So every so often people ask me what programs I would recommend for doing such and such task, or what programs I use on a day to day basis. So here’s a list of my most used programs that I would recommend:

Browser: Mozilla Firefox

I was an IE user for a long time. But once I discovered how helpful and useful the plugin system was, I switched. If you are using any version of IE (esp. < 7.0 (yikes!)), you need to give Firefox a try.

Email: Mozilla Thunderbird

The Firefox of email. ‘Nuff said.

Instant Messaging: Trillian Astra (Currently in alpha testing)

When I began using MSN and Yahoo in addition to AIM, I found it incredibly frustrating (and resource consuming) to open three chat programs at once. Trillian solves that problem, as it supports all of those clients and many more, in one program, without having to have those programs open (or even installed). Version 4, named Astra, is currently in alpha, which has tons of new features and a slick new look.

VoIP: Skype

Not only is Skype a powerful audio/video chat and VoIP client, but it also uses encryption for audio, video, and IM chat, making it one of the most secure chat clients available. Plus, webcams are funz.

Music (and most video): Winamp

Winamp supports dozens of audio and video formats, and has powerful plugin and skinning engines, making it one the most flexable and customizable media players available. A major plus is it uses a considerable less amount of system resources and is more stable on PC’s than iTunes.

Torrents: uTorrent

With tons of features and great GUI, why would you use another client?

XP Skinning: Windowblinds Pro

Want to make your XP look like Vista? Or even Mac OSX (God forbid)? Chose from hundreds of different skins to transform the look and feel of XP (and Vista). And it’s not as much of a resource hog as you would expect.

Desktop Dock: Objectdock Pro

Do you hate desktop icons like I do? Then clear your desktop and throw your favorite programs onto a dock to give your cool wallpaper some justice, giving your desktop a slick look without all the clutter. Check out my desktops in the Gallery to see it in action.

Music Converter: dbPowerAmp Music Converter

The “Swiss army knife of audioâ„¢” is the most powerful audio converter I have used. It supports dozens of formats, and many features that you won’t find in any other music converter.

CD Ripping: dbPowerAmp CD Ripper

The DBPAMC of CD ripping.

Download Manager: NetTransport

So everyone always ask what programs I use to stream rip. Well, here is the backbone: Nettransport is a download manager that supports HTTP, MMS, & RTSP, has tons of features, and is easy to use once you get the hang of it. Having up to 10 threads makes downloading that 150 MB file lightening quick.

-J

Filed under Random, The Internet

This entry was posted on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Random, The Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.