I must admit I am a software junkie! I have always been interested in new software and would search the Internet to all the hours of the morning looking for interesting software to try. Unlike many people I hold no particular beef against Microsoft, and would willingly try software from them just as willingly as from anyone else.
Having been a beta tester of the new office 2007, and now graduating to the full version I have to admit I am very impressed. Not only does it have a sleek new interface but the functions are very accessible. I am what you may call a power user and the ability to automate many tasks is such a breeze for me to get my work done. Integration with the web is smooth and it is possible to obtain information from the web and import directly into documents. While writing papers for university I can even integrate the bibliography into my paper without having to undergo any stress. I would definitely recommend this as an upgrade, and definitely beating Open Office and WordPerfect Suite hands down, even though I have the latest WordPerfect Suite installed. Be advised that you need a fast processor and at least 1 GB of RAM to run this efficiently. Fully installed it takes 2 GB of space.
By the way, it also integrates fully with my Dragon Naturally Speaking dictation program, saving me lots of stress in typing when I can dictate. At first, I had a bit of a bother trying to get it to recognize my Trinidadian accent but that is sorted now. I am dictating this blog by the way. :-)
My next recommended software would be Firefox browser. Small, secure, sleek and very fast, it slows down a bit with the extensions that I have installed. But these extensions enhance the usability of Firefox so much that it is a well worth a few moments of delay in start-up. My extensions include:
Having been a beta tester of the new office 2007, and now graduating to the full version I have to admit I am very impressed. Not only does it have a sleek new interface but the functions are very accessible. I am what you may call a power user and the ability to automate many tasks is such a breeze for me to get my work done. Integration with the web is smooth and it is possible to obtain information from the web and import directly into documents. While writing papers for university I can even integrate the bibliography into my paper without having to undergo any stress. I would definitely recommend this as an upgrade, and definitely beating Open Office and WordPerfect Suite hands down, even though I have the latest WordPerfect Suite installed. Be advised that you need a fast processor and at least 1 GB of RAM to run this efficiently. Fully installed it takes 2 GB of space.
By the way, it also integrates fully with my Dragon Naturally Speaking dictation program, saving me lots of stress in typing when I can dictate. At first, I had a bit of a bother trying to get it to recognize my Trinidadian accent but that is sorted now. I am dictating this blog by the way. :-)
My next recommended software would be Firefox browser. Small, secure, sleek and very fast, it slows down a bit with the extensions that I have installed. But these extensions enhance the usability of Firefox so much that it is a well worth a few moments of delay in start-up. My extensions include:
- Advertisement blockers - especially useful for dial-up users as it maximises bandwidth use by eliminating advertisements and only downloading the data required. Helps load pages faster.
- Reminder extensions - which function as a Calender/diary within Firefox with pop-up notification.
- Weather extension - tells me the weather and time both in England and in Trinidad.
- Tab extension - manages the multiple tabs in Firefox window, including colour coding them.
- Windows update extension - allows me to update my computer through Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.
- Download extension - allows me to manage my downloads through Firefox downloader.
Another fast sleek browser is Maxthon, but being based upon the Internet explorer kernel it is vulnerable to the same security risks as Internet Explorer.
I love a program called Cacheman XP. It manages the memory of Windows in a far more efficient manner than Windows. A highly recommended program.
I strongly recommend anti-spyware. No computer should be without these nifty little programs. Spyware now in my opinion poses a greater risk than viruses. While most people do have an anti-virus, many do not think of having an anti-spyware, and I have cleaned up computers with more than 950 separate incidents of spyware. I recommend Lavasoft Ad-aware and Spybot running simultaneously with weekly scans. SpywareBlaster immunises your computer against spyware/adware and is another must-have. Just remember that aside from making your computer work badly, spyware can broadcast your personal information (including bank and credit card details) to unknown persons across the Internet.
I love a program called Cacheman XP. It manages the memory of Windows in a far more efficient manner than Windows. A highly recommended program.
I strongly recommend anti-spyware. No computer should be without these nifty little programs. Spyware now in my opinion poses a greater risk than viruses. While most people do have an anti-virus, many do not think of having an anti-spyware, and I have cleaned up computers with more than 950 separate incidents of spyware. I recommend Lavasoft Ad-aware and Spybot running simultaneously with weekly scans. SpywareBlaster immunises your computer against spyware/adware and is another must-have. Just remember that aside from making your computer work badly, spyware can broadcast your personal information (including bank and credit card details) to unknown persons across the Internet.
Caution! I do not recommend Norton antivirus. In almost a decade of computer troubleshooting, nearly every computer I have worked on (over eight thousand in the last two years) have had trouble because of Norton antivirus. Norton is also a most notorious system resource hog, and I have seen up to 65% of RAM go to keep it running in the background. If your computer is slow... chances are you are running Norton. I would recommend the free AVG anti-virus as a better alternative, or McAfee antivirus or Trend Micro PC-cillin.
I use a program called crap cleaner (CCleaner) to clean my computer of unused files. It also has a very good registry cleaner.
For photo editing I use Corel's Paint Shop Pro 11, and Irfanview 3.99. I use WinAmp 5.33 Pro for music, media player 11, and PowerDVD. The DFX enhancement for media player and WinAmp makes your sound unbelievably ambient. Even the free version increases the quality remarkably.
For defragging my computer I use Diskeeper professional 2007, however the free Diskeeper Lite does a remarkable job. O & O Defrag is also very good.
For CD and DVD burning I use Nero 7.78 Ultra Edition. For those who have slower systems, you can try the ever nifty NTI CDMaker. I use DVD shrink and DVD FAB Decrypter to rip and burn DVDs.
For PDF files I use Foxit Reader 2.0 which is a lot faster than Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat is now 20+ MB whereas Foxit Reader is only 1.67 MB and therefore loads and implements faster. For making my own PDF files I use PDF Creator, a free software.
I also strongly recommend the free Picasa 2 and Google Desktop programs from Google. Picasa 2 finds and sorts all your photographs on your computer, and the Google Desktop program indexes and sorts all your files in your computer making it very, very easy to find anything you are searching for. Even if you cannot remember the name you can search for any phrase within a file. I have no doubt you will find this indispensable.
These are only some of the software I use and recommend. Feel free to leave your e-mail address in the comment section along with any queries you may have. I also have software to give away so feel free to ask. You may also send any problems you have with your computer and I will get back to you.
All the software I mentioned can be found by a simple Google search.
I use a program called crap cleaner (CCleaner) to clean my computer of unused files. It also has a very good registry cleaner.
For photo editing I use Corel's Paint Shop Pro 11, and Irfanview 3.99. I use WinAmp 5.33 Pro for music, media player 11, and PowerDVD. The DFX enhancement for media player and WinAmp makes your sound unbelievably ambient. Even the free version increases the quality remarkably.
For defragging my computer I use Diskeeper professional 2007, however the free Diskeeper Lite does a remarkable job. O & O Defrag is also very good.
For CD and DVD burning I use Nero 7.78 Ultra Edition. For those who have slower systems, you can try the ever nifty NTI CDMaker. I use DVD shrink and DVD FAB Decrypter to rip and burn DVDs.
For PDF files I use Foxit Reader 2.0 which is a lot faster than Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat is now 20+ MB whereas Foxit Reader is only 1.67 MB and therefore loads and implements faster. For making my own PDF files I use PDF Creator, a free software.
I also strongly recommend the free Picasa 2 and Google Desktop programs from Google. Picasa 2 finds and sorts all your photographs on your computer, and the Google Desktop program indexes and sorts all your files in your computer making it very, very easy to find anything you are searching for. Even if you cannot remember the name you can search for any phrase within a file. I have no doubt you will find this indispensable.
These are only some of the software I use and recommend. Feel free to leave your e-mail address in the comment section along with any queries you may have. I also have software to give away so feel free to ask. You may also send any problems you have with your computer and I will get back to you.
All the software I mentioned can be found by a simple Google search.
