My program recommendations

   Alright, I use many different programs in my daily use of my computer. This can be anything from Skype for voice conferences, to Winamp to use to listen to my music library. Here are some of the programs I find worth while and extremly useful.


Voice Communication

   Skype - "The whole world can talk for free"

   Skype, talk to anyone, from anywhere in the world. Wether this be using the instant messaging or the voice conferencing to talk to long distant relatives or people that live only a little ways away this is a perfect application. The voice quality when conferencing with 3 or more people is much better than the quality found on a regular telephone. And its free! No long distance charges, this is all yours at no cost.

Download it [here]

   Google Talk - "Talk and IM with your friends for free"

   So, I am sure you have heard of Google Talk. It wasn't released to long ago, and I am sure you have seen my recent post about the recent Google Talk update. Its a wonderful, simple program that allows you to voice 1 on 1 with a friend only; however, it takes up much less work memory (Random access memory). It allows you also to use im to talk to your friend, once again only with one person. Google Talk not only does these things, but it also notifies you if you get any new emails through Gmail. Overall, an excellent program that I highly recommend. I use Google Talk, a lot through out my day, worth the download.

Download it [here]

Email Devices

   Mozilla Thunderbird is an excellent utility similar some what to Outlook Express but better. There are several perks to using Thunderbird as your mail client. Mozilla's Thunderbird supplies:

• junk mail filters
  Anti-Phishing Protection
  Advanced Security
  Automatic Updates
  Customizable themes, extensions, and more
  

   My only complaint with Thunderbird is the RSS reader, it simply is not as good as the one I am currently using. And I could not find a option to tray Thunderbird down to my task bar, this annoyed me. However, Mozilla built Thunderbird as a mail client, and they did an excellent job in this area. Better than Outlook Express in my opinion, worth the download if you are looking for a good mail client.

Download it [here]

Gmail Beta

   Looking for a free email account, with little to no spam due to excellent spam filters, and lots of space? Gmail is the email service you are looking for. Google's Gmail supplies the user with close to 3GB's of space for there emails, and a excellent interface that is easy, and quick to use. Google recently implemented the ability to use Google Talk's instant messaging within the browser itself, which is just amazing. You don't, on the other hand, have to use Gmail in a browser, you can easily transfer your email account into a email client such as Outlook Express or my personal favorite Mozilla's Thunderbird. You can learn more about implementing Gmail into an email client [here]. This is the best email service you are going to get for free, forgot horrible Hotmail, and anything else you are using and try this wonderful service out for yourself. You can't simply register, you instead have to get invited into Gmail by another person. This is done via Gmail. If anyone does indeed need a invite, simply let me know by emailing me [here].

Learn more [here]

Internet Browser

Mozilla Firefox

   I used to be a chronic user of Internet Explorer until I woke up, and entered the world of Firefox. This browser is just simply amazing, and supports many options that Internet Explorer does not. Great features that Firefox supports:

• Tabbed Browsing (These are a must)
  Improved Pop-up Blocking
  Stronger Security
  Extensions (very useful)
  

   Firefox support extensions, which have literally infinite possibilties. These extensions, can do literally anything, enhancing your browsing expierence. I use several extensions that I would like to recommend for you who are planing to give Firefox a trial run. Some extensions I use are:

• Google Web Accelerator (Speed up your browsing with Google Web Accelerator)
  Adblock (Sick of those pesky banners, and unwanted images, Adblock will accommodate your browsing needs)
  Adblock Filterset.G Updater (Enhances Adblock, extra options, etc..)
  Session Saver(This will save your previous browsing sessions and will open your tabs for your next session)

Download Firefox [here]

Audio Player

Winamp - "Ultimate high-fidelity music player"

   Sick of Windows Media Player? Want something more? I know I sure did, I was tired of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) that WMP (Windows Media Player) used, so I turned to Winamp. Previous to my switch I also tried iTunes for an extensive period of time, I didn't like that ether. Both WMP and iTunes have weak support for obscure audio types, that I personally came accross often enough to make a switch. Don't get me wrong WMP, is fine for video files, but when it is managing thousands of audio files, it does not live up to Winamp. I will copy the features list from Winamp's homepage, just to give you an idea of what it can do:


Feature List

* Winamp is 100% free.
* Plays MP3, CD, MIDI, VOC, WAV, MOD, AudioSoft, WMA and MJuice audio playback formats.
* Winamp is skinnable, allowing for unlimited visual customizations.
* Winamp is plug-in based, allowing any existing or future audio format to be supported.
* Winamp is strongly supported by Winamp.com, where all approved skins and plug-ins can be found.
* Main component has user-friendly button layout for ease of use.
* Built-in equalizer component lets you get optimum sound quality.
* Powerful playlist editor component lets you organize your songs.
* Fully functional Mini-browser component directs you to additional song information.
* All components can be hidden if necessary.
* Main, Equalizer, and Playlist components can be reduced to "Window Shade" mode for maximum desktop space while retaining most functionality
* Main and Equalizer windows can activate "Double size" mode for even easier use.
* Playlist editor can generate an html file listing all songs in current playlist.
* Winamp is built with SHOUTcast technology, which allows for streaming MP3 music from other Winamp users over the internet.
* Winamp is also strongly supported by Shoutcast.com, where all SHOUTcast channels can be found.
* Winamp can automatically check online CD Database for official CD information.
* Built-in Spectrum and Oscilloscope analysers allow you to "see" your music.
* Plug-in architecture also allows for popular Visualization plug-ins, which move in unison with currently playing audio.
* Winamp now is bundled with Winamp Visualization Studio, an excellent "Vis" plug-in.
* Winamp supports Output plug-ins, which alter what Winamp does with the audio. Eg. Play it through speakers, convert it to WAV, crossfade it into the next song.
* Winamp supports DSP plug-ins, which alter the audio itself. Eg. Change its pitch, change its speed, and alter it for SHOUTcasting.
* Winamp supports multiple languages through downloadable Language Packs.
* Built-in Winamp Agent maintains file associations if so desired.
* Winamp has Bookmark capabilities for quick access to favorite songs or SHOUTcast streams.
* Modern Skin support (freeform skins)
* Burning and ripping capabilities

Download Winamp [here]


Video Player

VLC Media Player - "Free Software and Open Source video streaming for every OS!"

   VLC is a great little player, although it has a rather bland GUI, in my books it still earns its place on my honor list. It plays practically any format of video, and audio, although its play list system is not great so, I would not recommend using this as a complete full scale media player. As a video player, it is the best I have come across, and it works for every OS, which helps out Linux and OSX users. This player excellent, for anime watchers, due to the fact that it supports rarer video formats, such as .MKV and .OGM. All the codecs are installed when you download the program setup files.

Download it [here]



Torrent Manager

Bitcomet - A c++ bittorrent client

   Torrents, are quite popular, both in the illegal distrubution of files (lets not go there) and the legal distrubution of files. Many sites use them as a low strain way of getting the files out to numourous amounts of people. Sites like Xboxyde, and Dattebayo use them all the time, seeing torrents are a quick way to get the files out and provides less strain on ones network. Linux distrubutions often use torrents as a way to distrubute there large OS (Operating System) to the mass of people interested in there product. Bitcomet, is a great torrent manager, similar to Azureus; however, it does not use slow java to compute, so it does not hog resources in the slightest, at least RAM. It obviously takes up a good chunck of network resources, but thats a given. Its easy to set up, and it supplies fast speeds for mutliple downloads. Great program.

Download it [here]


Image Management

Picasa - "Picture Simplicity"

   Picasa is yet another freebe via Google. It is excellent for sorting pictures scattered this way and that all throughout your hard drive. You can have it trayed so that, when ever you import a photo it is detected by Picasa and automatically added to its database. The trayed program, also grants easy access to open Picasa at anytime. When viewing a picture, on the left hand side of the program you can enhance the image by adjusting different settings. Such as brightness levels, contrast, and removing red-eye. Overall, this program is excellent for any image managment needs.

Download it [here]