Microsoft Windows PC Software In Use
Microsoft Windows PC Software In Use
This lists the Microsoft Windows PC software I use by application title.
| Product | Version | Last Visit | Cost | OS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audacity (used with any MIDI player) | 11/Nov/03 | Free | Windows & Linux |  | |
| Audacity is cross-platform and free and can be downloaded from SourceForge. Uses LAME for recording MP3. Also use Audacity for general waveform editing, it will even take some VST plugins. sndrec32.exe (comes with all versions of Windows) can also be used but it only seems to record a maximum of 60 seconds. In either case, use the "Volume" applet and change to recording settings and select "Stereo Out" as the sound source. Sound recorder will then record anything being played by the speakers. | |||||
| AVG Anti-Virus | Free Edition (v7.0) | 14/Apr/04 | Free (More options plus support and server versions are paid for) | Windows | |
| Excellent, simple anti-virus tool. Free for simple, home use. Don't forget to regularly (at LEAST weekly) download virus database updates. | |||||
| Documents to Go | 6.005 Premium Edition | 01/Jan/04 | Palm & Windows | | |
|
Allows the viewing and editing of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. Unlike similar apps, does not loose any additional formatting and capabilities of a document on the desktop after editing on the Palm. Can now also maintain full native format files (these are larger and slower to use on the Palm but great for backups that can also be edited). Also supports Adobe Acrobat (minus graphics) and will convert images (bmp, gif and jpg) to palm format. Also has a simple email client that will synchronise with Microsoft and Lotus email clients and supports attachements of the types listed above. I also use it to keep backup versions of important documents. Remember though that private documents are wide open if you misplace the Palm, especially on external cards. Don't be fooled by some of the competing products which claim compatability with MS Office. They often loose formatting after being edited on the Palm/PocketPC. | |||||
|
| |||||
| DVD Decrypter | 3.1.4.0 (3.2.2.0) | 03/Jun/04 | Free (?) | Windows | |
|
Simple, handy tool will write an ISO file (or similar) to CDR. Will also create a backup copy of a DVD | |||||
| Ahead Nero 5.5 will also burn ISO images to CD (see menu File\Burn Image...) | |||||
| EasyPHP | 1.7 | Free | Windows (Individual apps also Linux) | | |
| Combination of Apache web server, mySQL database and PHP for Microsoft Windows. Used as the development platform for my web site. Apache 1.3.27, PHP 4.3.3, PHPmyAdmin 2.5.3, mySQL 4.0.15 NOTE: Most distributions of Linux come with these three applications ready for installation, EasyPHP is simply an easy way of managing the installation and operation under Windows. | |||||
| FinePrint | 5.25 | 16/Jul/04 | $49.95 | Windows | |
|
Excellent printing support tool. Allows multi-pages per sheet and even booklet printing, manual duplex and many other features. Updates seem to be mainly free of charge (maybe not for major releases?). | |||||
|
| |||||
| FreeMind | 0.7.1 | 30/Mar/04 | Free | Windows & Linux (Java Based) | |
| A nice little mindmapping tool which does all of the basics though it is still a little unpolished. It would be nice to have a Palm version too but better mindmapping tools are very expensive (USD60+). The data is stored in XML so it is possible to write tools to transfer and manipulate it (e.g. with ShadowPlan which I have done). There is a support forum on Sourceforge | |||||
| ImageMagick | 6.0.3 | 16/Jul/04 | Free | Windows & Linux (Plus others from source code) | |
|
For raw power and "batchability" this is hard to beat. Also supports a great many image types. See here for some additional examples of use. Here for a load in additional information. And here for a useful tutorial. | |||||
| Inkscape | 0.3.7 | 20/Feb/04 | Free | Linux & Windows | |
|
Inkscape is a fork of the (also free) application, Sodipodi. Simple but nice SVG vector graphics editor which is shaping up to be a powerful tool. Gives an outline, text based view of the picture as well as a graphical view making it very good for learning about SVG. | |||||
| There is a tiny SVG editor called EVE which may be worth a look. | |||||
| iSilo | Palm and Windows | | |||
| No longer in regular use, replaced by Plucker. Used to view websites offline. Can convert images too. Use the free iSiloX desktop to convert documents. | |||||
| K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (Incl. Quicktime & Real Alternative) | 1.01 | 21/Apr/04 | Free | Windows | |
| Replacement Quicktime player and Realplayer along with loads of audio/video codecs.
Enables playback of DVD without paid-for codecs (using the provided "Media Player Classic"). Get rid of advert laden Quicktime and Realplayer! | |||||
| K9 | 1.28 | 20/Apr/04 | Free | Windows | |
| Small, fast SPAM analyser. Works as a POP3 proxy with any Windows POP3 based client (including MS Outlook and Outlook Express). This is a really good little utility and saves me no end of grief as I am now getting up to 90% spam on my business email address. I never get false positives with K9 (except maybe one or two in the first week of use before the automatic training really kicks in) and it successfully tags 80-90% of all spam. It is very easy to use and has pretty low overheads too. | |||||
| Kerio Personal Firewall | 4.0.16 | 17/Jun/04 | Free version also available | Windows | |
|
This is the paid-for version of the software, it reverts to a "free for home use" version after 30 days. When it reverts to the free version some features are disabled (mainly content checking). Here are some additional resources and info links for KPF: Kerio Forum at DSL Reports Version 4 Manuals | |||||
| A alternative is Agnitum Outpost which gives about the best security of any of the personal firewalls (a free version is available). I find, though, that Outpost is a little fussy in use and sometimes becomes a pain. | |||||
| LAME | 11/Nov/03 | Free | Windows & Linux | | |
| LAME is available for several platforms including Windows. The basic application is command line only but various tools use the libraries and "Wav2MP3 Wizard" (on SourceForge) is a Windows GUI frontend for LAME. LAME is easy to use once you understand the basics of MP3 formats (there are good help files) and produces excellent quality. | |||||
| Microsoft Office | XP Professional (2003) | lots! | Windows | | |
| Another necessary evil. MS Office may have more features but OpenOffice is free and does do some things that MS Office doesn't (or does badly). | |||||
| Microsoft Outlook | XP (2003) | Often Free(ish) | Windows | | |
| Used for business email because of its integration with tasks/calendars/notes. It has a potentially very powerful scripting interface that is seriously let down by being only partially and poorly implemented. In my opinion, Lotus Notes is a far better tool because of its power, however it is let down by cost and lack of being marketed as a personal tool rather than a large scale corporate one. | |||||
| Microsoft Windows/XP | SP1 | Too Much! | Windows | | |
| A necessary evil Recently (2003-2004) finding recurring problems with both print drivers (for an old Lexmark inkjet) and a CD Writer (Yamaha). This has meant that I've started to use Linux for these tasks out of necessity, life is far too short to be constantly reinstalling Windows. | |||||
| Windows/2000: This is fine for most stuff and may be more reliable in some cases. Windows/98: Not recommended as it is at the end of its life and has never provided reasonable security. Linux: Getting much better but still needs a fair bit of technical knowledge in most cases. | |||||
| Mozilla Firefox | 0.9.2 | 16/Jul/04 | Free | Windows & Linux | |
|
Fast, highly configurable open-source browser - now my default browser. Free at last from many of the security problems caused by Internet Explorer! I only use IE when I really have to now. Note the name change (again) from Firebird to Firefox. | |||||
| Firefox and Mozilla Browser share pretty much the same code now - however, I prefer the interface on Firefox. | |||||
| Mozilla Thunderbird | 0.7.2 | 16/Jul/04 | Free | Windows & Linux & Mac & Others | |
| Excellent, free mail and news client. Supports multiple personalities, multiple accounts, POP3, IMAP4, NNTP. Still has one or two bugs being only at version 0.6 but is perfectly useable. Good replacement for Microsoft Outlook Express and one of the few packages worth considering as a replacement for Turnpike's multiple personality support. Support can be found in the forums. | |||||
| Thunderbird and Mozilla Mail are now pretty much the same application though I prefer the interface on Thunderbird. | |||||
| Nero Burning ROM | 5.5 | UKP10 | Windows | | |
|
Full price is much higher than this but it can be obtained cheaply if you shop around. Windows/XP has a CD writing capability built in but it is no where near as usable as Nero. | |||||
| Note that Linux has tools almost as good as Nero which are free. | |||||
| NetStumbler | 0.4.0 | 09/Jun/04 | Free | Windows | |
| Useful utility to hunt out wireless networks currently in range. | |||||
| Neutron | 1.03 | 30/Jun/04 | Free | Windows | |
| Another superb little utility from Robin Keir (author of the K9 anti-spam software). Synchronises the PC's clock with a public atomic clock. Just run a startup (place a link in the startup folder). Much better than the built in Windows time synch. | |||||
| Noteworthy Composor | Windows | | |||
| Excellent music score editor and not too expensive. Works well but it's major shortcoming is the lack of any import/export for more open score formats. I have never managed to even print to Adobe Acrobat successfully. You can export to MIDI but this looses lyrics and much other information. Use the same process as for converting MIDI files to record to WAV or MP3. | |||||
| OpenOffice.org | 1.1.2 | 16/Jul/04 | Free | Windows & Linux | |
| THE office application for those not wanting to give loads of money to Microsoft. It is generally said to be comparable to Office 97; however it does have some more features and indeed some features that Microsoft Office still doesn't have. I use it when MS Office lets me down (largely because I have to use MS Office for work) but it is more than adequate for most people for all general use, no need to spend a fortune. Supports MS Office formats pretty well too. Check out the macro for creating extended PDF files. Also see this comparison of OOo and MS Word ways of working. | |||||
| PalmReader | 2.5.3 | 16/Jun/04 | Free (an enhanced version is also available) | Palm, Windows, Mac, PocketPC | |
Supported on Palm, Pocket PC, Mac and Windows it has a good range of books available and seems a lot faster than its main rival MobiPocket. The other rival is Adobe Acrobat which is a more widely supported format and whose security can be broken so you can back up the books that you have paid for - however, perhaps for that reason, there are not so many books available. I've found that I am quite happy with reading books on the Palm and it means that I no longer need to upset my wife with yet more books to store somewhere!< Cleverly, PalmReader uses the number of the credit card you used to buy the book as the code to open it (you can change it later online and re-download if you want to). This means that you can read it on ANY number of devices and even lend it out - assuming you trust the person!Note: It is not supported directly under Linux but can supposedly be run using WINE. This again highlights the limitations of eBooks. | |||||
| MobiPocket, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Reader. MS Reader is MS ONLY and therefore VERY HIGH RISK as a platform for the longest term. Acrobat is probably the best bet for very long term but is poorly supported, possibly because of its security limitations (it is possible to bypass the security). MobiPocket has the widest platform support (PalmOS, Windows CE, PocketPC, SymbianOs, Franklin eBookMan and Windows as at Jun/2004). However there is no free version. It does allow annotation and allows customisation (fonts, etc.) but you can only read your books on up to three devices!! You have to change the "pid" online so you are totally reliant on the web site where you purchased the book for future use. OK, I had a response from an anonymous source about MobiPocket. Here is the email and my responses (in red): In the following page (http://www.knightnet.org.uk/IT/software/free-software.htm), you say that Mobipocket Reader does not exists as free version. I invite your webmaster to go and read carefully the pages listed below, and update your website. http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/DownLoadReaderStep1.asp http://www.mobipocket.com/en/Support/KBase_article.asp?ArticleID=331 http://www.mobipocket.com/en/Support/KBase_article.asp?ArticleID=26 [JK] Thanks for the info, it is a shame that this information is so well hidden! Moreover, there are more eBooks in Mobipocket format than in Peanut format.[JK] As I acknowledge. Publishers now publish and sell nearly only in Mobipocket format.[JK] Nonsense! There are many thousands of books being published in eReader format. Last but not least, the Palm encryption does not work with the widely used "e-credit-cart" system, where you ask your bank to give you a temporary credit card number for one purchase (because you do not trust the payment system). [JK] Actually it does as the downloaded eBook simply requires the credit card number, it's only a number nothing more. [JK] Your comments still do not get round the fact that you are TOTALLY dependent on the originating web site continuing to operate should you ever change devices more than twice -- this is appalling! I have books that I still re-read after 30-odd years and may well pass to my children, will the originating web site for an eBook still be operating the same system in 30 or 100 years time? I think not. At least with eReader books, I can note the number and pass it on. [JK] Of course, the software probably wont exist in 30-100 years anyway and this is why I will only EVER by low cost books this way, I'll never pay full price for a book in electronic format until I can be sure that it will still be available to me in 30 years time. [JK] Many thanks for your comments though, Jules. | |||||
| Plucker | 1.6.1 | 01/Dec/03 | Free | Palm, Windows, Linux(?) | |
| Used to view websites offline. This has now replaced iSilo since the JPluckX desktop tool has been released. This is far easier to use than the old Plucker desktop (which required Python to be installed - or was it Perl?). It can also convert RSS news feeds. It also includes a Palm tool which captures links saved from within Plucker and converts them on the next hotsync. | |||||
| Pocketknife Peek | Free | Windows | | ||
| A tool for MS Outlook which allows you to open an email an look at all headers and content without any risk. Use for checking out probable spam. | |||||
| QCD | 4.51 | 16/Jul/04 | Free | Windows | |
| General purpose music player. Recent versions allow recording of most things that QCD can play (CD, MP3, WAV, etc) in WAV, MP3, and some other formats. Great tool, much prefer it to WinAmp (QCD can use some WinAmp plugins too). | |||||
| SA2000 | 16/Jul/04 | Free or UKP7.50 | Windows | | |
| A simple, spreadsheet (Excel) based solution that is the equal of the more expensive products. Includes ALL of the main sections of the return, more than most of the other similar products. Even better, it is free to download and use, simply plug the appropriate figures in and then copy the results to your paper (or Internet) return. However, for UKP7.50 you can unlock the print facility which will produce a printed, authorised copy of your return plus the calculation sheets and some summaries. The same fee also allows you to file the return directly over the Internet (provided you have a login with the Inland Revenue). Save yourself lots of time and hastle, and money, by using this software! NOTE: Leave several months for setting up an account for online filing via the Government Gateway, it can be a painful process. | |||||
| Secret! | Palm and Windows | | |||
| Encrypted notepad for storing information safely. There is a desktop version too (at extra cost). Much better than most such applications as it requires no structured input, just stores information in memo type pages so you can keep whatever you want. Rather costly for what it is. | |||||
| ShadowPlan | 3.0 | $22.99 (Palm/desktop) | Windows & Linux & Palm | | |
|
Used to maintain all sorts of lists from Books and videos through shopping lists to To-Do lists for managing projects. Main application for this is on the Palm, the two applications automatically synchronise. Can link tasks with the Palm To-Do app. On the desktop, the data is stored in XML format so it should be possible to write tools to swap and manipulate it (e.g. integration with FreeMind). Has a very responsive developer and support discussion group. | |||||
| Bonsai, ThoughtManager, LifeBalance, BrainForest. Bonsai is probably the closest, it is more expensive (to maintain as well as to buy), has a better desktop (as of June/2004) but is nowhere near as feature rich on the handheld. | |||||
| Spybot Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware | 16/Jul/04 | Free | Windows | | |
| These two applications need to be used together as they each find slightly different malware. Ad-Aware can be found at: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ Spybot Search & Destroy can be found at: http://www.safer-networking.org | |||||
| SWORD | 1.5.6 (Windows version) | 16/Jul/04 | Free (Some bible modules have a cost) | Windows, Linux, Mac | |
| Superb free bible study software. The main version is for Windows but there are companion projects for Linux and Mac. There are many "modules" containing lots of different Bible versions, comentaries and dictionaries. | |||||
| There is commercial software as good but I'm not sure that there is anything better. | |||||
| The GIMP | 2.0.2 | 15/Jul/04 | Free | Windows & Linux | |
| Great graphics/image processing application. Though not quite as powerful or easy to use as Adobe, it doesn't cost UKP500! More than powerful for most use and not too tricky to use. Also get the LZW compression library (available separately due to license issues) so that GIMP can save GIF files. | |||||
| The Rename | 2.1.6 | 05/Jul/04 | Free | Windows | |
| Fantastic free renaming utility, a lifesaver for serious digital image users. All of my camera images are renamed as <date> | |||||
| Turnpike | 6.02 | Windows | | ||
| NO LONGER IN USE. It isn't going to get updated and I've had license troubles that I can't be bothered to fix. Replaced by Mozilla Thunderbird. Internet Email and News application I use for personal email. Very good support for multiple addresses (e.g. an email name fred@acme.com or jim@acme.com) can be associated with a particular folder so that when sending email it always goes from the correct address). However, it is not a brilliant interface and while its filtering is very powerful, it is very unfriendly to use. Hasn't been updated in a long time and a final bug fix release is due but that will be (officially) the last release. | |||||
| UltraEdit | 10.20b | 15/Jul/04 | $40 | Windows | |
| There may be better editors out there but I've tried a lot and not many come up to UltraEdit's standards and I'm used to it now. It's rather expensive though for what it is. | |||||
| Vuescan | 8.01 | 21/May/04 | Windows & Linux & Mac | | |
|
Gives full control over the scanning process and allows much higher
quality scans than vendor supplied software. Mainly used for film
scanners but now also supports many flatbed scanners too. Purchasing a license gives you perpetual access to updates and the license code works with VuePrint as well. Support can be found at the comp.periphs.scanners newsgroup | |||||
I also have a list of software that I do not use (because I personally find it not worth the money or effort).
Page: Updated 2008-07-10 08:50:09, Author Julian Knight