Friday, December 14, 2007

My Windows XP Must-Have Software! (Basics)

In my Windows XP box, the following must be present for my day-to-day activities. This list applies only to generic use of computers like desktop applications, burning of CDs and DVDs, multimedia playback and recordings, internet browsing, and communications.

I also have a different list for my basic computer software utilities for networking, tracing, malware removal, etc. When doing software development, I have additional tools which I will also publish later ;-)

Here goes:
  1. Open Office for desktop applications
    • http://www.openoffice.org/
    • OpenOffice.Org Writer - word processor (equivalent of MS Word)
    • OpenOffice.Org Calc - spreadsheet (equivalent of MS Excel)
    • OpenOffice.Org Impress - presentation (equivalent of MS Powerpoint)
    • OpenOffice.Org Base - database (equivalent of MS Access)
    • OpenOffice.Org Math - scientific formulas and equations (equivalent of MS formula editor)
    • OpenOffice.Org Draw - logo-making, drawing, flowcharts (almost equivalent to MS Visio)
    • Works on Windows, Linux and Mac.
    • FREE!
  2. Avast Antivirus
    • http://www.avast.com/
    • A must have for any computer user specially those using Microsoft Windows.
    • It has automatic updates for its virus database so new strain of viruses and malwares could be detected and removed.
    • Works on Windows and Linux.
    • FREE for personal use!
  3. Opera web Browser
    • http://www.opera.com/
    • A fast, feature-rich web browser.
    • Tabbed browsing, customizable interface, kiosk-mode support, widgets, sessions.
    • It has built-in feeds reader(rss, atom), email client, irc client.
    • A lot more to list here.
    • I prefer this over Firefox because most features are already available to use out-of-the-box unlike Firefox where you need to install plugins. But both are free and I also install Firefox as needed.
    • Works on Windows, Linux and Mac.
    • FREE!
  4. Foxit Reader
  5. PDFCreator
  6. K-Lite Codec Pack
  7. CD Burner XP Pro
    • http://cdburnerxp.se/
    • Burns CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs.
    • Also can burn and create ISOs.
    • Windows only.
    • FREE!
  8. GIMP
    • http://www.gimp.org/
    • GNU Image Manipulation Program.
    • Picture editting software.
    • Works on Windows, Linux and Mac.
    • FREE!
  9. Audacity
  10. Pidgin
    • http://www.pidgin.im/
    • Pidgin is a multi-protocol Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all of your IM accounts at once. Use yahoo messenger, msn, icq, google talk and many more accounts.
    • Works on Windows and Linux.
    • FREE!
  11. Skype
    • http://www.skype.com/
    • Internet calls, call and receive calls to and from mobile and landline phones, Instant messenger, sms, video calls, and many more features.
    • Works on Windows, Linux, Mac and some mobile phones.
    • FREE!
  12. Chikka
    • http://www.chikka.com/
    • Send text messages (SMS) and MMS images to mobile phones from your computer!
    • Works on major mobile networks in the Philippines: Smart, Globe, and Sun Cellular.
    • Also supports sending SMS to other mobile networks from other countries.
    • Now supports Google Talk users.
    • Works on Windows, Linux, Mac and Solaris.
    • FREE!

There you have it! You may have noticed that all of the above are free. Well, I am a software developer and I love to support projects that are either open source or free. Who could turn down an offer of quality, working software without a cost?

Hope you could pick some to use for yourself.

For now.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Rar in Ubuntu... uhh... UnRar... oh no! It's not free!

Just today, at work, I needed to extract files form a Rar archive under Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon. So the typical me right-clicked on the file and selected Extract Here, then an error message box popped-up and told me the file archive is not recognized or whatsoever. In short, am stumped that I cannot extract Rar files.

Am from a Windows environment and WinRar is my favorite archive tool coz aside from good compression, it also allows me to append datetime stamp (e.g. yyyy-mm-dd@hh-mm) to the filename. Now, after a dedicated 10 minutes asking Mr. Google, I found out that I could use Rar and UnRar that are sharewares from rarlabs.com or choose P7zip that is an open-source project.

Well, I don't want sharewares on my Ubuntu box. So I installed 7-zip instead, did an extract of my Rar file, and forgot about Rar yet. Next time I want to archive files, am gonna use 7z.

The only thing left is how to append datetime stamp to my 7z archive files. Am gonna update this when I figure that out.

For now.

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