Computer Utilities, Free

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In addition to cleaning and optimizing your system, there are a number of free programs out there to make your computer ’useful.’ This list contains all the software I would normally put on a Windows computer just after installing the operating system and protection programs.

Firefox

First and foremost, Internet Explorer and I don’t get along and quite honestly, it doesn’t have the interface or add-on features that I feel are critical surfing today’s internet. Firefox has a slick interface, seemingly has less direct threat from malware, and if you couple it with the Adblock Plus add-on, I guarantee you will enjoy your internet surfing experience much more as it will be unhindered by unwanted advertisements*. Once Adblock Plus is installed subscribe to the EasyList filter subscription and update it.

Adobe:

So much of the web has been given serious dynamic graphical presence and interaction from adobe add-ons that there is a whole suite of programs you need installed to enjoy it all:

Adobe Reader
Quite honestly a necessity for reading PDF files. Sure there are alternatives out there, but adobe doesn’t charge anything for its default reader and while it has a seemingly slow load time (were talking like on the order of seconds here (an eternity for a computer)) you won’t get any compatibility problems by using the original Adobe Reader.

Adobe Flash Player
Adobe Media Player
Adobe Shockwave Player
I wish these three came in some sort of suite, but they are separate downloads and I’m sure there is someone out there grateful that they can pick and choose. Personally for the full internet-integrated-with-Adobe experience, get them all.

Open Office – Alternative to Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is expensive, and many people wish they knew of an alternative to be able to write documents, work with spreadsheets, and make presentations. Open Office does all that and more. It literally has a free solution for every program in the Microsoft Office suite. Better yet, the number of ‘Save As’ file times (document formats) that Open Office can interact with is staggering. It will read documents from Microsoft Office and The Word Perfect Suite not to mention a dozen less known suites. For more details on this program, check out their website: http://www.openoffice.org

Java

Java is a programming language used in all kinds of applications. Rather than going into detail on how it works, suffice it to say you need a program installed on your computer to make other programs written in it work. Now if you are just reading down the list, Open office comes with the Java Runtime Environment, so this particular step isn’t needed. If you are looking to be able to write in Java, you need the Java Development Kit (JDK).

CDBurnerXP – Alternative to Nero Suite

Nearly all computers are sold today with cd or dvd writers and while some of us are lucky enough to score a copy of a great cd writing program like Nero, the rest of us try to find an affordable alternative. CDBurnerXP is a free burning suite with a ton of features making it comparable to Nero (from a cost effective standpoint).

7zip – Alternative to WinAce, WinRar, WinZip, etc.

While Windows XP is now able to natively open most zip files, you still need a third party program to open other common archive formats like rar and ace. 7zip is an open source file archiving utility with high compression ratio and a long list of supported formats.

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack – Alternative to REALLY long list of programs

For those of you not familiar with codecs, if you have ever downloaded a video and your video player indicated that it can’t play it because it doesn’t recognize the format, that’s because it’s missing the proper codec. Two of the most problematic codecs that you have probably heard of are Real Player and QuickTime. I’m not a fan of installing lots of little programs just so I can watch more video formats, so I use a mega codec pack (with Real Player and Quick Time alternatives among others). I use to be a big fan of the ACE Mega Codecs, but as it hasn’t been updated in years, I went in search of a good replacement and found K-Lite. K-Lite does come with a video player of its own, but you can skip it’s installation in favor of the default windows media player classic.

Comments

Sandi said…
Do you have a recommendation for a parental control?
November 24, 2008 at 5:29 PM
RuinExplorer said…
Check out today's post for a couple good products.
November 25, 2008 at 3:20 PM
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