Software Recommendations

This is a short list of useful applications and programmes which I run on my computer. Use the right-hand column menu to browse the different catagories.

Antivirus

Comodo Firewall + Antivirus

Comodo is a comprehensive free antivirus solution which in addition to the antivirus, includes a firewall!

AVG

AVG has grown and developed over the past couple of years. To free users, it offers all the basics including scheduled hard drive scans and email scanning.

Avast's daily updates are small and are downloaded the first time you go online after the scheduled update time. The most noteworthy feature of the free version is the ability to schedule boot time scans which saves windows users the necessity of scanning their drives in safe mode.

Applications

Compression

7Zip

This small, free, compression tool is a must to have. It simply does everything one could want. It supports a multitude of compression formats, including RAR, ZIP and 7ZIP. Like many commercial options it also allows one to create self extracting files.

CD/DVD Burning

InfraRecorder

A small, lightweight and free alternative to programmes like Roxio and Nero. It offers all the basics one would expect of an optical disc burning application.

CDBurnerXP

Another free alternative and despite its name, can also burn DVD's and works well with Vista and Windows 7.

Defragment

defrag

It is important to defrag ones hard drive, however the default defrag programme which ships with Vista takes hours and hours. Two easy to use and free alternatives that do the job within a reasonable time frame.

Other

Rocket Dock

I think the technical name for this programme is an "application launcher". What it does is simply sit at the top of your screen and allows you to launch your favourite programmes without the need of searching through your start menu or cluttering up your quick launch folder.

Sticky Pad

A neat little application for making sticky notes on your desktop.

The Sage

TheSage is a dictionary and thesaurus, perfect for looking up words and finding synonyms.

Image Manipulation

Corel Draw Suite

Corel Draw

If you are prepared to spend money, I recommend Corel Draw Suite. It comes with several applications, the most noteworthy being:

Corel Draw - a vector editing and desk top publishing type application; and
Corel Photo-Paint - a super bitmap editor.

The Gimp

This is a great programme, offering layers, masks and just about everything else you would expect from a commercial photo editing package like Adobe Photoshop. It does have a steep learning curve though.

Inkscape

This is a great vector editing programme.

Irfanview

I use this programme often, especially for cropping images and converting files. It handles most common graphic files and it's batch conversion makes resizing and conversions quick and easy.

Fast Stone Image viewer

Fastsone image viewer is one of the nicest graphic browsers I have used. It is light on resources while still offering a range of editing options which include resizing , cropping, batch scanning to name a few.

Paint.net

If the Gimp is a bit more than you need, but Windows Paint all too limited, this may be the option for you. For a simple editor, it does the job, offering features like layers.

Home & Office

Office Suites

office

At some point every body needs to type a letter and a good word processor is what you want. It makes sense to have an office suite which includes word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software.

Openoffice.org

Openoffice.org is a super open source alternative to MS Office. It offers everything, a word processor, basic database application, spreadsheet, presentation software and a variety of other options too.

PDF readers

pdf

If you ever view documents on the net you will have noticed that they are often pdf documents. There are several PDF readers available for download, the best known being Adobe Reader. Over the years this has become an unnecessarily large programme. Here are some alternatives:

PDF Writers

pdf writer

You can create your own PDF documents using a PDF writer. Both of the applications below create virtual printers allowing you to create a PDF from any programme which offers printing.

Browsers

Mozilla Firefox

I have been using Mozilla for about 6 years. Initially I used it because it offered tabbed browsing and a Google search box and while these features are now available in IE 7 and above, Mozilla remains my first choice.

Firefox also offers many add-ons to enhance your internet experience. Below are a list of the add-ons I have found most useful.

Boss Key: Boss Key allows you to minimize Firefox to the system tray.
ChatZilla: ChatZilla adds an IRC client to your browser.
CSS Viewer: Allows you to view the CSS rules defining an element of a webpage.
Firebug: Provides a multitude of useful applications for web developers.
Fireshot: This add-on allows you to take jpeg snapshots of a webpage.
Firesizer: Another great add-on for web developers. This application allows you to resize your browser to common screen sizes.
Html Validator: Want to know if a web pages meets WC3 validation requirements? This add-on lets you know.
Speed Dial: This is my favourite add-on. It turns your homepage into a set of thumbnail links to your selected favourite sites. An image version of your bookmarks if you will.

Chrome

The new comer from Google. Chrome offers simple browsing with added features like the ability to search directly from the search bar, tabbed browsing and all the other things you would expect from a modern browser without the clutter of menus.

Internet Explorer 8

If you have windows, you have Internet Explorer. Ensure that you have IE 7 or 8 as older versions have lots of security issues.

Internet Explorer remains the most used browser and is packaged with all versions of Windows since Windows 95.

Internet Explorer 7 and 8 offer tabbed browsing and a search bar.

Maxthon2

Maxthon uses the same engine as Internet Explorer but with many additional features. Noteworthy options include the ability take snap shots of web pages and customize the look of your browser.

Opera

Opera has been around since 1996 and has recently gained considerable market share in the mobile browsing community. The PC version of Opera is a fine browser, giving a multitude of features, including; tabbed browsing, speed dial and mouse gestures.

Safari

The browser of the Apple Mac now available to PC users. Safari is ultra fast and gives users all they need in terms of easy browsing, bookmarking, tabs to name just a few.

Music & Video

Windows Movie Maker

Don't overlook this little application which comes packaged with Windows. Once you get past the odd glitch it does a fine job of basic edits and is capable of making snazzy photo slide shows.

Sadly this super application is no longer packaged with Windows 7.

DVD Flick

DVD Flick can take a number of video files stored on your computer and turn them into a DVD that will play back on your DVD player.

You can add additional custom audio tracks, subtitles of your choice and even create a menu.

Audacity

If you want to edit music, add effects like "fade in", increase the tempo of a track and a hundred other things - Audacity is the open source way to go. In order to export your creations as mp3s you will need to install the LAME codec.

Koyote Software

Koyote have a selection of little applications which include music converters and software for downloading you tube videos.

VLC Media Player

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.