Great Software for Microsoft Windows
This page lists great software for Windows that i personally use. Most are also available for Mac and Linux.
Anti-Virus Software
See: Windows: Best Anti-virus Software.
Image
Image Viewer
| Windows | Mac | Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Irfanview | GraphicConverter | Linux: Best Image Viewer |
- GraphicConverter
- Irfanview
- Linux: feh. see: Linux: Best Image Viewer for Random Slideshow.
Photo Collection
| Windows | Mac | Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Google Picasa | Google Picasa | Google Picasa |
Picasa Pains: Using Picasa Web as Backup; Sync All Folders
Image Editor
| Windows | Mac | Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Gimp | Gimp | Gimp |
Vector Graphics Drawing
| Windows | Mac | Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Inkscape | Inkscape | Inkscape |
- Inkscape. ♥
Video
Video Player
| Windows | Mac | Linux |
|---|---|---|
| VLC | VLC | VLC |
- VLC media player
- Windows and Mac: QuickTime. Not as a player, but you'll need this when playing videos from Apple.
Video Capture
Screen Video Capture, Screencasting, Softwares
DVD-ripper. HandBrake. Can't really rip encripted DVD. But good for converting DVD format to some video format as a file.
Video Editing
I haven't done any video editing. But here's what i heard that works fine.
For linux:
Audio and Music
Music player. Windows and Mac: iTunes
See: Audio Recorder, Synthesizers, MIDI Software.
Office (WordProcessor, Spread Sheet, …)
Gmail, Yahoo Mail, HotMail
Windows, Mac, Linux: Mozilla Thunderbird
Windows: Windows Live Mail. 〔►see Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, Confusion Ball〕
{Voice, Video} Chat
- Skype. 〔►see Skype Chat Encryption and Screen Sharing〕
- Google+ features “hangout”, which is voice and video chat for 2 or more people. 〔►see What is Google Plus and Google+ Songs〕
Text Chat, IRC
all-in-one chats software for your Yahoo/AIM/MSN. But these usually only support text chat, no video or voice.
- Mac: Adium
- Mac: Colloquy (IRC client)
- Windows: Pidgin (sucks major.)
These days, just use twitter
ebook file Reader
- Calibre (software) 「calibre」 {.epub}
- FBReader
fbreader{.epub, .chm}
Microsoft Help File (.chm)
- XCHM
xchm{.chm}
File Sharing, BitTorrent
- Transmission (BitTorrent client) (Mac, Linux)
- Deluge (software) (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Vuze (Windows, Mac). Requires Java. I do not recommend.
- Windows: μTorrent
Text Editor
Emacs. See: Tutorial: Install Emacs for {Windows, Mac, Linux}
Very occasionally, i also use:
- Mac: TextWrangler
- Windows: Notepad++
Keyboard Macros and Launchers
- Microsoft Windows Keyboard Software Guide
- Mac: Key Remapping, Keybinding Tools
- Linux: Keyboard Software Guide
File Secure Deletion
See: How to Secure Delete Files, Shred Files, Wipe Drive.
Math
see: Great Math Software
3D Modeling Software
Unix utils
Mac: build-in. But to install extra, use Fink or MacPorts.
Windows: Cygwin. 〔►see Installing Cygwin Tutorial〕
VirtualBox. Best tool for running linux on Windows. 〔►see How to Install Linux on VirtualBox〕
For text terminal, you can use ssh in cygwin (install openssh within cygwin). Also, in cygwin, use MinTTY. Or, you can download PuTTY.
Windows Tools for Programer, Sys Admin
PowerShell. Great command line shell: 〔►see PowerShell Tutorial〕
- Process Explorer At http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653
- FTP client. FileZilla
- FTP client, Firefox add-on: FireFTP.
- 7-zip (zip, unzip, gzip, extracting installer exe etc.)
- Microsoft Log Parser 2.2. Source www.microsoft.com
- Cacls Command line tool to view or set file permissions.
- Wireshark (a packet sniffer)
- Peer gardian (IP blocker)
- ZoneAlarm (full featured firewall)
For monitoring network, see also: tool for monitoring network traffic on Windows 7 Home At http://superuser.com/questions/302559/tool-for-monitoring-network-traffic-on-windows-7-home/
Inno Setup. (create installers)
This isn't exhaustive list of install software. Though, it contains all apps i use daily.
- Daily: emacs, cygwin, Google Chrome, Firefox, IrfanView, Safari, Opera, Skype.
- Weekly: GIMP, iTunes, Mathematica, VirtualBox, Firestorm/Phoenix (Second Life), Inkscape, Google Earth, Picasa, Thunderbird. (Mathematica should be there)
Just noticed a Walmart Photo Center there. lol. That's one of those
bundled bloatware which somehow escaped my notice.
It's going to trash now.
Also, note that ComboFix.exe. It is supposed to be a rootkit detector or remover, but i haven't researched enough to be sure it's good. It is there temporarily.
For tools i use on linux, see: Xah Linux Setup.