Windows recommended apps

[Silenus]

No problem, glad you were around to correct it.

[Hard core Rikki]

BTW, Acdsee is NOT an image editor, but an image viewer. It's just grown very bloated.

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Irfanview can look ugly to many. Thats why exists XNVIEW, wich shockingly supports many times more formats (even PS1 TIMs and EA pics!!) out of the box, and features a easy browser interface.
Gratis.

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File Compression category:

You folks might want to try IZarc. It's more like 7-zip on hypersteroids., can decode and encode into so many formats his continued absence from this list kept me staring at the screen in stunned disbelief.
Gratis.

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For those who care about security, the windows firewall, while ok to block intruders, will do nothing to prevent leaks from your computer, wether it's some phoningback software of malicious stuff.

As worthy replacements, I suggest trying Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall (the easiest of all firewalls), or Comodo Personal Firewall for the more technically inclined among you.
Both Gratis of course, with Kerio deactivating suspending some noncritical features after 30 days if you dont buy it.

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For those who want their XP systems looking highly impressive and Vista-like, you could use the BricoPack full conversion themes for XP (NOT recommended with XP64). Any would be fine, with my personal preference being the BricoPack Vista Inspirat Ultimate 2.
Gratis.
Vista-like.


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For those who dont have Microsoft Office, but want to open, read or print MS-Office documents created with Word, Powerpoint and Excel, I recommend using the free Word Viewer 2003 , Excel Viewer 2003 , and Powerpoint Viewer 2003. Noone needs MS Office just to read those docs.

Yes, all gratis. Just google those.

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For those who love the security concept of User Account Control, or have to deal with limited accounts on XP, using SUDOwn would be a very nice addition to XP, as it provides convenience with security in a single package. Yes, that's SUDOwn as in SUDO for Windows. Got it ??
Gratis, of course.
Vista-like security feature.

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I totally oversaw the screencasting category. You really should append prices and licence status to each entry. Makes no sense to plug hyperpopular payware softs too, gratis alternatives should be plugged instead. A critic on the inclusion of Photoshop and Acdsee.


I can suggest to add TAKSI.
Gratis.
Open source.

Taksi is a utility that allows you to take screenshots and record video clips of your favourite games and other 3D-graphics applications. Inspired by Fraps, Taksi aims to provide an open source alternative.

Taksi can support live video compression with any VFW video codec your system has installed (i.e. XVid, DivX, MS Mpeg4, etc).

Supports user-specified key mapping, allowing user to assign almost any key to a particular function (such as video start/stop, screenshot trigger, etc.). Runtime re-mapping of the keys is supported via GUI: user can change keys without having to restart the game.

Custom video settings are supported. This allows to specify on a per-game basis the frame rate of the captured video, and the weight of each source frame. The weight determines whether a particular frame is captured or not. This allows for creation of smoother and faster videos, when generic algorithm doesn't produce desired results.

Note 1 : Its most important asset is that it allows to use ANY codec you have, wich could be less ressources-hungry or higher-quality ones (if you got the horsepower), like realtime Xvid, or MJPEG...

Note 2 : Sound recording does not work yet.

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Tsk, tsk, tsk... How about an update, Sylenus?
Till' next time, take care !!
Hmm, maybe I should make my recommendations into a free newsletter? Ther's so much love to share...

[Silenus]

Thanks for the info HcR.

about this.

I totally oversaw the screencasting category. You really should append prices and licence status to each entry. Makes no sense to plug hyperpopular payware softs too, gratis alternatives should be plugged instead. A critic on the inclusion of Photoshop and Acdsee.

I think the purpose of this thread is to share the info with our members of the apps that we have experience using.

You have to think that photoshop is one of the most used programs in the graphics area, and anybody trying to design should have at least basic knowledge of the app I think.

btw, are you spanish, you seem to like to use the word gratis a lot.

[Hard core Rikki]

Originally Posted by Silenus

anybody trying to design should have at least basic knowledge of the app I think.

btw, are you spanish, you seem to like to use the word gratis a lot.

No, but main currently-non-permanent HQ is close to Spain.

Why gratis? Because it doesnt cause as much confusion as Free (wich I exclusively use to refer to opensource stuff but alas is kinda confusing/misleading for some), in the same way GNU/Linux isn't to be considered a Linux distribution made by raging rodeo maniacs from Texas.
I could've use Freeware instead.

Anyone here relying on this list is likely not to have advanced enough needs to require Photoshop, wich they would know about/use anyway if they're from the design department. It is also horribly expensive, and Photoshop Elements would be a wiser choice for home users.

======================

But sayyy, speaking of free alternatives

1 - INKSCAPE
Inkscape is an openSource vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator/Freehand using the popular SVG file format. It is production-ready for printing jobs
Freeware.
Opensource.

2 - SCRIBUS: A worthy alternative to InDesign
Freeware.
Opensource.

3 - BLUEFISH: a nice replacement for Macromedia Dreamweaver.
Freeware.
GPL, obviously.

4 - JAHSHAKA: Powering The New Hollywood
A nice and powerful enough alternative to Adobe's Premiere nonlinear video editing solution. It is already production-ready, but version 3 WILL be THE ONE to make you switch. Just you be patient.
Freeware.
Opensource.


5 - Diskeeper 9 LITE is available for free when obtained from the Inel Desktop Utilities pack. Just scroll down to get the FULL PACK (currently 88 megabytes), decompress it and install Diskeeper separately. Done deal.
FREE


6 - MPTRIM: an mp3 file cleaner/silence remover. VERY handy for corrupt mp3z (the paid versions only have batch conversion, and longer allowed mp3 time)

* can trim MP3s - removing silent or unwanted parts.
* can adjust the volume of MP3s. Volume change can be manual or automatic (volume normalization).
* can fade-in/out MP3s (to fix abrupt beginning/ending).
* can clean-up MP3s and recover wasted disk space.
* keeps the music quality intact, no matter how many times you process an MP3, because it works directly in the MP3 format without having to decode/re-encode. That also makes it very fast.

=================

Resorting that first thread, adding short descriptions, and appending price+Licence, I believe is necessary, as well as cleaning those entries+removing redundant ones. Hey, we only need a few notable ones, with priority given to the best performing+gratis.

Shockingly, Spyware Terminator isnt listed yet. It is the ONLY FREE antispyware to offer permanent protection against this, all other only offer it after you pay.

About firewalls, btw, you might want to check this FIREWALLS REVIEW. You might have a seisure though after you see the scores. Outpost is NOT a strong performer, and apart from Comodo and Jetico Personal Firewall, all the other worthy ones are NOT FREE. Our gamer money is best spent on games and peripherals btw.

I strongly suggest to keep the list short and efficient. Noone needs to see Adobe DVD Encore or such. Anyone needing those would have them already.

Also, WAMP is not a single soft, but more like LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/Python), a generic term for a combination of related softs. A recommended WAMP package would probably be easyPHP

=====================

Suggested removals:

-

Outpost Firewall PRO cheats to be very strong against leak-tests but in fact it is weak against real malware

I see you've been misled by someone. Congrats! Nothing beats thourough, dedicaced testing.

- Xillsoft video encoder doesnt seem notable either to me. Being list first and not being free, its inclusion might mislead n00bz into using it rather than the others.

- The Google toolbar. SHOCK!! . The Yahoo toolbar is recommended here instead, because it features a realtime antispyware. A VERY welcome addition, though google's bar gives better searches.

Dave’s Quick Search Bar: gives access to multiple search engines. Also appreciated is that it resides in the task bar rather than only inside the browser so it's easily accessible from any application. It also includes a dictionary, thesaurus, calculator and much more !!

- DAP: very worrying privacy concerns here, adware, less efficient than IDM wich highly deserves a spot here, for those 56k users. GetRight shares the hall of shame with DAP.

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Is this short enough for a forum? Or maybe long enough for a newsletter? I could use the worship myself !!

[Kane]

I finaly got fed up of Nero's bloat, and I switched to VSO's Copy to DVD. A nice small DVD copy app

[PowerUser]

Originally Posted by Silenus

Audio and Video Codecs:
ffdshow for audio/video decoding and all that jazz
Klite codec pack
Combined Community Codec Pack
Core AVC
Vista codec pack
Divx codec
Xvid codec

I propose the removal of:
ffdshow,
Divx codec and
Xvid codec
Since Combined Community Codec Pack already brings those codecs/filters embedded.

Originally Posted by Silenus

Download Accelerator:
DAP
Free Download Accelerator
GetRight

I know I've been away from internet downloading for a while, but I thought GetRight was NOT free.


Also, if you're interested in virtual machines, VirtualBox could be an interesting alternative. It runs faster than the old VirtualPC from Connectix (now Microsoft's) and is still in active development. Also, free of charge for personal use.

[Kane]

If I want a download manager, I user Firefox's extensions:
Download Statusbar and
Down Them All!

[Silenus]

I don't know which way is this thread taking.

The apps listed here, are the apps that our members recommend and have experience using, it doesn't matter if it's free or not.

Thanks for the free alternatives Hard core Rikki.

I'll try to sort them later but I won't remove an app just because it isn't free.

[PowerUser]

Originally Posted by Silenus

The apps listed here, are the apps that our members recommend and have experience using

Yes, I understood that. You're making a list of tested and recommended quality software.

Originally Posted by Silenus

... it doesn't matter if it's free or not.

(...)

I'll try to sort them later but I won't remove an app just because it isn't free.

My bad. Sorry.

[ian209]

"Avast! Antivirus Home Edition"
is also a nice FREE antivirus that works with Vista as well as older OSes.
All u need is to register, which is free and is fast.

[Hard core Rikki]

Long time this thread got no love


Ever got all sweaty when you had to type your passw0rds in websites (or even more info) ?
This extension should look handy then, and help the most security conscious among you

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3383


KeyScrambler Personal edition (free) encrypts your logins and passwords AS YOU TYPE these to log into your fave sites, shielding these from enterception from keyeloggers.
There are other payware versions that extend your protection to ALL websites and all infos, not only login data.

- KeyScrambler Personal protects all your login information from keyloggers for free.
- KeyScrambler Professional protects everything you type into a web page - your passwords, credit card numbers, search terms, and email messages - in all parts of the browser, including URL, popup password dialogs, and master passwords.
- KeyScrambler Premium, developed for businesses of all sizes, protects Outlook and Microsoft Office applications, in addition to protecting everything that the Pro version protects.

KeyScrambler defeats keyeloggers by encrypting your keystrokes at the keyboard driver level, deep within the operating system. When the encrypted keystrokes reach your browser, KeyScrambler then decrypts them so you see exactly the keys you've typed. Keyeloggers could only record the encrypted keys, which are completely indecipherable.

Hope you find it useful somehow
Lots o' nice freebies left in mah pocketz

[hjh5990]

Originally Posted by Kane

If I want a download manager, I user Firefox's extensions:
Download Statusbar and
Down Them All!

I use those extensions too =]. do you happen to know why i sometimes get an error like 503 when i try downloadign using downthemall?

oh btw, has anyone mentioned altools yet for file compression tools?

ALTools PC Utilities - Zip, Unzip, FTP, Movie Player, DVD Player, Picture Viewer, Login Password manager Software

[CcrescentC]

good collection guys!

[501XX]

I use KMPlayer for my video files and DVD video.

[Hard core Rikki]

Nice one indeed. I'm more of a SMplayer fan, personally. I guess I'll have to compare the two more thoroughly, that was slightly overdue, due to various time constraints.

Mmmh, Mplayer for Windows...

Funnily, I use it mainly for ONE major thing that seemed to have never been implemented in Media Player Classic ;P

[Silenus]

Thanks for the info guys, will update later the first post.

[Hard core Rikki]

quickie notice: Mplayer for windows is very noobproof while remaining very capable.

Kmplayer in the other hand is more capable, but will definitely be significantly confusing to use for the nontechy (the default settings are not optimal, and some tweaking should prove necessary before regular usage). more for the techy. i like it.


new category: disc catalogers

InsideCAT (freeware)
..:: InsideCAT, disk cataloguer for powerusers ::..

If you got 80 DVDs and cant be bothered to insert them one by one just to find one file, disc catalogers are your next fave piece of soft. catalog discs, then leave em stored till you really need 'em. need a file? search for it inside the catalog, and you'll instantly know where its stored and on which disc(s). very useful. i suggest you folks give that category a spin. in that aspect, insideCAT is easy, feature filled, and yet resource-efficient.