List of Software I use on my computer. For an average computer user who only does these things, the list will give you everything you'll need -
Note 1: Win -> Windows XP/Vista/7, Lin -> Linux, any modern distro, Mac -> OSX 10.4 or later
Note 2: You may notice that many of these tools are from Google. I'm a fan, yes. But if you can find better tools, do tell me.
Note 3: When installing any software, always choose the 'Custom'/'Advanced' option (where available) and deselect anything with the words 'toolbar', 'search' or anything else you didn't intend to install when you downloaded the software. However, always enable automatic update checks.
Basic List
Intermediate List
Advanced List
End Note: I do have much, much more. But this should get you started :)
- Browse web pages
- Chat with friends (text / audio / video)
- View / Touch-up / Manage Photos
- Watch downloaded/online movies
- Listen to music
- Create / Edit Office files ( Text files, SpreadSheets & Presentations - for you MSOffice addicts, that's .doc, .xls & .ppt :p )
- Other miscellaneous things which don't correspond to a line of work.
Note 1: Win -> Windows XP/Vista/7, Lin -> Linux, any modern distro, Mac -> OSX 10.4 or later
Note 2: You may notice that many of these tools are from Google. I'm a fan, yes. But if you can find better tools, do tell me.
Note 3: When installing any software, always choose the 'Custom'/'Advanced' option (where available) and deselect anything with the words 'toolbar', 'search' or anything else you didn't intend to install when you downloaded the software. However, always enable automatic update checks.
Basic List
- Google Chrome - Browser - Win/Lin/Mac - www.google.com/chrome/
- Google Transliteration IME - Type in Malayalam and/or other languages using chat-lingo - Win - www.google.com/ime/transliteration/
- Voice & Video Chat in Gmail - Win/Lin/Mac - www.google.com/chat/video
- Picasa - Photo Management & Basic-to-Intermediate Editing - Win/Lin/Mac - http://picasa.google.com/ ( Mac version at http://picasa.google.com/mac/ , Linux version at http://picasa.google.com/linux/ )
- Picasa Photo Viewer (auto-installs with Picasa) - Photo Viewer - Win - (none)
- VLC Media Player - Video CD/DVD/Stream/File Player - Win/Lin/Mac - http://videolan.org/vlc/
- Windows Media Player - Audio Player (Can - but don't - use for Videos/Photos) - Win - www.microsoft.com/windows/mediaplayer
- LibreOffice - Productivity Suite (Create/Open/Edit Office Files) - Win/Lin/Mac - www.libreoffice.org/
- CCleaner - Maintenance tool - Win - www.piriform.com/ccleaner
- Microsoft Security Essentials - AntiVirus - Win - www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
- Nitro PDF Reader - PDF Reader/Editor & Virtual Printer to create PDF Files - Win - www.nitroreader.com/
- WinRAR - Archive Manager (Compression/Extraction) - Win/Lin/Mac - www.rarlab.com/
Intermediate List
- IrfanView - Fast Image Viewer / Editor - Win - www.irfanview.com/
- ImgBurn - CD/DVD/BD/DiscImage Burner - Win - www.imgburn.com/
- Everything - Search-As-You-Type file finder - Win - www.voidtools.com/
- Defraggler - Disk Defragmenter - Win - www.piriform.com/defraggler
- Recuva - File UnDeleter - Win - www.piriform.com/recuva
- Handbrake - Video Converter - Win/Lin/Mac - www.handbrake.fr/
- Miro - Video Downloader (Supports BT) - Win/Lin/Mac - www.getmiro.com/
- Mp3Tag - Tag Editor - Win - www.mp3tag.de/en/
- TrueCrypt - File/Drive/Disk Encryption with Plausible Deniability - Win/Lin/Mac - www.truecrypt.org/
- WinDirStat - Disk Usage Profiler - Win - http://windirstat.info/
Advanced List
- CrossLoop - Remote Support - Win - www.crossloop.com/ Note: Click on 'download' link at the top of the site to get the installer. You don't need to sign-up to use it - click 'skip' if it prompts you to, when run (after install).
- Speccy - System Information Tool - Win - www.piriform.com/speccy
- PSPad - Code/Hex Editor - Win - www.pspad.com/en/
End Note: I do have much, much more. But this should get you started :)
