios, mouse, scanner, printer, zip drive, video card, browser, CD Writer, Office suite etc.). And don't forget to turn off shared folders on your Windows OS to prevent unwanted security breaches.

Do you know any other software that is especially useful? Email me a quick note and I'll add it.