Software Recommendations v3 Computer Discussion Question

Hey folks. Here's the list again but includes my thoughts, opinions, and info on each program in case you'd like to get a feel for the program first. That or you actually don't mind when I ramble

Media Players

Suggested: CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack)

For the longest time I used VLC as my player-of-choice, but there's always been little things that have bothered me. The new versions are nice, but the playlist feature isn't useful for people who have their media organized in other manners. CCCP comes with Media Player Classic, which is a wonderful media player. No frills, fast, and easy to use.
Alternative: VLC Media Player

Even though I don't use it anymore, VLC is the best alternative. This sucker will play nearlier anything you throw at it, however it's MKV support and subtitling features leave much to be desired. The plus? It runs on any system, regardless of OS.

Music Solutions

Suggested: iTunes
I know what you're thinking, am I nuts? Nope, that would be Lackey. Anyway I suggest iTunes because I can't use anything else personally (I've got an iPhone, and honestly it seems more work to deny it's usefulness and maintain two libraries of Music and such). Anyway, I suggest iTunes mainly because it is good at what it does. I will agree that it's Windows port isn't the best currently, but if you look at Safari's current beta, it seems that Apple is moving away from shitty ports and realizing what us Windows folks want in a program.

Regardless, after being forced to us iTunes I found I had much more music then I thought, and consolidating it was extremely easy. I realize that iTunes isn't for everyone, but if you have even a semi-decent computer, it's not something to scoff at. The other feature I really love is the podcasts section - downloads them automatically whenever there's a new one.
Video Conversion for iPods/iPhones: iPodme is the best suggestion I can offer. I looked around at tons of programs, freeware, retail, or otherwise; until I happened on this little gem. It requires the .NET Framework, but you out to have that anyway, right? Drop the video(s) you want to convert, select the quality, and then start it. It runs as low priority so you can leave it running while you go about your business, or set it for an overnight batch processing.
Alternative: foobar2000
This is a suggestion that comes from p3ngu!n, though I've also played around with foobar before. It's really a wonderfully lightweight and fast little program. This is a nice suggestion for those of you who don't require iTunes. It also has support for file formats like .APE and such.
Alternative: WinAMP
While I wish I could describe what WinAMP is like nowadays, I can't. I can tell you that I currently run an earlier version of it (2.9x) for support of SNES, PS, PS2 and other video game music files.
Video Game Music: It's possible to play video game music from nearly every system in the same exact manner that you heard it, and it's possible with winamp and plugins. The best site I can suggest is Zophar's Domain, if you follow the links around you can find music from the listed game systems, as well as links to various players, or more likely, plugins for WinAMP.

Anti-virus and Anti-malware

Before I get to the suggestions I thought I would offer some simple advice here. Folks the following programs are best used as preventative measures. While some of the antispyware stuff (Spybot for instance) can be used for clean up of an infested system, the idea is to stop matters before the become a problem.

Really the one major thing to remember when using a computer that's connected to the internet is to use your brain while you browse around. Today it is no longer safe to use Internet Explorer 6. You must upgrade. If you intend to stick with IE, then we can't force you. However I strongly suggest you give one of the other browsers a try, such as Firefox, Opera, or even Google's Chrome. Another thing to keep in mind is do not download and run any executable files no matter where they come from. If you don't have an AV program running, this is extremely dangerous. And finally, browsing porn -- don't just be a typical horny moron. Don't browse random websites and crap that are filled with popups and other such nonsense.

Note: To be absolutely secure and safe (as possible at least) the best way to manage this is to use Firefox, and install the Noscript and Adblock add-ons. For more info scroll down to the browsers section. With noscript, Firefox becomes nearly invulnerable to any javascript-based exploits (and it's updated often as well).

Suggested: aVast!

avast! Home Edition has been, and still currently serves as, my personal AV software. The big plus here is that it's free, as are the following suggestions, however another nice thing about avast! is that it's light on the resources and it does what it says it does. This program comes with various "shields" that watch everything from incoming email, to real-time protection, to really anything else that might facilitate something getting in.

What I look for in an AV program is one that, after setup, is quiet for the most part, and does it's job. avast! is perfect for this because, aside from letting me know it's updating, it's perfectly content to sit in my system tray and monitor anything I've downloaded.
Alternative: Avira

This is a program that p3ngu!n suggests. I've never personally used it, however I understand that it's also extremely light on resources and is extremely effective. However I do believe it comes with a nag-screen.
Alternative: AVG Free

AVG Free was my AV of choice for years. However the program gradually got more and more bloated to the point of being intrusive, and not very useful. Take this as a personal opinion, but I find AVG's behavior of flashing "BUY PRO" to be very annoying. Still, many people swear by AVG still so I felt it only right to suggest it again.

Suggested: Windows Defender and UAC

Basically? This does what you'd think it would -- it defends Windows. Offers real-time protection, secures Internet Explorer, even offers a way to clean up your add/remove program list, edit startup items, and other such misc tools. In Vista and Windows 7 it helps to block programs that require administrator permissions from starting. Though this is an integration with UAC rather then something specific to defender.

Note on UAC: While annoying, UAC (User Access Control) in Vista and 7, is extremely important if you wish to keep your system secure and "untouchable". In Windows XP and previous versions, everything was run all the time as if you were an administrator. This is somewhat of a bad design flaw, as it allows anything to modify anything -- even critical system files. UAC fixes that problem in Windows by making sure that the User (that's you) knows exactly what's going on, and makes sure to ask your permission before allowing a program to run as administrator, or make changes to the system.
Alternatives: Spybot and Adaware

Note that you can install Windows Defender on XP, which is preferrable to running Spybot or Adaware. Anyway... Spybot and Adaware are two very invaluable programs that can help clean a system, and in Spybot's case, help protect a system from malicious software. In many cases if you suspect spyware or malware is slowing your computer down, we'll suggest you run these two programs in safe mode to try to clean up the problems.
Advanced: Hijackthis! and the HJT Analyzer
HJT is an advanced tool for removing malicious software that's insinuating itself in your system. It scans currently running software, software that's set to start on windows boot, and spits back a logfile. This log you can run through the Analyzer and get a report on what's good and what's bad. It even offers suggestions, for instance, if you're not upto date with the latest Windows Service Pack, or you don't have an antivirus installed. We'll often suggest you used this program to create a log that you can then post so we can look it over and determine what, if anything, might be causing errors.

Browsers

Suggested: Firefox
Firefox is the best browser on the planet, period. While other browsers offer significant speed (Opera is still the fastest browser), no other browser offers the sheer customization options that Firefox does with it's ability for add-ons.

Firefox is more then just suggested or recommended, it's something you should already be using, and if you're not, start using it as soon as possible. While it maybe slow (especially with certain add-ons) they're working on that. Even now the beta version of 3.5 is significantly faster then the current stable version available -- I know this because I'm testing the beta right this moment.
- Suggested Extensions for Firefox
  There are many add-ons for Firefox, indeed these are where Firefox's strength lies as far as I'm concerned, so I will try to keep this list short and sweet:
  
  Noscript and Adblock - Be secure, and banish those ads forever! Noscript takes a whitelisting approach to javascript. While somewhat annoying at first, you'll appreciate it the moment it blocks a clickjacking attempt, or just one of those aggravating flash-based advertisements. Fore dialup users disabling javascript by default can speed out browsing time significantly -- while not completely removing javascript from websites you need it for, like webmail and such.
  
  Forecastfox Enhanced - Normally I just use the original Forcastfox, but it doesn't work in the beta. And boy am I glad I switched over. This little extension sits at the bottom of your browser and shows you the weather. As a plus, it gives you a live, animated radar when you hover over the "radar icon" -- something the original doesn't offer.
  
  There are many many more addons, such as Linkification that turns text-urls into actual links you can click on, or Tab Mix Plus that allows you to further customize tab behavior, or Downloadhelper which helps you download FLV movies from any website that embeds a flash video. However I'll leave you to find other cool add-ons yourself.
Alternative: Opera

Opera is the perfect browser for people who don't want to bother with the hassle of Firefox and customizing and all that stuff. Or, simply, for those who want the fastest browsing experience currently available. Opera is used on many platforms, from mobile devices, to other Operating Systems, even on the Wii. The Window's version of Opera is the fastest browser, bar none. As a Firefox fan it's hard to admit it, but it would be folly not too.

Other pluses for Opera is that it's got built in support for torrent downloads, an email client, etc... Another nifty thing is that when you click "back" it's instant -- it pulls the page from cache, as opposed to reloading it. Opera is also very secure, and any exploits that are found are patched nearly instantly.
Alternative: Google's Chrome

Chrome is based off Webkit (Safari's backend). Still Google has made it their own. Chrome is fast, nearly as fast and in some cases faster then Opera. Some of it's significant features is it's minimal user interface, so you see more of the webpage your browsing, and the way it separates tabs into various threads (so if one site crashes it's tab with funky coding and flash and such, it won't fry the whole browser).

While not kept upto the latest build of webkit (which patches exploits and such), Chrome is extremely secure as well. Don't worry about browsing, visit anywhere you want! Another nifty feature is the "private browsing" option, both Opera and Safari have this feature, and Firefox will ship it in the next version. This feature allows you to "hide" whatever websites your browsing until you turn the feature off. Perfect for browsing porn (LOL?) or buying gifts and such while keeping your nosy family members, spouses, or roommates from finding out.
Almost There: Safari 4 Beta

Safari 4 shows us that Apple isn't completely deaf to Window's Users and their cries of mercy. This version of Safari doesn't force a GUI on us that looks like a Mac program, but rather a windows one. Seeing as Safari is also based of Webkit it's just as fast as Chrome is, however IMO it seems a bit more polished. Safari 4 may not be out of Beta yet, but when it does, I'm sure it will be a pretty good alternative to any of the other browsers I've covered thus far.

System Stuff

These programs will seem somewhat random, however these will enhance, replace, or provide features for your system that you were lacking before.

Encryption: Truecrypt
Truecrypt is the open-source encryption program that nearly anyone interested in encrypting their info should be using. Truecrypt supports extreme levels of encryptions, and can even be used to encrypt entire drives. The basic use of this program is that you create a "volume", choose a method of encryption, create a password/passphrase/passkey file, and mount the volume as a drive that the Operating System sees as a normal drive. It can even be used to setup a paranoid "encrypted volume within a volume" so that if you were forced to give up the password to the outside volume, the stuff inside that you really wanted to keep safe would still be safe.

Or something. Anyway if your paranoid, Truecrypt is perfect for you.
Suggested Compression Utility: WinRAR
Technically WinRAR is shareware, so it's not free, however it's nagware instead of a trial. As always I suggest you purchase programs that you find useful. Anyway this program is the perfect program for compression. It integrates well into Window's context menus, it supports nearly every form of compression, and it's lightweight. However I would suggest that you give the following program a try first:
Alternative Compression Utility: 7zip
This does everything WinRAR does, and more. Because I'm stubborn I still run WinRAR, but that's no reason for you to ignore this little gem is it? 7zip supports even more compression formats then winrar, it also integrates into windows, and it's also lightweight and fast. Plus it's completely free, no nag screens!
Burning (Images, Files, or Video): Imgburn
Nero? Alcohol? Roxio? Other stuff your burner came with? Get rid of them all! While Nero may offer extra features such as help with designing labels and such (or lightscribe support), for simple, fast, and no-nonsense burning ImgBurn is perfect.

This program does it all, you can burn Image files (support for nearly all kinds), burn files to a disc like normal, and even create Image files for distribution, or burning to discs later. This program is extremely lightweight, and there's very little nonsense. It tells you exactly what's going to happen and it's friendly! It warns you when there's no label set, or when the filesystem isn't correct (when burning divx dvds for instance). It supports Bluray, HDDVD, DVD, and CD burning. And it's 100% free!

No question, get Imgburn now and drop the other crap you've got!
Virtual Drives/Mounting Images: Daemon Tools
Note: This program comes with "crap" such as a search toolbar and asks you twice or three times whether to install it. Make sure to uncheck these options and to double-check that you're installing Daemon Tools Lite (I've linked to the download for the Lite version above).

This program will virutually mount any image files you may have (nearly any format as well, minus funky formats used by like one program). This program does require you to reboot your system, but after you do and finish installing you then have the ability to setup "virtual" disk drives. It can even emulate support for Securom and other DRM disk schemes.

Does your game still want a disk in the drive? No problem! Use Imgburn to make an Image of the game disk, and virtually mount it with Daemon Tools -- legitimate way to play without the physical disc in your disk drive!

Alternative Disk Imager: If you're having trouble with creating an image of a disk, then the best way to make an image is via CloneCD; however it's trialware not free. Alcohol 120% will also make perfect copies of your game disks (this is how I did it originally). Neither, however, are free.
System Temps: Speedfan

Speedfan is a program that can poll your motherboard for temperatures of various components in your case. Want to know if your system is running too hot? Load up Speedfan and check it out. It includes the ability to run in the tray and display current temps. Speedfan can also be used to actually adjust the fan speeds within a case, however that's something you shouldn't use unless you know what your doing.
System Information: CPU-Z

This little utility will gather info about your hardware and display it back to you. Don't know what kind of processor or memory you have? Don't worry, this program can tell you the exact kind so you can make sure to match memory speeds when you upgrade! It also supports S.M.A.R.T. readouts from your hard drives.
System Drive Space: WinDirStat

I had a hard time describing this program in a phrase. What it does is it scans a drive -- or a single folder -- and shows you where all your drive space has gone. When it finishes scanning, it gives you a visual representation of where your files are and how much they're taking up. Here's a screenshot:

As you can see the "graphical representation" isn't exactly awesome, but it gets the job done. Notice the white outline? When you select a folder, here I've chosen my iTunes Music folder, it outlines it below to show you how much space that folder is occupying.

This program has been invaluable as I've been backing files up and moving them around so I could finally repartition my storage drive correctly.
Notepad Alternative: Notepad2

There are many notepad alternatives, but I've found notepad2 to be perfect. It's light, fast, and extremely awesome. I use Notepad2 more often then anything else while I'm tweaking website designs, playing with codes, or just typing up something random. What's really awesome about Notepad2 is that it has syntax highlighting for nearly everything -- php, xhtml, javascript, etc... One of the first things I do, and did for Windows 7, is to replace the normal windows Notepad, with notepad2. This allows me to continue to use the file associations for "notepad" but doesn't actually change anything except the program.

Did I mention it's just as fast as the regular notepad? And it also asks you before opening large files to avoid freezing. Though sometimes you just have to load those massive files -- like my chat logs from the ORG Network's chatroom

PDF Reader: Foxit Reader
There are very few other programs that can compete with the massive bloatware that is Adobe Reader. I'm not sure what they're trying to accomplish with Adobe Reader, but come on folks. All it's there for is to display PDF files -- why does it need integration in windows at such a level that installing it or uninstalling it requires you to restart the computer?

Foxit installs in about, oh, 10 seconds. It loads pdf files just about as fast, and can even work with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Get it now, and get rid of that crap called "Adobe Reader" -- RIGHT NOW!!

Retail Programs and Alternatives

Graphics: Adobe Photoshop
Really what can I say? Photoshop is the best. But it's expensive as hell. Here are some alternatives (and no, none of them suggest becoming a pirate )...
Graphics Alternative: Paint.net

Paint.net is based off the .NET Framework, as such it's pretty lightweight weighing in at only a few megabytes. Still it's a very powerful little graphics program. It supports layers -- just like photoshop -- however it is limited obviously. For some people though, Paint.net has replaced photoshop. Paint.net can accomplish simple jobs, from creating awesome signatures, to just dealing with screenshots or banner work. Or just slapping some text over an image for comic effect.

Paint.net is one of the coolest freeware programs around as far as I'm concerned, especially as an alternative to Photoshop.

Graphics Alternative: GIMP

Let me be clear, I knew that if I didn't mention GIMP someone would badger me about it -- While GIMP does offer functionality similar to Photoshop, I find the learning curve required for GIMP to be insane to suggest to a new user, or even to a user used to Photoshop.

Still, GIMP is powerful in what it can do, and it a truer "photoshop alternative" then anything else. It's also open-source and free so that's something to consider. If you're looking to transition away from photoshop, or to just give GIMP a try I suggest GIMPShop which is a "hack" of GIMP to replicate the feel of Photoshop.
Antivirus: Nod32 by Eset
If you're going to purchase Antivirus software, why not go with best? Nod32 is what security experts like GRC's Steve Gibson use -- Check out alternatives up above for free stuff.
Office: Microsoft Office
Let's be honest here. If you want to get anywhere today you're going to need to know how to use Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc... There's just no getting around it. If you don't know about Office yet, either you're to young, or really living under a rock If you don't want to become a pirate, then there is an alternative...
Office Alternative: Openoffice.org

Don't let the name turn you off, this open source office alternative is not only free, but extremely good at being an alternative. While you're not likely to encounter this in the workplace, on your personal computer you can run OO.org without worry. It support damn near any format -- include Microsoft Office formats, as well as PDF and the open doc format. OO comes with what you'd expect, a word processor, a worksheet program, even a powerpoint-alternative! It also includes a database solution as well.

Did I mention it's free?