Windows Apps – Beat The Recession

We’re fans of “Free” and Open Source software here at JW.com. So I thought I’d share a list of software, all of which are free to download, that would allow me to work perfectly fine on a new Windows XP PC, not having to worry about piracy, licenses or costs.

I’m taking the angle of a fresh install of Windows XP (SP3) – so if you are interested in trying some of the listed products you do so at your own risk, as they may conflict with existing software you all ready have installed. (for example, an Anti-Virus).

I’ll try and cover all the usual categories of what “normal” day-to-day computing is (for me at least), so forgive me if your favourite category of computing is not covered. By all means, comment and leave your own suggestions.

1. Security.

Windows users should never compromise on security, and it goes to show that investing in security software can be invaluable to your privacy and security. That being said, my recommendations for free security apps are to be combined for maximum protection.

1a. Avast AV Free Home Edition

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Avast!

Avast offer a free Anti Virus and Anti-Spyware protection which fully updates automatically via the Internet. Not only does it monitor your Internet Browser, it also monitors your IM, E-Mail and P2P Clients, giving you all round protection.

Avast Home Edition is free for 60 days, at which point you will need to register for a free key. This key is valid for 1 year, at which point you apply for a new free license.

1b. Spyware Guard

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html

Not to be confused with the Rogue Spyware Guard app!

Spyware Guard is real time Anti-Spyware protection software and prevents the download and installation of known spyware files. In addition, for Internet Explorer users, it will pro-actively protect your IE browser from being Hijacked.

1c. Spyware Blaster

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Spyware Blaster

Spyware Blaster is another anti-spyware protection app. It will prevent the installation of known ActiveX spyware files that affect IE . SB also protects Mozilla FireFox

Note that this software will not remove spyware, only that it will prevent spyware installing on your system, so it’s good protection to have from the start.
You have to update the software’s protection definitions manually, which is quick and painless, but there is an option to Auto-Update at the cost of $9.95.

1d. MVPS Host File

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

MVPS Hosts File

Quite simply, MVPS Hosts File is a Host file replacement.

As you may or may not be away, the Windows Hosts file plays a pivotal role in Internet and Network usage from your PC. Before your Windows PC talks to any external DNS, it will query your Hosts File for instructions first. The Host file can be edited to manipulate Internet traffic and for this reason leaves it vulnerable to malicious use. In the same way that malware can edit the Hosts File to re-direct or block your browser, you can use the same technique in reverse. In short, MVPS’s Host file, pre-populated with known bad sites, prevents your computer from accessing them and thus getting infected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file

Firewalls:

There are also a variety of firewalls you can use instead of XP’s Security Centre, but since XP SP2 integrates a desktop based firewall I’ve chosen not to list any here. Additional software firewalls can often slow a PC down and can be a nuisance at times whilst it learns the rules of what can and cannot access the Internet. And on that note – lets move to online apps!

2. Internets

Now that my base build has a decent degree of protection and malware prevention, my next list of freeware and open source applications will cover my basic online needs.

2a. FireFox 3.0 (and then some).

http://en-gb.www.mozilla.com/en-GB/

Mozilla FireFox Logo

I’ve been a FF user for a while now and it’s a must have app on ALL my OS’s. Of course there are alternative browsers such as Chrome, Safari and Opera – but, in my opinion, it’s the FF add-ons that make this browser number one!

So, without further ado, here are my FireFox recommended extras.

2ai. – MozBackup

If you are actually starting a fresh build, and like me want to keep the same settings you have across all your OS’s, then MozBackup is a MUST. Of course, if you haven’t all ready made a backup before starting a fresh build then you’re stuck – but fear not, start using MozBackup today, and never lose your FF set-up again.

2aii. – AdBlock Plus

Take the nuisance out of browsing with this perfect companion. Once installed, you can subscribe to AdBlock lists to stop a whole bunch of Ad popups and banners. In addition, you can AdBlock frames and images on the fly by right clicking the nuisance image banner or ad and adding it to your filter.

2aiii. – NoScripts

NoScripts makes FF even safer, by allow you to choose only the sites you trust to run scripts in your browser, protecting you and your browser from known and unknown vulnerabilities.

2aiv. – FlashGot

(See FlashGet below).

2b.  FlashGet.

http://www.flashget.com

FlashGet Download Manager

FlashGet is my favourite and must have download management tool. Although the most recent version (1.9.6) is add supported. It’s not intrusive or aggressive advertising, it’s simply a an additional frame within the program that serves “recommendations”. This can be disabled by going to View > Recommendations and permanently disabling the “FlashGet Recommends” toolbar. Apparently, in v2.0 of Flashget all adware will be removed from the source code.

There is a FireFox add-on for FlashGet called FlashGot which allows you to download links directly from websites by highlighting and right clicking URL’s and hyperlinks both singularly and batch;  perfect for Rapidshare links and the like!

FlashGet also handles torrent files + FTP connections and you can store such server logins for File Hosting services for speed and ease of use.

2c. Pigin

http://www.pidgin.im/

Pigin - Screenshot Example

When it comes to Instant Messaging (IM), there are a wide variety of choices. However, there are few programs out there that combine the most popular of them for a “all under one roof” solution.

Trillian and Adioum X are worth an honorable mention, but Pigin is a much better, more stable, cross platform, multi protocol IM Client. It doesn’t support Video at the moment, but I’m sure as Pigin advances and develops we will have such capabilities soon.

2d. Adobe Flash and QuickTime

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Adobe Flash Icon

Of course, Adobe Flash player for web video and multimedia streaming. How would we keep ourselves entertained online without it?

With that being said, I often come across Apple Quick Time supported content, such as streaming videos and movie trailers, so I’m also going to make an honorable addition to this entry for QuickTime.

2e. Miro.

http://www.getmiro.com/

Miro Logo

Miro is a free HD video, TV, Internet and podcast player, which organises RSS video feeds into Channels that can be downloaded and played offline.
No longer do you need to visit multiple video streaming sites such as YouTube/Google Video, as Miro allows you to make your own channels of your favourite websites. When new content becomes available, Miro retrieves it for playback.

3. Multimedia

Now we move on to Desktop Based entertainment. We’ve covered Internet Entertainment and have established the means of being able to download content – but how do you play the songs and movies that you download?

3a. SongBird

http://www.getsongbird.com/

SongBird Example

SongBird is the Open Source answer to iTunes, including iPod synchronisation. It’s an Internet Browser focused around music. It’s fully customisable and is based on the Mozilla (FireFox) core. Because it’s browser based, it will actively scour the web for elements associated with your music, such as Flickr images or YouTube videos. It’s compatible with Last.fm and also allows you to shop for mp3’s and concert tickets.

3b. VLC

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

VLC Player

Without quoting the website, VLC Media Player is an open source project for play back of many different types of audio and visual files of various file type extensions and codecs. VLC doesn’t require additional codecs or software for it’s playback, it just…. works!

3c. K-Lite Codec Pack

http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

K-Lite Codec Pack

Whilst we’re on the subject of codecs, you may not like VLC or may just want to use Windows Media Player. For this purpose, I recommend the K-Lite Codec Pack which is a combination of all the popular codecs (DivX, Xvid, AC3) rolled up into one installation.

3d. DVD Flick

http://www.dvdflick.net/

DVD Flick

DVD Flick is a DVD authoring tool which will convert various video formats to DVD to play back on your Home setup.

You can also make your own DVD movies with the ability to add menus and audio tracks. Plus – it’s free of cost, adware and spyware!

3e. 7zip

http://www.7-zip.org/

7-zip

7-Zip is a compression tool, much like WinZip and WinRAR, but is free and supports a wider variety of compressed file types.

Supported formats:

• Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
• Unpacking only: ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI, NSIS, RAR, RPM, UDF, WIM, XAR and Z.

3f. Open Office

http://www.openoffice.org/

Open Office Suite

Open Office is the open source equivalent of Microsoft’s Office suite of Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint and is fully compatible with this suite, able to read and save as the same file types. (.doc, .xls etc)

Writer = Word
Calc = Excel Spreadsheet
Impress = PowerPoint
Draw = Visio Type App
Base = Access Database

3g. GIMP

http://www.gimp.org/

GIMP

The GNU Image Manipulation Program is an open source alternative to Photoshop with an array of similarities.
There are plenty of tutorials online to for you to learn how to use this application, but if you can’t shake off the Photoshop feel – how about looking at Aviary.com

(http://www.aviary.com)

3h. Scribus

http://www.scribus.net/

Scribus Example

Scribus is an open source Desktop Publishing application similar to Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress.

It’s suitable for making magazine articles, brochures, newsletters, posters and books. You may associate this application with the likes of Miscrosoft Publisher as it works in the same way, but offers support for PDF and other formats.

3i. Amaya

http://www.w3.org/Amaya/

Amaya 10.0

Amaya is a web authoring tool, much like NVU/Kompzer, that allows you to create web sites and update website content directly on the web, commonly referred to as a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) HTML editor.

Also works with XML and sister languages.

If you’re looking for a good FTP client, then take a look at FileZilla!