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10 Essential Apps For A New PC

November 6th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

I just set up a newly purchased Windows PC, and I decided to keep track of the programs I consider important to getting up an running. Here is what I have so far, and I am open to suggestions:

  1. Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/download.html
  2. VLC Video Player (this baby will play anything) http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
  3. Uninstall Norton Antivirus – even if it’s free. Same with McAffee Antivirus. Stay away from these bloated apps! If you want virus protection, I suggest AVG Anti-virus Free Edition: http://free.avg.com/us-en/download
  4. Flash Player: http://fpdownload.adobe.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player.exe
  5. Open Office: http://download.openoffice.org/ (you’ll need this unless you have MS Office)
  6. iTunes (includes Quicktime): http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
  7. Primo PDF lets you print/save to a PDF: http://www.primopdf.com
  8. Skype: http://download.skype.com/SkypeSetup.exe)
  9. Pidgin multiple IM client: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pidgin/
  10. I usually install the following 10 Firefox add-ons. Not all will be useful to you, but the first 5-6 might be:
  1. Ad Block Plus (ABP) – a must for blocking ads while browsing
  2. Google Toolbar for Firefox
  3. Shareaholic – delicious and other social bookmarks and sharing
  4. Tab Mix Plus
  5. Extended Copy Menu – lets you copy as plain text without all the formatting
  6. Personas – lets you put skins on Firefox (I like the carbon fiber designs)
  7. Echofon (formerly TwitterFox)
  8. TinyURL Generator – I use this to shorten links for Twitter
  9. Web Developer
  10. Firebug

Optional:

  1. HFS explorer – Reads mac file systems from a PC, if you need that sort of thing. Great for those who run Bootcamp or are switching between mac and PC: http://sourceforge.net/projects/catacombae/
  2. Silverlight – This might come preinstalled on some PCs, but just in case: http://silverlight.net/getstarted/
  3. Adobe Reader http://get.adobe.com/reader/- Preinstalled on most PCs (PrimoPDF can also view PDFs and takes up much less space)
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  • http://twitter.com/gdelatorre Guillermo dela Torre

    Foxit Reader for reading PDF, much better than Adobe Reader:
    http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

    Don't forget IrfanView, Notepad++, WebShot, Thunderbird, Songbird and, of course, eduCommons.

  • http://tomcaswell.com tom4cam

    Good feedback! I missed some important ones.

  • Trent

    or you could just install linux … or at least Virtualbox and just because you have more than one machine you should install Dropbox …paint.net, chrome, winscp, putty, 7zip, itunes are also things I install immediately

  • zenghui

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  • http://tomcaswell.com tom4cam

    Yeah, I'm thinking about installing OpenSUSE and doing the rest via VirtualBox. I agree that Dropbox is a must if you have more than one computer. Thanks for the suggestions!

  • Trent

    If I were you I would just use Ubuntu … but suit yourself

  • zenghui

    Downloaded the upgrade version of AVG Internet Security last week. Definitely the best security system in the world.
    http://www.bestlaptopbattery.com.au/

  • zenghui

    Same with McAffee Antivirus. Stay away from these bloated apps.
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