Whether a computer user is looking for an office suite, a photo editor, a system cleaner or a video player, remember this: good software doesn't have to be expensive. Indeed, if you play your cards right, it doesn't have to cost a thing. There's still plenty of high-quality freeware out there.
Sturdy virus protection is a good starting point when outfitting your machine. A lot of software makers offer free virus scanners, including Avira with its Free Antivirus or AVG with AntiVirus Free.
But be aware that "free" is often going to mean having to put up with advertisements, either in the form of popup windows, or installed adware or toolbars, all in the name of financing the product.
That leads to the next step: installing AdwCleaner, which snoops out spy- and adware and gives you the chance to delete it.
It's a useful tool to have if you don't pay close enough attention when installing software, especially with freeware which, during the initial download, often tries to convince the user to install additional software and sometimes difficult-to-remove browser toolbars.
It usually achieves this by having the options for accepting these installations rechecked at installation, meaning users have to pore over each window during the initial download.
Always think about the source from which you're downloading. Not all of them are reliable. Some portals insist you install their proprietary download software, which is usually unnecessary and questionable and is often a front for ad- or spyware, warns Sebastian Barchnicki of the Institute for Internet Security, based in Germany.
Look for a secure, SSL-encrypted connection during downloads, warns Barchnicki. But note these are rarely offered, either by software manufacturers or download sites.
A browser is also key. Browsers are a standard freeware item and just about every user swears by a different one.
The Tor Browser Bundle, which is a modified version of the Mozilla Firefox browser with an integrated connection to the Tor network, promises the user anonymous surfing and works with all operating systems.
If you want to use both a webmail site and a more classic email client on your computer, check out another solution from the Mozilla Institute. Thunderbird offers a variety of options for personalization and includes both an address book and a calendar.
The need for an Office suite will also likely come up at some point if you use a PC. The leaders in this field are OpenOffice and LibreOffice, two closely related and capable freeware solutions.
Both offer word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software and drawing programmes. In short, they're jacks-of-all-trades that can be used for everything from accounting to writing a final university paper.
Many assume they'll have to pay out some money for a good photo editing application, but there are alternatives to the commercial world here as well. Consider GIMP, which even lets novices start manipulating photos and graphics after only a little practice.
Plug-ins are available to add all sorts of extra functions.
Media players are often limited in terms of functions or by what formats they can support. Sometimes they force users to collect ungainly libraries.
But that's not the case with VLC Media Player, which is free. It supports all known formats and has a nice selection of functions, ranging from subtitles to surround sound to 3D playback.
And, if you're going to be doing all this installing and uninstalling, you'll probably end up with a fair amount of extra data crusting up your computer.
A good programme to clear this out and free up storage space - which, in turn, speeds up your computer - is CCleaner.
It can also sort out the registry databases in Windows, thoroughly uninstall software, format a hard drive or clear your autostart of useless programmes.
Comments
Comments are closed.