Top 10 free PC programs everyone should have
There are millions of free and open source projects available, many of them better than any commercially available product. Below is a short listing of what we think is the best out there, broken down into ten categories.
antivirus and malware protection
Most PC users realize that they need protection on their computer or
may have an installed antivirus program from their computer
manufacturer. What most don't realize is that there are free programs
that are just as good and in some cases better than the commercial
products. Below are our recommendations
Malware and Spyware protection: Malwarebytes
Backup solutions
There are dozens of
free and commercially available backup programs for computers.
Unfortunately many of those backups are stored locally, meaning if your
house were to catch fire, get robbed, or if you lost your backup discs
all your data would be lost. This is why when dealing with important
data we suggest users use online backup services.
Browsers
Although Microsoft Internet
Explorer comes pre-installed on Windows computers. There are several
excellent free alternatives that everyone should try. These free
alternatives can often be faster, have more options, and in many cases
be more secure than Internet Explorer.
Internet Browser: Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome
Compression utility
When downloading
files on the Internet you'll eventually encounter a .zip, .rar, or other
compressed file. Dealing with these files can be easy with our below
free file compression utility.
File compression utility: 7-Zip
Disc ripper and creation utility
Creating
an audio or data CD/DVD, ripping the data from an audio CD, or creating
a CD from a .ISO file can also be done freely using our below free
recommendation.
CD burner utility: CDBurnerXP
E-mail
E-mail is yet another service
that can be done freely. Most users today use online e-mail solutions
like the one listed below. However, for those still using an e-mail
client such as Microsoft Outlook we strongly suggest one or both of the
below suggestions.
E-mail client: Mozilla Thunderbird
Online e-mail: Gmail
FTP, SFTP, and SSH Utility
Users who
maintain their own web page or need to upload
or download files to or from a server will have to use an FTP utility
or a SSH client. There are many commercial programs capable of doing
this but our below free recommendations beats them all.
FTP client: Filezilla
SSH client: Putty
Image editor, paint program, and picture organizer
There are many great free solutions for editing,
creating, and organizing your images on your computer. Many of the
programs capable of doing these tasks can be several hundred dollars,
but all of the below programs are completely free.
Image editor: GIMP
Paint program: Paint.net
Picture organizer: Google Picasa
Multimedia
There are dozens of
different multimedia programs with different capabilities and
limitations. Below are our top free multimedia programs for watching
video files and recording audio.
Audio editing and creating tool: Audacity
Video and DVD Player: VLC
Office Suite
An Office suite such as
Microsoft Office is often one of the most expensive programs that a user
can install on their computer. Why install these expensive programs
when there are free solutions that are just as good.
Office suite: OpenOffice
Notepad and Source code editor: Notepad++
Top 10 terms every parent of teenagers should know
Below is a listing of what we believe should be the top terms or lingo parents of teenagers should know. Knowing these terms can help you relate more with your child as well as help identify whey they may be hiding something from you.| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| FOS MOS P911 PAL PAW PIR TOS CD9 Code9 |
Parent, Teacher, or other Adult watching. |
| ASL MorF RUMORF |
Age, Sex, Location. Also in chat MorF or RUMORF is used to ask if male or female. |
| 143 459 ILU |
I love you text message code. |
| F2F LMIRL MIRL RL |
Face to Face, as in lets meet in person. May also use MIRL, LMIRL, or RL, which is short for requesting to meet in real-life. |
| 420 | Marijuana or other drug related text message code. |
| Sexting 8 |
Term used to describe the act of sending sexual, explicit, or pornographic messages or photos over a text message. The numeric code 8 is also used as code for oral sex. |
| GNOC GYPO NIFOC |
Get Naked On Cam. Also related is NIFOC, which is short for Naked In Front Of Computer and GYPO, which is short for Get Your Pants Off. |
| KPC | Keep Parents Clueless. |
| RUH | Are you Horny? |
| S2R STR |
Send to Receive, used when asking for someone's picture in order to get theirs. |
Top 10 Firefox add-ons
Below is a listing of our top 10 favorite Firefox add-ons or extensions. Part of what makes Mozilla Firefox so great is all the available add-ons and installing these add-ons can help improve your abilities and the overall feel of Firefox. Each of these add-ons can be found through the Mozilla Firefox add-ons page or through the links provided below.
StumbleUpon
Great add-on that works with StumbleUpon that allows you to browse only the best of what the Internet has to offer.
AnyColor
Another fantastic add-on that allows you to change the color and appearance of Firefox to any color of your choice.
Download Statusbar
Often one of the
first add-ons we install after installing Firefox for the first time.
This add-on displays the download status on the status bar instead of
opening a new download window.
TinyURL Generator
Another great add-on
that allows you to click a small icon in the bottom corner of the
Firefox window to quickly generate a small URL for the page you're
looking at. This is fantastic if you find yourself sharing long URL
links often.
WOT
Fantastic add-on that helps keep
your web surfing secure. The add-on will display a warning screen across
a web page if it's deemed insecure. A security warning could be caused
when the web page is known to participate in phishing, has Trojans,
scams, etc.
Omnibar
Another great add-on that
turns your URL bar into a Google search as well as the address bar. This
helps save your browser real-estate space by removing the redundant
Google Search box.
AutoCopy
Another great add-on that
allows you to quickly copy and paste text. A must for any blogger who
finds themselves frequently copying and pasting text. highlighting the
text will immediately copy that text, without having to right-click and
select copy or using a keyboard shortcut.
Adblock Plus
Another add-on that's a
must for users who're sick of sites that plaster advertising on their
pages. This great add-on allows you to add and remove advertisements
from a web page so you don't have to look at them.
Read It Later
Another great add-on
that helps eliminate the dozens of tabs some users keep open because
they haven't finished or started reading that tab.
Time Tracker
Finally, this little gem
allows you to keep track of how much time you're spending in Firefox by
displaying a little clock in the right portion of the status bar.
