List Of Must Have Software On Windows Machine
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Every time you reinstall windows or when you buy a new machine with windows, you install some essential programs. I decided to create a list of the same. Wherever there are good competing products, I have listed them together. Some of the software might be free and some not.
Here is a list of software which is a must have on any Windows machine (the developers section is targeted towards software engineers, architects, DBAs etc. and and can be safely ignored by other users):
Security
- Firewall: ZoneAlarm Firewall
- Antivirus: Norton Anti-Virus/ McAfee Anti-Virus/CA Anti-Virus/ AVG Antivirus
- Anti-spyware: LavaSoft Ad-Aware SE Personal
Reading/ Writing / Editing
- Acrobat Reader
- Microsoft Office / OpenOffice
- Ultraedit/ Notepad++ (free powerful editing alternatives to Notepad)
Audio/ Video/ Pictures
- RealPlayer
- Quicktime
- Winamp
- Picasa2
- PhotoShop / Gimp
- iTunes
- DivX Player and Codecs
- Nero 7 Ultra Edition/ RecordNow (CD/DVD burning software)
- SopCast / TVUPlayer (TV/Video streaming)
- WinDVD / VLCPlayer
IM/ VoIP
- Skype
- Google Talk
- Yahoo Messenger
- Windows Live Messenger
- AOL Messenger
- Gaim (A multi-protocol instant messaging client)
Browsers and Extensions
- Firefox 2
- Firefox Extensions:
- Internet Explorer 7
- Fiddler (Fiddler is a HTTP Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP traffic between your computer and the Internet)
- Google toolbar for IE and Firefox
Utilities
- Google Desktop
- Winzip / 7-Zip
- SharpReader / FeedDemon (RSS news reader)
- Google Earth
- Filezilla (FTP Client)
- SSH SecureShell Client / PuTTY
- Thunderbird / Outlook Express / Microsoft Outlook
- Launchy (Open source keystroke launcher for Windows)
Blogging Tools
- Blogging Editors: Windows Live Writer / Ecto / Blog Desk / Performancing for Firefox
- ScreenCasting: Camtasia Studio / CamStudio / Xvidcap / AutoScreenRecorder Free
- Screenshot: SnagIt / HyperSnap
Developer Tools
- .NET
- .NET Framework 2.0 / 1.1
- Visual Studio 2005 /Visual Express Editions
- Reflector
- .NET Obfuscator
- NUnit
- NLog / log4Net (.NET logging library)
- Java
- Others
- Databases and Database Tools
- Design and Modeling Tools
I would appreciate any feedback on the list. Is there a tool which you use and think should be in the list? Leave a comment about it.
I will keep updating the list.
Popularity: 5% [?]
It depends on what’s the purpose of the machine, but if you install WebDeveloper in Firefox, it is mandatory to install Firebug also.
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To the list of .NET tools, I would add ReSharper from JetBrains, productivity add-in to Visual Studio, and dotTrace Profiler, both available from JetBrains web-site: http://www.jetbrains.com
I’d recommend steering people who are at all tech-savvy to the RealAlternative and QuickTimeAlternative packages instead of RealPlayer and QuickTime. You can get them as part of the K-Lite MegaCodec Pack, here: http://www.codecguide.com/features_mega.htm
Along with instructions to use them in your favorite media player. (You’re already recommending WinAmp, and there are plugins for WinAmp!)
–Adrienne
Hey, a nice and well-thought list. Covers most of the genral purpose applications, though slightly on the geeky side
Opera browser, IMHO, deserves a place in Browser list.
Also, WinMerge should be included in programming tools. A source control utility like Perforce or Microsoft VSS is also a must.
Ankit: Good point. WinMerge is a good tool but am not that much of a fan of VSS and would recommend Subversion or CVS.