Top

Must have software for your Windows PC

When you buy a new PC, you get nothing but an operating system out of the box.

So you bought a new PC! Great! Here are a few tools to prepare your computer for everyday tasks without spending a paisa (why penny?). Software listed in this article help you format text, edit images, play media, and more importantly shield you from the big bad world wide web. Keep it in mind though that these software are only good for basic tasks. If you are running a business, you are better off paying for professional software suites such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, and a robust antivirus program.

IrfanView

Windows

Developed by Irfan, a Bosnian guy living in Austria, this software by far the best free image editor I have come across so far. The software also works as a photo viewer and organiser. This tiny software allows you to swiftly resize, crop, touch-up pictures. Released in 1996, IrfanView got better with updates, but did not put on megabytes of weight. In a world where a silly third-party Android calculator takes up to 60 MB, this powerful tool is still only around 2 MB in size. I have been using this for making the images web ready for years, so go for it. If you ever need more options to manipulate an image, give Paint.net a try.

Avast Free Antivirus

Windows

Some antivirus software make your computer so sluggish that you would rather put up with a virus. I believe that the best antivirus is common sense. Don't visit the dark alleys of the Internet, never download video players from "those" websites and you should be fine. If that sounds too adventurous for you, then go for the Avast Free Antivirus. Compared to most system doctors, Avast is relatively lighter. It fights virus attacks, blocks malware, and keeps the phishing websites in check. If in case, your system gets infected, Avast can heal it with the effective boot-time scan.

Notepad++

Windows

Godsent for coders, Notepad++ is known for its numbered lines. If you are wondering why it is such as big deal, ask any of your programmer friend often greeted with something like "ERROR: syntax error at line 1337". Coders compare two documents alongside using the dual mode to figure out the anomalies. Thanks to elaborate formatting options, spell check, and word completion, Notepad++ makes for a great content writing software. I have been using it for penning articles for years. In fact, the piece you are reading right now was composed in Notepad++ (apologies, copy editor).

uTorrent

Windows

Torrenting is a grey area. I believe that more than the service itself, it is the content you download decides whether it is good or bad. True, torrents help spread the piracy. However, on the bright side, it offers a way to download distribute licence free software and media to people who don't have access to reliable Internet connection. For instance, Linux, The Internet Archive, and even NASA relies on torrents to share data. So if you are inclined towards using this service, uTorrent is the only software you need to bother with. It is light, straightforward, and does what it says.

VLC

Windows

I know, most of you have known this software for years. However, that isn't a reason enough to exclude this amazing media player from the list. The no-nonsense player handles almost any video format you throw at it without needing to install any codecs. Compared to most media players, VLC is light and unbelievably quick to load on cold start. It is one of the rare free media software that does not force you to click ads or install crappy browser toolbars. It supports plugins to add functionalities such as quickly looking up media info and subtitles.

Free File Viewer

Windows

Most of us receive plenty of documents over email. Just to view these different file formats, you have to install many software suites. Painful right? This is where the Free Document Viewer comes to the rescue. This single software can handle popular formats such as PDF, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, DOC, ASPX, HTML, XML and whatnot. It can also extract text and access other basic features such as zoom and document search. The installation package forces the BuyHatke app on you, which is a bit annoying. However, you can remove it later separately. All things considered, Free File Viewer deserves a place on your computer.

By Chandrakant Isi. The author has been covering all-things-tech for over 10 years. He is a sci-fi aficionado, wannabe space explorer, and Content Lead at MySmartPrice.com.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
Next Story