Whether it’s a simple utility, favorite media player, browser addons, games, or expensive programs like Photoshop, everyone has favorite applications that they can’t live without. Here’s a list of five programs that must be installed on all of my computers, in no particular order. Of course there are several more, but these are the first five that popped in my head right away.
Google ChromeVLCWinSnapCrashPlanLastPass
Also, when you are about to install your favorite free and open source programs, use Ninite. It’s the fastest way to install multiple apps at once, and it installs them cleanly, i.e, no toolbars or extra crapware some programs try to sneak in. If you want to install your programs separately for some reason, that’s fine, but remember to go directly to the developer’s site to download them. And please, avoid software download sites like CNET’s download.com. That one in particular is riddled with crapware to the Nth degree. On a side note, I doubt any of you will pick iTunes, since we continually get feedback that it’s the worst software program ever. Especially the latest version, iTunes 12, I don’t think we have ever received such an enormous amount of negative comments about an iTunes version before. But I digress, I don’t want to make this an iTunes bashing session. So, what’s your list of must have Windows programs? Let us know in the comment section below! and last but by no means least: BitDefender https://www.groovypost.com/reviews/windows-8-start-menu-replacement-stardock-start8/ https://www.groovypost.com/howto/run-modern-windows-8-apps-on-desktop/ Of course another great program I use from Stardock is Fences: https://www.stardock.com/products/fences/ Another good solution for the Start menu in Windows 8 is to use Classic Shell: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/get-back-start-menu-windows-8-classic-shell/ I would also do Office (of course) Office 365 Personal is what I am currently using. But I also have the standard version of 2013 Professional You guys just keep reminding me of the programs I always install, I am sure I’ll be reminded of several more as this discussion continues! Format Factory (multimedia conversions) Pea Zip (compression) TeamViewer (remote access/control) imgBurn (creating/burning .iso) Daum Potplayer (similar to VLC, different look ‘n feel) SketchUp (Google’s 3D creation tool) MalwareBytes (security) Speccy (full system details) plex (home/remote multimedia server) …and the Adobe CS6 suite. While not free like the rest of the list, it’s simply the best at what it does. Ninite (of course) Snagit (of course) 7Zip 1Password (Password Goodness) Notepad++ (Code) Dropbox OneDrive (Moving over from Dropbox) OneNote Crashplan VLC iTunes (It works for me….) Live Writer (However, I’m doing more and more in native WP) Malware Bytes TeamViewer (Tech support for the fam…) imgBurn Done? Hope that helps. For the freebie lovers do check out PortableApps.com Comment Name * Email *
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