Programs You Should Have
Out there in the world there are all kinds of intelligent people behind computers creating software. If you know what to look for you can get some very high quality programs directly off Internet that are very useful. Sometimes these programs are free which is very handy! Other times there are programs that are free and very very nice.
I would like to take this point to bring your attention to a list I have compiled.
Spybot Search and Destroy
ZoneAlarm
OpenOffice
Firefox3
The first I'd like to mention is Firefox 3. I have to say this is a pretty nice web browser. The best part about it is the option to customize it. There are some really nice add ons and expansions for the program that really enhance your browsing experience.
Here's a link to a review on it by PcMagazine.
Firefox Review
And another from About.com
Now on to ZoneAlarm. ZoneAlarm is a free firewall program you can use. It's pretty nice. Especially since it's free. Definitely more secure than nothing and about the only things more secure is something that costs $70.00 or more.
This link is to a brief summary of ZoneAlarm by PcMagazine. There is a link lower in the page to read the entire review.
ZoneAlarm Review
OpenOffice. What can I say? It's a free program that lets you do essentially the same things as Microsoft Office. Nearly everything is the same or very similar as far as controlling documents, presentations or spreadsheets. Excellent program.
Spybot Search & Destroy has long been respected as a great program to use for removing spyware, malware, adware, etc. Highly recommended. Running this program could definitely have a significant impact on your computer's performance.
I originally intended to write more about these programs individually but ran out of motivation and in the interest of posting the blog I decided to end it here. If you don't have the programs, I suggest you get them, they should help. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
posted by . @ 8:07 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Have you ever considered AVG anti-virus program? It is also free. Do you know how it compares to ZoneAlarm?
Hey Jarod, thanks stopping through.
I am familiar with AVG. From what I understand it is solely an anti-virus program.
I have used it once. And only once. I picked it up on recommendation. However, it labeled some critical files Windows needs to operate as viral files. I didn't know this at the time since I was relatively inexperienced. Long story short...AVG crippled my computer when I took it's recommended action.
So while it is an effective program in the right hands, I do not recommend it for the average consumer. I myself don't use it because I prefer the simplicity and equal(or surpassed) effectiveness of other programs.
ZoneAlarm's main appeal to me is it's firewall. It's very robust. Once you pick it up you'll notice you have to actually set permissions(it is extremely easy) for your programs. For instance when you open up Firefox for the first time after installing ZoneAlarm, ZoneAlarm will ask for you to authorize that program to access the internet(you can set it to permanently authorize.)
I don't want to talk about it too much since I am going to try to do future blog posts on each of these programs individually.
Speaking for myself, I use Spybot S&D for anything "anti-viral." While it is probably not 100% safe as something like Norton Internet Security 2009, I am very content with my entirely free suite of software I have put together.
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