Below are my top 6 picks for apps you need to have on your Windows computer. This is the way I would setup someone if this was going to be their only computer.
1. Mozilla Firefox Web Browser - www.mozilla.org – The Mozilla Firefox web browser is a more secure and customizable web browser then Internet Explorer that Microsoft ships with every copy of windows. It’s faster, safer and it renders pages in the way that MOST web designers want their sites to look like. Firefox is based on the Gecko rendering engine which is what the original Netscape and Mosaic browsers had back when browsers were first invented.
2. Chrome Web Browser - www.google.com/chrome – It may sound like over-kill to have 3 browsers installed on your computer, but there is a good reason for it. That is, so you are compatible with all websites. The Google Chrome web browser is the most advanced version of the WebKit browsers. Webkit is the basis of the iPhone, iPad and Android mobile browsers. It also offers an “app store” which adds some functionality. The best reason I can come up with is that if you go to a website on one web browser and it doesn’t look right, you can switch to another browser to see if it’s you or the web site. In the browser wars, Firefox and Chrome are running neck and neck. So if you only install one or the other, you won’t go wrong. Since they are both FREE, you should do both.
3. Microsoft Security Essentials - windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials – Microsoft Security Essentials is a FREE anti-virus and anti-malware program that for some unknown reason, Microsoft chooses to NOT include in windows. I suppose it so they don’t get sued by all the anti-virus companies out there. MSE will do everything the paid programs will do and it will NOT take up as much of your cpu cycles. It stays out of your way unless there is something attacking you. One of the things that bug me is the companies that sell “Internet Security Suites” make it sound like you are going to loose everything in your bank account unless you pay them their fee. Kind sounds like the Mob to me. I like the fact that MSE comes right from the OS manufacturer and if anyone can figure out how to protect windows, it should be Microsoft. So save your money and just install MSE and be happy!
4. Open Office - www.openoffice.org/ – Open Office is a FREE office suite of programs. It has a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation package that is a good alternative to Microsoft Office. It will start up a bit slower on most systems but once it’s running, it’s hard to tell the difference in speed and functionality. A lot of Government and Educational institutions have switched to Open Office. Open Office will open all MS Office formats and save files in that format as well. This will save you a couple of hundred dollars over buying Microsoft Office.
5. Skype - Skype is a voice (and video) over IP communications program that lets you call anyone in the world, as long as they have Skype also, for FREE. It will also let you call phones world-wide from your computer for cheap. You can even get an incoming number which can be handy. You could get the incoming number in a city other then the one you live in so if you have friends and relatives in another city, you can give them a local number to call and it will ring into your computer. All you need for this is a microphone. Most PC’s have a built-in mic now so that won’t be a problem. If you add a webcam you can have a video call with your friends and family.
6. Carbonite online backup - www.carbonite.com – Carbonite online backup does just what it says it does. It backs up your files online. The great thing about Carbonite is that you don’t really have to think about it. It will back up everything you want it to on computer (as long as it’s on the drive inside the computer). It uploads to the “Cloud” over time and keeps things like photos, documents and other data safe. This is one of the few programs I recommend that isn’t free. Carbonite will cost you around $55 a year per computer. I’m sure you are asking yourself why not use DVD’s, Thumbdrives, external hard drives or tapes (does anyone use those anymore?). Well, you should use all those things or at least one of those things. The problem is that you bring your external hard drive in and back things up and then your house burns down, then your computer burns down and that hard drive burns. You are screwed. With carbonite, your stuff is backed up and once you get your new computer you can restore all your files from the internet. It’s worth the money!
This list is in no way a complete list of programs you might need to do your job, enjoy your home computing or gaming. It’s just a start. Once you have these programs installed and setup on your computer you should do one more thing. That thing is set a restore point in windows. Or, even better, make a disk image of the hard drive that you can re-install if things go wrong. I will show you how to do these things in a future post.
If you have a suggestion for a “must-have” Windows program, please drop me a note using any of the contact methods listed on the contact page.
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