Having used several iterations of Windows which goes all the way back to a limited understand of Windows 3.1 but I didn’t really start using it until Windows 95, I’ve been around the block.  There is lots of freeware out there and sure we have a list of 30 freeware applications on this very site which presents you with several options if you want that but maybe you don’t, maybe you want to know what’s the very best.

In no particular order…

1.  CCleaner will clean out your junk files and errant registry entries which in most cases will give your system a mild to moderate speed boost depending on how bad it is.

2.  AVG Free Edition is one of the very best free anti-virus solutions on the market and was just updated to version 8.0.  The new version features a revised interface as well as built-in anti-spyware protection.  It’s a must have upgrade for present users of the older 7.x series, the version 8.0 installer will automatically upgrade the older version.

3.  Auslogics disk defrag is a simple "on demand" disk defragger and should be good enough for home users that don’t need to do scheduled defrags or across networks.

4.  Comodo Firewall is one of the few free firewalls that will work on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista.  Despite issues with earlier versions, the newest version seems to have fixed all those problems and is now quite a competent firewall and allows Windows Update to complete without any problems.

5.  Iconoid should be considered optional, it’s nice if you want to hide the icons on your desktop so all that’s viewable is your desktop background; if you like having nice properly sized desktop backgrounds.  If not, then this one won’t matter much.

6.  Firefox 3 Beta 5, sure, version 2.0 is okay but version 3.0 beta 5 is fast and makes 2.0 look like last century’s news so why bother?  Get it, use it, put version 2.0 out to pasture or out with your garbage provided you don’t need all 50 bazillion extensions that you’re using.

7.  OpenOffice, a free office suite to replace Microsoft Office, it only lacks an email client.  Mac OSX users can seek out NeoOffice which doesn’t require X11.

8.  Paint.Net, a free image editor to replace Windows Paint that supports layers and several other features that you would find in PhotoShop.

9.  Adobe Media Player allows you to watch many shows from CBS, Paramount and to a limited extent, NBC-related networks.  Offerings include CSI, the original Star Trek Series, Jericho, Survivor and others; all with limited commercial interruption, very similar to Hulu except in a desktop application.  Now, if only Hulu could offer a desktop application.  Adobe Media Player is compatible with both PCs and Macs.

10.  VLC Media Player plays almost every audio or video format under the sun, why not have it?  It’s free.

If you thought there should have been more on the list, I direct you towards my 30 free essential utilties for Vista, I’m sure you’ll find something there and yes, some of those are on this list but these are my favorites from that list with a few subtractions and additions.

I realize this is only my opinion so tell me what you think.

n

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Related:

Free Vista Sunday, defrag with defraggler

Free Vista Software Sunday: MWAV antivirus - no installation required

Free Vista Software Sunday: PC Tools Firewall Plus 3.0 – a free Vista firewall

Free Security Software for Vista

Free Vista Sunday, tune up your PC with Advanced Windows Care

Entry was posted on Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 10:07 am under Free Software, Vista.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Jonathan Schlaffer.