Must-have software for a Windows PC
There are a lot of questions concerning the must-have software for Windows. Anyone should have a certain list with the main programs that are going to be installed right after the operating system has been renewed and refreshed. These are the specific programs called “must-haves” among PC owners.
Without these extremely useful programs around, you're not going to be that satisfied when operating your computer. Anti-viruses, anti-spyware, firewalls, iTunes, VLC or any other preferred media player, Picasa, IrfanView, Adobe Reader, browsers like Firefox or Google Chrome, an Office pack (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), and Outlook or Thunderbird for e-mail — the list can continue. These are some of the primary applications that should help your PC work properly and become your best companion.
Protection is the most important thing for any computer connected to the Internet. Definitely, the anti-virus is a “must”! There are different products on the market that can secure your machine from worms, Trojans, and hijackers. Another helpful tip: after installing ZoneAlarm, make sure the Windows Firewall is disabled. Some of the more mainstream spyware removers include Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Microsoft AntiSpyware. CCleaner also helps speed up your system. Extra defragmenters, disk consolidation programs, and recovery software are good to have installed for unpredicted emergencies.
Java is also a must-have for playing online videos. Acrobat Reader is necessary for PDFs, but you can also go for CutePDF, which helps a lot. Music players and digital media software like iTunes, and media players such as VLC, Media Player Classic Home Cinema, BSPlayer, RealPlayer, and Winamp are also worth considering. Archive tools (.zip, .rar), text editors, and image editors (Picasa, IrfanView, etc.) are good to have, since Paint only has basic editing features like crop and resize that cannot substitute a full professional photo-editing pack.
WinRAR and WinZip are well-needed upgrades for Windows compressed folders. UltraISO or DAEMON Tools are also strong applications for dealing with ISO images. Nero or any other CD-burning program is highly useful for writing a CD or DVD on your own. There are several extra applications that aren't exactly a must but rather optional: KeePass for keeping a safe password database, Google Earth, Camtasia Studio (excellent screencasting software), video studios, registry cleaners, video converters, PowerDVD, and so on.
From now on, every time you format your PC — accidentally or not — you'll have the list with all the main applications that should be installed on your computer. It is important to permanently keep your machine under protection, set strong filters for suspicious websites, and run defragmentation once a month. Software for maintaining a constant cooler temperature can also be considered a “must-have” if you care enough for your PC.