Recommended Software
The following is all the software I use on a fairly regular basis. I tend to lean towards open source or freeware, if possible. All of these work with Windows XP/Vista, unless noted otherwise.
- 7-Zip (Open Source) – a file archiver with high compression ratio; Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR; Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS
- Audacity (Open Source) – software for recording and editing sounds.
- AVG Anti Virus Free Edition – Norton and McAfee Antivirus are bloated, this one isn’t
- ClamWin Free AntiVirus [for Windows] – If you’re more careful and you’ll scan files as you receive them, you don’t need your antivirus program constantly scanning in the background.
- CCleaner (freeware) – system optimization and privacy tool; cleans Windows, IE, Firefox, Opera, the Windows Registry, and uninstalls third-party applications
- Darik’s Boot and Nuke (Open Source) – a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.
- DateInTray (freeware) – displays the date in the Windows tray [extraneous in Windows 7]
- Exact Audio Copy (postcard-ware) – the best audio CD ripper; the built-in ones from iTunes, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, or MusicMatch are sub-par
- Eraser (Open Source) – an advanced security tool which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns; makes it near impossible to recover data
- FileZilla (Open Source) – a rock-solid FTP/SFTP client or server
- Find and Run Robot (freeware/donationware) – “a program for keyboard maniacs – it helps you rapidly find programs or documents from within the depths of the start menu (or other directories). One keypress launches the utility – then just start typing the first letters of the application you want to launch. As you type the best matches are shown – just hit the number to launch the associated program.” I don’t use the Start Menu too much because of this program.
- Firefox (Open Source) – an alternative web browser focused on speed, security and customization
- FlashMute (freeware) – mute/unmute Flash Movies loaded in a browser exclusively, or alternatively all sounds produced by the browser. I’m never annoyed when music or videos spontaneously loads. [not compatible with Windows Vista]
- Foxit Reader (freeware) – a small, quick PDF document viewer and printer; fill out forms, then use PDFCreator to save them!
- GeoSetter (freeware) – geotag your photos manually or with a GPS data file
- GIMP (Open Source) – “a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages.” If you can’t spend the money on Photoshop, this is the ticket.
- Hamachi (free for non-commercial use) – a program that allows you to arrange multiple computers into their own secure network just as if they were connected by a physical network cable; lets me connect between my home and work computers without needing PCAnywhere or GoToMyPC. Similarly, try LogMeIn Free or LogMeIn Pro.
- InfraRecorder (Open Source) – a free CD/DVD burning solution for Microsoft Windows. It replaced Nero, but only to prove that almost all your programs can be free and/or Open Source.
- iTunes (freeware) – only because it’s the best app that supports dynamic playlists with my iPod
- MP3Gain (Open Source) – uses statistical analysis to adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume; the changes are completely lossless [might not compatible with Windows Vista]
- Notepad++ (Open Source) – a free source code editor (and Notepad replacement), which supports several programming languages
- OpenOffice.org (Open Source) – a multi-platform and multilingual office suite; compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute
- Paint.NET (freeware) – image editing and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows; supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools; MS Paint on steroids, without the price of Photoshop
- PDFCreator (Open Source) – Create PDF files from almost any Windows program
- Pidgin (Open Source) – a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client; supports AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, and Zephyr networks; I use Meebo, but if I were to choose an instant messenger client, this would be it
- PureText (freeware) – removes rich formatting from text with a simple hotkey, without modifying the text
- Sandboxie (freeware) – provides a safe “sandbox” for you to test out new software without making any permanent changes to your system. (Suggested by Lifehacker)
- Spybot Search & Destroy (freeware) – preferred anti-spyware software
- SpywareBlaster (freeware) – prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software – and it doesn’t even have to be running in the background
- Taskbar Shuffle (freeware) – drag and drop the programs on your Windows taskbar to reorder/rearrange them
- Thunderbird (Open Source) – a full-featured email application; supports IMAP and POP mail protocols, as well as HTML mail formatting
- Ultimate Boot CD (collection of freeware/Open Source) – consolidate as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD; also includes my favorite, Darik’s Boot and Nuke
- Unlocker (freeware) – helps delete locked files
- µTorrent (freeware) – a tiny, yet powerful, BitTorrent client; RSS auto-downloading rocks!
- PeerGuardian 2 (Open Source) – necessary to protect your privacy on P2P networks.
- VLC Media Player (Open Source) – 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 [compatible with Windows Vista, with some help: "Using VLC Player under Vista"]
Last Updated: 2009-06-03 9:47am PDT
