applications

One of the most frustrating things about a fresh OS is figuring out what to install first to get your up and running. Here are my list of essential apps

One Visit Windows update to get the latest updates and keep your computer safe & secure. Keep returning to this site until there are no more updates available.  http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Two of the first things you should install is antivirus I strongly recommend Nod32 as it has a small footprint and has very little slowdown on your machine. You can try it for 30 days free. http://www.eset.com/

Three Install firefox. Firefox is an essential add-on for any computer it provides much safer browsing over the default browser Microsoft’s internet explorer. You can also add many great extensions onto it to make it even more useful. Get it free now. http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Four PDF reader software. PDF is a format used widely across the internet for displaying documents which look the same regardless what platform the document is displayed on. Used for displaying bills, lecture notes, instruction manuals etc. Get this great lightweight and fast reader for free now. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

Five A video/audio player. This is a fantastic free player that plays almost every video and audio player around on the web eg MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX. An essential install to watch all those free video downloads. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Six Music software. With the amount of music that people have today keeping your music collection organised is essential. iTunes works great as a free music management software, best thing you don’t even need a iPod. Using iTunes you can also download music from the iTunes store now that most of the music there is now DRM and will work on almost any music player. iTunes can also be used as a podcasting client. http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Seven Adobe Flash. Flash is a plugin required by sites like youtube.com to play video. It is an essential install for any computer user planning on surfing the web. http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/