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While on the phone with my wife tonight, I started to tell her about some of the new programs I had installed on my laptop to make it run faster (not that it really needed it). She decided to get on her home desktop and try to explain to me all the problems she's been having. After downloading and installing several new programs, she seems to be running a bit faster, so I decided to compile my own list of “Must Have” Windows Programs, plus a couple “Should Have” programs.
Must Have:
Anti-Virus Software – AVG Anti-Virus – There are several Anti-Virus applications out there and they all pretty much do the same job, that is, quarantine and remove virus'. You could easily go to Best Buy and pay a good amount of money for the latest edition of Norton Anti-Virus, or you could go to download.com and get AVG Free for, you guessed it, FREE! Now, why should you trust a free program? Without getting into all the technical what-have-you, just ask the 215,000,000+ users. That's not a typo. More than Two Hundred and Fifteen MILLION users! AVG must be doing something right! Get it here: AVG Free 8.5.406
Malware Protection – Ad-Aware – Malware is fancy talk for Malicious Software. Basically, it's software that uses your programs and information without your permission! Malware is a big time security risk, and Ad-Aware helps by finding and neutralizing Malware threats. Why Ad-Aware? Free. Why not Ad-Aware? You don't get the maximum capabilities with the free version. However, if you spend the $27.96 on the full version, you get the full virus dictionary as well as heuristics and registry protection, along with (what I feel should be included in the free version but isn't) a scan scheduler. If you don't think it's going to work, just ask one of the other 333 million plus users. Try out the free version here: Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition
Clean-Up Utility – CCleaner – I just installed this program tonight and I'm already in love with it. What this excellent utility does is remove all those annoying temporary files that love to eat up your available RAM and slow down your computer, as well as point out files that aren't necessarily needed, like multiple Internet browsers. It pointed out that I had IE8, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari (all internet browsers) and recommended that get rid of all but one. Go ahead and download it, it's free and very simple to use! Get it here: CCleaner
That concludes the “Must Have” section. If you throw those three applications in with the standard Windows Firewall and Disk Defrag, you'll keep your computer running quick and protected. I'm going to continue on with some programs that are good alternatives to some already on your computer or just overall good, useful programs.
Mozilla Firefox – Internet Browser – Firefox is an Open-Source internet browser that brought tabbed browsing into the mainstream, has innovative security measures and is more customizable than a Honda Civic. Oh yeah, it's free. Download it here: Mozilla Firefox 3.5.2
OpenOffice.org – Microsoft Office Alternative – About 6 months ago I made the decision to completely delete Microsoft Office and Microsoft Works off my laptop. I made the integration to OpenOffice seamlessly. OpenOffice is free, compared to paying $679(!) for the comparable Microsoft Office Ultimate. Best part: you can save your OpenOffice documents as MSOffice documents. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, even PDF! Don't pay for any of that ever again here: OpenOffice.org
GIMP – Photo and Image Editor – As a huge fan of free stuff, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a must have. A going trend these days is doctoring up photos, be it of yourself or making humorous pictures. Why pay $63(the cheapest, most up-to-date I could find on Amazon) when you could have a very similar product for free. Stop wasting money here: GIMP 2.6.7
There you have it, 6 programs to help make your life just a little bit better, easier, and put a couple extra bucks in your pocket. You may be saying to yourself, why is he talking so much about free stuff? He must be one cheap guy! I'll explain myself like this: the current economy is in shambles. In short, it's a complete wreck. Just by switching to OpenOffice and GIMP, I saved my family $200! For a young family or a struggling college student 200 bucks can make a difference. Think about it next time you're having Top Ramen for dinner for the 12th straight night.
