All Your Computer Will Ever Need

Attn Microsoft Users: Many of you have computers with a Start Menu that is as messy as Alex's shirt after dinner. Your computer already came with some retarded programs the manufacturer thought you needed, and then you installed everything else under the sun. Bottom line is, you only need a handful of free top-notch programs. I've been computering for quite some time, and I'd like to make some recommendations:

This is probably one of my biggest complaints about people who don't really know much more than how to check their email. They have 5 programs to burn a DVD, 12 others to watch a movie, and 15 different ones to print.

First, visit your 'Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs' (or 'Programs and Features' for you Vista people) to delete all non-essential programs.

For you Mac/Linux users, I believe the only programs that don't have versions for you are ImgBurn and the security section.

My Start Menu is only 12 objects tall. Sound impossible? Nope. Here's all the software you'll ever need:


CD/DVD Burning: ImgBurn
This amazing little program can burn anything you throw at it: music CD's, movies, CD/DVD images, Blu-ray, HD DVD, etc...


PDF Reader: Sumatra PDF
Are you tired of waiting for Adobe Acrobat Reader to start? This program is ridiculously small and you get you on your way. Just make sure to make it your default PDF reader on first run.


Internet Browser: Mozilla Firefox
This one's a no brainer. Microsoft Internet Explorer just can't do it like Firefox. Firefox browses faster and allows you to install an Add-on for almost anything (AdBlock Plus and Greasemonkey scripts come to mind.)

Video/Audio Playback: VLC
VLC media player will play literally ANY video or music file you can find. You don't have to install anything extra like codecs, ever. It just plain always works.
ps- you can also play DVD's with this thing.

Torrent Downloads: µTorrent
This install is VERY small. When you download torrents it is the simplest and most straight forward. Everything goes your download folder by default.


Archive File Management: 7-ZIP
If you've ever had a ZIP/RAR/ACE/etc... file that you needed opened, you know the headache. If you use 7-ZIP you'll never worry about Window's lack of support. Multi-file RAR packages, Mac-formatted archives, and even ISO images can all be opened.

Edit Pictures: GIMP
Stop trying to bootleg Adobe Photoshop (Blake). Not only is it a pain to circumvent activation technologies, you don't even know how to use Photoshop! Stick with GIMP. It does everything Photoshop does (and even looks like it) and you'll get less of a headache.

Organize Pictures: Picasa
Some of you may hate this program. But, it does its job well and its hard to beat. So, if you're the type than needs help organizing your thousands of photos that you'll never look at, use Picasa.


Word Processing/Presentation/Spreadsheets: Microsoft Office
*Thanks Nate for reminding me of this essential.
When installing PLEASE choose Custom Install and only check the boxes next to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. This is the only one on the list not free (unless your name is Spoon). If you want free, try OpenOffice.org. It does everything Office does.

Music Collection:
iTunes: iPhone and iPod users should just stick to iTunes even though its a resource hog and installs more than you need. But... you can't beat its features and user friendliness.
Songbird: If you don't care about syncing to Apple devices, they you might want to check out Songbird. Its the Firefox of music organizers. You can install many types of Add-ons.

Security:
I personally don't run any Virus or Spyware protection. But, I don't trust the rest of you, so here's the best protection:
AVG Free: Its free and it works better than Norton or McAfee. If you have one of the latter two, delete them! Who wants to know every day they they need to upgrade/purchase a new version (not to mention how slow they make your computer)?

Spybot Search & Destroy: For all those trojans, key-loggers, pop-ups, homepage hijackers, etc... This thing is tried and true.