Essential Windows Freeware
My mom needs a new PC. Of course it's my task to build and set it up. My mom runs Windows and I won't argue with that, because giving her something new would cause even more support hassle for me 
. But because I don't run Windows myself, I'm somewhat out of know what should be installed on her new system.
Here is a list of freeware and Open Source tools I installed so far:
- Thunderbird – Mail client
- 7-Zip – versatile archive handler
- Adobe Reader – PDF viewer
- AVG Free – Anti-Virus tool
- FastStone Image Viewer – image viewer with a few simple editing tools
- InfraRecorder – CD and DVD burning application
- Pidgin – multi protocol instant messenger
- Spybot Search & Destroy – Anti-Spyware tool
- VLC media player – video player
Did I miss something? What else would you recommend?
2Maybe your mom would like to have Open Office for her documents and something for her music. I use Songbird, it's free and it can manage a library much like iTunes does.
2007-07-08 17:08:05
3Thanks for the tips, leo. The foxit reader isn't free or is it? My mom's new computer should be fast enough to handle even the Adobe monster ;-)
An audio player is a good idea. I guess I'll add Winamp (http://winamp.com) to the list then.
An audio player is a good idea. I guess I'll add Winamp (http://winamp.com) to the list then.
2007-07-08 17:15:44
4Don't know what your Mom is using her PC for, but maybe she want's to create pdfs: http://sourceforge.net/project … dfcreator/
2007-07-08 18:39:47
nlights
5I always find Pidgin a bit confusing. I can highly recommend Miranda IM instead.
2007-07-08 20:00:03
6then for the records ;) the reader component of foxit is free (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/p … _intro.php scroll down a bit "Free Reader") and can be downloaded here http://www.foxitsoftware.com/downloads/ (the very first one)
2007-07-08 21:16:14
leo
8Thanks for all your suggestions. Open Office would be high on my list but my Mom uses MS Office at work, so that's what she needs at home, too.
BTW: gVim is probably last software she'd ever use ;-)
BTW: gVim is probably last software she'd ever use ;-)
2007-07-12 09:22:22
9I migrated my Mum to Ubuntu about 2 years ago and things have got a whole lot better since, like no more (frustrating) phone calls about anti virus updates and service pack 2.
The trick was to getting her to focus on the tasks she actually wants a computer for, at a fairly high level, without specifying Windows, and then making sure she could successfully do the same on Ubuntu.
For example the task list was like "I want to write documents. I want to store and edit pictures from my camera. I want to connect to my bank online. etc.". Once Ubuntu was up, went through the list again to confirm she could complete each task happily.
The trick was to getting her to focus on the tasks she actually wants a computer for, at a fairly high level, without specifying Windows, and then making sure she could successfully do the same on Ubuntu.
For example the task list was like "I want to write documents. I want to store and edit pictures from my camera. I want to connect to my bank online. etc.". Once Ubuntu was up, went through the list again to confirm she could complete each task happily.
2007-07-12 11:00:03
10I would suggest Foobar2000, witch is - for a lot of people that are into music - the best free audio player for Windows, far better than Winamp !
http://www.foobar2000.org
(yes I know : my english sucks ;)
http://www.foobar2000.org
(yes I know : my english sucks ;)
2007-07-14 03:11:10
Arnold
11I recommend these things:
«ntsvccfg» service-configuration-script, http://www.ntsvcfg.de/ntsvcfg_eng.html
«Privoxy» secure websurfing (all browsers), http://www.privoxy.org/
«Keepass» password safe, http://keepass.info/
«Truecrypt» protecting data against 'Bundestrojaner' ;-), http://www.truecrypt.org/
«Eraser» secure deletion of data, http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
«xplorer² Lite», 2 panel file manager http://www.zabkat.com/x2lite.htm
«CLCL» very nice Clipboard Tool, http://www.nakka.com/soft/clcl … x_eng.html
«sudo for windows» for noadmin-account, http://www.lostcreations.com/s … in/sudowin or
«WinSudo↔, http://remnant.ath.cx/winsudo/ … ndex.shtml
«Startup Control Panel», absolutely great, http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
«JKDefrag», defrag win-partitions, http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/
you don't need that at all if you convince your Mom to have a debian based distribution next to windows at least for the internet stuff.
«ntsvccfg» service-configuration-script, http://www.ntsvcfg.de/ntsvcfg_eng.html
«Privoxy» secure websurfing (all browsers), http://www.privoxy.org/
«Keepass» password safe, http://keepass.info/
«Truecrypt» protecting data against 'Bundestrojaner' ;-), http://www.truecrypt.org/
«Eraser» secure deletion of data, http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
«xplorer² Lite», 2 panel file manager http://www.zabkat.com/x2lite.htm
«CLCL» very nice Clipboard Tool, http://www.nakka.com/soft/clcl … x_eng.html
«sudo for windows» for noadmin-account, http://www.lostcreations.com/s … in/sudowin or
«WinSudo↔, http://remnant.ath.cx/winsudo/ … ndex.shtml
«Startup Control Panel», absolutely great, http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
«JKDefrag», defrag win-partitions, http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/
you don't need that at all if you convince your Mom to have a debian based distribution next to windows at least for the internet stuff.
2007-07-19 11:24:20
Stefan
Hi, I'm Andreas Gohr and splitbrain.org is my website.I'm a Web, Wiki and Open Source enthusiast living in Berlin, Germany. Enjoy your stay here.
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i'd go with foxit pdf reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/p … _intro.php) instead of acrobat reader.
also consider building your own modified windows-iso with nlite (http://nliteos.com/)
did you just forget about an audio-player?