Links to software providers to cover a range of requirements from security to image manipulation. Some of these applications are free whilst others are not.
If you decide to purchase or download the software at a later date you may wish to bookmark this page for future reference as we are always adding to this page.
Some of the applications listed here are open source projects, and if you find the software of use you can find a contribution link on the project pages to either make a financial contribution, join the development team or even spread the good word.
Housekeeping
With time computers become cluttered with downloads, program installations, uninstallations and updates, data files being created, deleted and moved, broken links and rogue entries in the register. To keep your computer running at its best it is good practice to routinely run housekeeping applications that tidy up the data on your computer. Surprisingly this is the one area that is overlooked until the computer slows to a painful speed or continuously crashes. Housekeeping although not directly part of security it is hard to expect security software to work properly in poorly kept computers.
Security
Security is not an absolute solution but a process to minimize the risk of malicious software attack on your computer. The topic of security is massive and not one that can easily be covered in a few paragraphs, but is essential to minimize attacks that can lead to expensive computer repairs, loss of files, and even the theft of personal details. From the comfort of our homes we often forget that our computer connected to the internet is vulnerable, just like leaving a house window open all night.
Firewall's guard the access levels of programs to and from your computer and the internet. Good firewalls include a training process that allows you to make decisions for what the firewall allows access to. A good example of this is ZoneAlarm, a very intuitive award winning firewall that has easy to use an easy to use control panels for both making decisions and revising security settings. As the Firewall is the main barrier to prevent access to your computer AntiVirus software is the main defense to handle any threats that do find a way onto your computer. Software that scans for malicious programs work from a database of definitions. This list of definitions needs to updated regularly from the internet. Simply the first part of security is to define the the threat with the second being to remove it. The ability of defining the threat is only as good as the database that is maintained by the AntiVirus software company, and unfortunately the definitions can only be made once the malicious software is made known. AVG has always been considered as providing excellent AntiVirus software.
Besides a good security package you can further protect your computer by ensuring all those who use your computer stick to simple rules of "Trust". How much do you trust the source of an email or the website you are visitng?
From a simple administration purpose it is easiest to look at purchasing a complete security package as those listed below. However please be aware that to maintain security and access to the database of definitions you do need to renew your subscription, usually annually.
ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite.
AVG Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam, Firewall and Web protection.
Office Suites
Open Office is an office package of word processor, spreadsheet, database, slideshow presentation and drawing. It is available without charge for commercial and private use under an open source license. If you are use to the mainstream office suites then Open Office is very intuitive to use, and although the help files in the application are limited this is a very popular application and there are loads of help and forums available on the internet.
Multimedia
GIMP. An image manipulation application to adjust and enhance your digital photos and images. The GIMP is an impressive package that rivals the big names for image manipulation. As with any high end manipulation tool time and patience is required to master this application and this may not be suitable if you only need a simple image manipulation tool where Picasa™ from Google™ may be more appropriate. The GIMP is available without charge under a open source license.
VLC is a popular open source media player from VideoLAN. Although this is not the prettiest media player it supports a large number of multimedia formats. Once you install this application dont forget to visit back to the VideoLAN website as there are a great choice of skins to make it look good. This media palyer has gained great global respect as being technically acute with an impressive array of codex to play most media formats.