Software Recommendations - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

FlamesAddiction · 03-23-2007, 08:59 PM

I just got a new computer with Vista and was wondering if anyone could recommend good freeware or shareware programs. It's pretty bare right now.

I need a decent music player and virus/spyware protection in particular, but I would also like to try out anything that people think is cool or useful.

I'm also not against paying for the best anti-virus and spyware protection, if anyone can recommend anything that they think is the best.

BlackEleven · 03-23-2007, 09:07 PM

some free stuff:

music player: winamp
spyware: ad-aware
anti-virus: avg
firewall: zone alarm

As for cool software, what kind of stuff are you into? photography? music, movies,etc?

FlamesAddiction · 03-23-2007, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

some free stuff:

music player: winamp
spyware: ad-aware
anti-virus: avg
firewall: zone alarm

As for cool software, what kind of stuff are you into? photography? music, movies,etc?

Thanks.

Pretty much anything. Photography, music... the usual. Plus anything that would life easier. Any utilities or applications.

Ford Prefect · 03-23-2007, 09:12 PM

I'm a Mac user and I didn't realize that Windows doesn't have all that stuff built in. Mac OS-X comes with all that stuff plus lots more as basic components of the OS.

La Flames Fan · 03-23-2007, 09:12 PM

Add Spy-bot Search and Destroy to that.

I like iTunes personally for my music player.

Ad aware, and zone alarm are good ones too.

Firefox (which you surely have)

BlackEleven · 03-23-2007, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Thanks.

Pretty much anything. Photography, music... the usual. Plus anything that would life easier. Any utilities or applications.

Well if you're into photography and don't want to buy photoshop (or *ahem borrow* it), you could check out GIMP:
http://www.gimp.org/windows/

Picasa is a pretty cool app for organizing photos:
http://picasa.google.com/

Skype is a neat little app for chatting over voice/video:
http://www.skype.com

FlamesAddiction · 03-23-2007, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

I'm a Mac user and I didn't realize that Windows doesn't have all that stuff built in. Mac OS-X comes with all that stuff plus lots more as basic components of the OS.

Well, windows does have some of that stuff... but it's crappy and watered down.

It came with a free 90 subscription to Norton anti-virus, but the updates wouldn't work. Also, their media player is sucky for setting up music libraries and making playlists.

FlamesAddiction · 03-23-2007, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by La Flames Fan

Add Spy-bot Search and Destroy to that.

I like iTunes personally for my music player.

Ad aware, and zone alarm are good ones too.

Firefox (which you surely have)

I had Firefox on my old computer and downloaded it on this one, but I have not installed it yet. I am weary of trying anything on Vista unless I know it will work. The guy at the store told me that any program that worked on XP would work on Vista... but he was wrong. I installed MusicMatch Jukebox on here, and it screwed everything up. I ended up having to re-format everything.

Does anyone use Avast for virus protection? It was recommended to me by a few people, and I put it on my new computer. I am a little weary though, because a couple of viruses did slip though on my old computer with Avast.

Keep'em coming.

Vulcan · 03-23-2007, 10:21 PM

If you're with Shaw, Shaw Secure is free. Like Norton it's a hog, but it seems to work fine. I use Diskeeper Lite as a free defragmenter but I hear Vista has a pretty good one itself.

CrusaderPi · 03-23-2007, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

I'm a Mac user and I didn't realize that Windows doesn't have all that stuff built in. Mac OS-X comes with all that stuff plus lots more as basic components of the OS.

he he. All this "reaction" to vista has me feeling smug, as a Mac user, too.

You have to install what? LoL

peter12 · 03-23-2007, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Well, windows does have some of that stuff... but it's crappy and watered down.

It came with a free 90 subscription to Norton anti-virus, but the updates wouldn't work. Also, their media player is sucky for setting up music libraries and making playlists.

Holy crap, I hate Norton. I do not miss my old PC.

Flickered Flame · 03-23-2007, 10:44 PM

I have never had any problems with Avast.

FlamesAddiction · 03-23-2007, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

he he. All this "reaction" to vista has me feeling smug, as a Mac user, too.

You have to install what? LoL

I am really not liking Vista. I've had the computer for a week, and I've had a lot of problems. Explorer stopped working on me because of something I downloaded to be able to watch videos on TSN. And now I keep getting problems with my sound. It seems to randomly not work.

Bobblehead · 03-23-2007, 11:46 PM

I've never had an issue with Avast.

Stay away from ZoneAlarm. The built-in firewall is adequate.

Firefox or Opera, whichever you prefer.

PsYcNeT · 03-23-2007, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I am really not liking Vista. I've had the computer for a week, and I've had a lot of problems. Explorer stopped working on me because of something I downloaded to be able to watch videos on TSN. And now I keep getting problems with my sound. It seems to randomly not work.

I bought Vista Ultimate 4 months ago and still have yet to use it after a week-long trial run, in which it a) dropped my gaming benchmarks by 20%, b) disabled my second video card, c) forced me to buy a new wireless card, d) gave me many soundcard problems, forcing me to use my onboard motherboard (read: crappy) sound, e) did nothing of interest other than looked pretty.

Until all of these issues are worked out, or I buy a DirectX10 enabled video card (whichever comes first) I will stick with XP Pro, as it works perfectly fine

Leon · 03-24-2007, 12:00 AM

FireFox 2.0: "Of course." I hear you saying it. But we all know that when it comes to not being a chode while surfing the net, FireFox gets the job done easily and efficiently. The only extensions I use are AdBlock Plus, FasterFox, and MediaPirate. If you don't wanna be a chump and use FLVPlayer, use http://www.mediaconverter.org to convert to other formats easily online.

NOD32: This is a great anti-virus protection program, and awesome since it is free...ish. It works on the trust system; offers a trial for 30 days which you can get around by uninstalling and reinstalling. Pretty snazzy if I say so myself.

uTorrent: This is my favorite torrent client to use so far, and i've tried most of them. It isn't java based, doesn't take up much memory to use, and has a download scheduler for people with limited bandwidth.

Foobar: The music player that makes WMP look like a cheap hooker. It doesn't strain your system to run, has a simple interface, and is easily customizable. Along with it's basic functionality, Foobar allows 3rd party plug-ins to be loaded also. You can load presets (zip file) for lots of music types, an Ipod plug-in (zip file) that doesn't suck like iTunes, and even skinning support if you feel fancy enough.

Acala DVD Copy: Now I know Alcohol 120% is pretty cool, but this is so damn simple and efficient it's hard to pass up. One easy download good for 3 burns can be simple to crack for the full version, which you can get off of any torrent website or you can pm me and i'll email it to you.

StyleXP: This is the easiest way to pimp the shiet outta your computer.

Nuff said.

If you need a crack for this too pm me and i'll email it on over.

BSPlayer: If you already use ZoomPlayer, there really is no reason to switch to this, but imo BS Player is one ing great media player. I like the fact that you can have the video play as your desktop image.

SoulSeek: THE best 2p2 client out. So basic, so clean, easy peasy.

F.A: Not to be a twat or anything, but it sounds like you're using alot of straining programs, there's alot of better stuff out there. Firefox > IE, always. Winamp is fairly straining, more so than it has to be, the rest should sort you out.

calculoso · 03-24-2007, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Stay away from ZoneAlarm. The built-in firewall is adequate.

I've never had problems with ZoneAlarm... I'm curious about why you say this. The built-in firewall in XP isn't configurable enough for my liking

Kipru · 03-24-2007, 12:51 AM

Media Player classic/+FFDShow codecs: The simplest and greatest video player. Nothing to do with microsoft.

Opera: The greatest, most advanced and most easy to use web browser there is. Once you get used to mouse gestures you can't live without them. Also you can give it commands with your voice, just like to K.I.T.T. And it speaks too!

Minilyrics for winamp: This great plug-in shows you the lyrics of the tune you are listening.

Open Office.org: Great office program, and its free.

If you are interested in 2d CAD drawing, then progecad is great choise. I'm not sure if its free anymore.

Phanuthier · 03-24-2007, 03:59 AM

I've had Vista for a while, Firefox is fine.

As for comments on Vista, looks pretty, but its a pain. Mac OS-X blows Windows out of the water.

Bobblehead · 03-24-2007, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calculoso

I've never had problems with ZoneAlarm... I'm curious about why you say this. The built-in firewall in XP isn't configurable enough for my liking

I've read a bunch or reports on various tech forums about it corrupting the IP stack. I'm sure it is only a small percentage of users, but if the internal one is fine, why bother with another app?

For most people the integrated one is more than enough, but if you are comfortable with Zone Alarm feel free. I used Zone Alarm years ago, but when went behind a router I just let that act as my firewall.

When paople ask me what they should use, I always say get a router (the wired ones are dirt cheap) or barring that use the integrated.