Useful software
List of useful free software and utilities.
Useful Software
As long-standing users of the internet and computers, we have a range of preferred pieces of software that we use. Here are links to some of them. Most of them are free. Any paid-for software is marked by a Pound [£] symbol.
1. Web Browsers
We have never been completely happy with the functionality of Microsoft Internet Explorer and even the latest version has issues that mean we only use it for checking compatibility of client websites. With the frequent Windows Updates that occur automatically to the Windows operating system, the functionaility of Internet Explorer often changes on a weekly basis, making it very hard to recommend it as a tool worth using.
Mozilla Firefox - our browser of choice and a mature, stable piece of software now which we would recommend above all others. Plus, click here for .Net Magazine's run-down of the Top 50 Firefox browser extensions. Download them all from .Net too.
Opera - another excellent browser with support for BitTorrents and with built-in protection against websites trying to steal your personal info.
2. Security Software
Keeping your computer safe can be a full-time job and a minefield for the uninitiated. Symantec's Norton software is a much-marketed suite of tools for keeping you safe from viruses, trojans and other nasties as well as offering protection when you are surfing the web and using your email. But, they are not cheap,slow your machine down by running so many bloated processes in the background and we got rid of them years ago. We use these free applications below to keep our machines safe and they work really well.
Kerio Personal Firewall - a superbly competent firewall that requires a little kinowledge when setting up but is very user-friendly.
Free-AV Anti Virus software - this anti-virus suite from Germany is superb and will protect your email and web-surfing from as many nasties as you need protection from.
SpyBot Search & Destroy - simply the best and easiest program for removing spyware from your PC.
Ad Aware - get rid of spyware and adware with this excellent, free program. Gets rid os all the adware nasties that SpyBot doesn't.
3. Browser Add-Ons
There are a feast of browser add-ons out onthe web, to do all manner of things which supposedly add to your web-surfing experience. Most of them are, frankly, crap and are the largest source of adware, malware and trojan viruses there are. The ones we list below are truly revolutionary and will indeed add to your experience and usability of the internet.
Stumbleupon - outs the life back into those moments in the day where you think 'I'll just have a little surf around the web'. See a full review we wrote on this innovative web-surfing tool here.
4. Office Utilities + Email
Contrary to popular opinion you don't have to go out and spend hundreds of Pounds on Office software to do your workd processing, spreadsheets and presentations.
Open Office - Sun Microsystems' office suite is just as good as Microsoft Office [except there is no Outlook email equivalent. It supports documents from all major office suites and is multi-lingual. Oh and it is free! Hooray!
Mozilla Thunderbird - partner application of the Firefox web browser, Thunderbird is a powerful email program that supports encryption, allows you to tag messages and much more.. It doesn't have all the journal, calendar and stuff you get with Outlook but frankly all that stuff is slow and over-rated anyway and Thunderbird is the best email application we have used.
Manage Your Contacts - if you are short of an application for managing and keeping your contacts in one place, try this. Manage Your Contacts is a tried and true (award-winning) program that will help you easily store and manage contact information (names, addresses, phone numbers). It is so easy to use that you'll have virtually no learning curve, yet it sports a variety of powerful features to help you efficiently manage your contact list.
Zipghost - one of the best zipping-up and unzipping tools I have come across recently, especially for batch unzipping of a whole folder full of zipped files. Free to try.
5. Graphics + Imaging
If you are looking for some cost-effective tools for working with photos and graphics, here are some suggestions.
The Gimp - crazy name but great piece of free, Open Source software for image manipulation. Basically started out life as a Photoshop equivalent for the Linux community.
Quick Web Photo Resizer - an awesome bit of shareware that allows you to drag, drop and batch resize images for the web.
Picasa - The difference between an image viewer and image browser is like the difference between a DVD player and Tivo. A DVD player / image viewer lets you look at the thing you want to see. An image browser / Tivo let you browse quickly and precisely through a lot of stuff. Okay, the analogy isn't great, but hopefully you get my point. Google bought Picasa, branded and tweaked it, then set it free. Freeware that is. Picasa won't let you view every oddball format under the sun, but it will index and sort every image you probably have. It's great for the vast amount of digital photos we accumulate these days. Most people, after a couple of years, start to lose track because there's just too much. Picasa is quick and gorgeous too look at. If Picasa can't help you find that embarrassing picture of your spouse, they must have deleted it.
Blender - Blender is over ten years old now and is amazingly robust. Professional 3D software runs from several hundred to several thousand dollars. If you go through the feature list, it's quite amazing that it is freeware (Open Source GNU Public License). It has all the standard features of the professional programs with sophisticated modeling, animation and rendering. It even includes realtime 3D game creation. And yet, there's more! Import and export standard 3D file formats. Create standalone executable files to distribute your creations.
5. Miscellaneous + Fun
Some of the other free items that keep us sane, happy and at the computer even after we have finished working!
Google Earth - if you haven't downloaded this amazing application yet, go away and do it. Now!!! Fly over, zoom in and study stunning satellite imagery of the earth in amazing clarity. Best used alongside the forum, where you can discover all kinds of other amazing items that people have sought out and posted links to. Be careful though, this software is addictive.
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