Eddie On Everything

Recommended Software

If there is one thing that I hate, it’s bloated, buggy software. Sadly, most of the software on the market today seems to fit that category. It seems that as soon as a company scores a hit with a well-conceived title, the suits get hold of it and start inserting every feature imaginable in an attempt to usurp market share from every other publisher out there. “Yes, I know we have an mp3 player… but can we build a browser into it? How about RSS feeds, can we read those? Can we get it to show ads? Hey, lets add a word processor in there too, just for good measure. ? Can it make toast?”

Feature creep kills even the best software out there.

What follows is a list of software that I find indispensible. I consider most of these titles to be part of my “standard desktop environment” - meaning that when I set up a new PC, for myself or for another person, I usually install most of the programs listed below. Much of this software is open source, and most of it is freely available.

All of the software is spyware/adware/malware free. If it’s ever brought to my attention that any of these titles contains spyware/adware/malware, it’s off the list, plain and simple.

I hope to update this list with links to the software download pages, and a short description and review of each title.

Internet

• Mozilla Firefox
• FileZilla - Ftp Client
• Feedreader
• PuTTY
• Gaim
• UltraVNC
• mIRC
• GuildFTP Daemon
• Skype
• DynDNS
• FlashGet

File Sharing

• Azereus
• Shareaza
• Peer Guardian

Windows Add-ons

• Rainlendar
• Teatimer

System

• Daemon Tools
• AdAware
• Spybot Search & Destroy

Utilities

• NoteTab Lite
• WinRAR
• Rename
• Foxit Reader
• Poke

Audio/Video

• WinAmp 3
• AVI Check
• DivFix
• VirtualDub
• Kazaa Lite Codec Pack
• Media Player Classic
• Real Alternative
• QuickTime Alternative
• Lame

Other

• NVU
• Vmware Player
• The Gimp