A Blog About Making Culture
The Windows Apps You Never Need To Install
August 17, 2006
One of the interesting things about being a serious Windows user is that very little attention is paid to efficient users of Windows, and that we suffer from a lot of folklore or misinformation that gets passed around.
Now, I'm not referring to the alleged power users who like to have every toolbar enabled on every program they use, but more the class of Windows users who are as particular about their operating system as most Mac users are about theirs. I count myself in that group, and I'd say there are roughly as many picky Windows users as there are OS X users.
So, the folklore. Due to the proliferation of anything-goes download sites and word-of-mouth system recommendations from well-intentioned experts such as Your Cousin or That Guy At Best Buy, people do all kinds of stupid things to their Windows machines. Some of this advice might even have been relevant 5 or 10 or 15 years ago, but people still keep blindly following along, and then wondering why using their PC is so unpleasant. (Mac users: This is the same as the Cult of Repair Permissions. It bugs the hell out of me for the same computers-are-not-voodoo reasons.)
All that preface aside, it makes sense to point out some mistakes that I still see even savvy Windows users make, and perhaps convince you to break the habit. Here, then, are Windows applicaitons you should never need to install on your system.
Never Install: WinZip
This one makes me poke my eyes out. Guys who grew up using WinZip on Windows 3.1 are always foisting this on newbie users, who are then doomed to spend the rest of their days clicking on the "please stop making me feel bad" nag button. All they're trying to do is unzip a file -- it's built into Windows! This was something Windows actually got right before the Mac did, and there are still people suffering through the bloated, overbuilt WinZip experience.
If you must extract some of the more esoteric compression formats out there, go get 7-Zip. It's free, open source, supports every common format out there, and doesn't spew links all over the place when you install it.
Never Install: Sketchy Codec Packs
There are tons of bogus codec packs out there for download, which promise to let you play back virtually any media file. What most people find after downloading them is that their media players become permanently brain damaged and they're stuck not being able to play the movie or music they carefully pirated acquired. That sucks. Chris Lanier covered the subject in detail and knows of what he speaks. "If you have not figured it out yet, there is ZERO reason to ever install a Codec Pack."
Again, there are people who need support for less common formats, and again, there's a great free and open source option that won't leave you screwed. The abominably-named ffdshow lets you record or play in almost any format, including DivX and XviD movies.
There are many, many more applications that cause more annoyance or harm than they prevent, but this is a pretty good starting point for most people. Of course, a lot of people would also include Internet Explorer on this list, and there's no reason not to Get Firefox. It's also worth noting that all the recommendations here are free, open source tools, but that's not why I recommended them. They just plain work better.
Previously: Letters of Complaint
Chris Bellini
When somebody requests my help because their Windows PC has slowed to a crawl, what irks me is when I find plenty of “optional” software that’s installed by legitimate applications. It’s tough enough to weed out the spyware/adware/pointlessware without having to deal with this junk.
The “optional” software that I’m referring to are things like toolbars, shortcuts, System Tray icons and so on. Adobe Reader installs the Yahoo! Toolbar for IE. Winamp dumps a shortcut on the Windows Destkop for 50 free MP3s, and the list goes on. All these useless freebies can be avoided if the user would select the “Custom” option during the installation of the app they intended to instead, instead of next-next-nexting their way through the setup. The garbage that legitimate apps are bundling nowadays in their default installs annoys me tremendously.
And don’t get me started on Real Player…
Yoz
A colleague of mine once gave me the best bit of advice about choosing whether to install a bit of shareware: on his wall, a bit of paper with “VBRUN.DLL” and a giant red X over it.
Joel
Very good advice. I don’t even want to think of how many computers of friends and family I’ve had to look at because of codec pack problems.
Liking the new layout and photo!
Daniel
‘there’s no reason not to Get Firefox.’
Opera? Especially if your machine isn’t much cop.
Jough Dempsey
Windows XP’s built-in zip file support is abysmal and read/unzip-only. If you want to create archives you’ll need a tool like WinZip, which also comes with a self-extracting utility so you can give other people archives.
There are other options of course, but sticking with the built-in support for Windows is NOT an option. One of the first things I do when I install a new Windows system is to disable support for zip files (which itself is a chore). I also hate how Windows displays zip files as folders which is just wrong.
Codec packs are fine if they are virus free. I’d rather keep one programme up to date than have to hunt around for the latest versions of things myself. Keeping bundles like this is really common in *nix but not so much with Windows, and virtually unheard-of on the Mac (mostly because of limited market share, probably).
Firefox is always a good idea.
Anil Dash 
“If you want to create archives you’ll need a tool like WinZip”
Sorry, Jough, that’s not true. In any version of Windows in the past 6 years or so, you can right-click or choose the File menu and make a New Compressed Folder. That’s how you create a .zip file.
The description of your preferences about .zip files is relevant to you, but I’m talking about normal users who just want to get a spreadsheet that was too big to email. I’d urge all of us who are power users not to inflict matters of preference on people for whom it’d place an undue burden over time.
Mark
A good start. Definitely agree about the codec packs. God, what a load of crap those are. ffdshow all the way. (BTW, bleeding edge development of ffdshow is happening here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow-tryout/ )
Some other things you never need to install:
Any “official” IM client that only works with one service. Install Trillian or WinGAIM instead.
Adobe Reader. Install FoxIt instead.
Download “accelerators” like DAP. If you must have resumable downloads, install a Firefox extension like DownThemAll instead.
Scott Johnson
One that I often see mentioned along with those bogus codecs is Media Player Classic. This is useless crap in its best (worst?) form.
Also, it’s good to see 7-Zip getting some link love. That’s a great app that is much more functional than WinZip and skips those annoying nags.
David Lynch
If you want to play something more esoteric than the norm, there’s a very good codec guide on ZoomPlayer’s format listing.
Ed Wrenbeck
Maybe I just spend too much time unzipping large files, but the built in to windows unzipper is painfully slow, as in an order of magnitude slower than winzip.
matthewhuie
Forget even bothering with codecs, I’m surprised no one has mentioned VLC.
Also, TuneUp Utilities is the best maintenance package hands down. It’ll keep your Windows install in top shape.
And if you’re a semi power user, I’d suggest Altiris SVS. It lets you package installs and completely remove or deploy an app with the click of a button. All files, settings, registry entries. (It does it by comprehensively monitoring installs)
Ed: I think you have it backwards. Windows unzip sucks for large amounts of small files. It works fine for large ones.
Mark Napper
VLC is for the large chunk of the windows populous a vastly overcomplex frontend to libavcodec which is the core of ffdshow. I’d much sooner recommend Media player clasic or windows media player itself to the non-power user.
I’d also recommend Winrar as a paid file compression solution if only for its “right click, unpack here” option that I didn’t see in 7zip.
Daniel
I’d disagree about installing Gaim or Trillian over individual clients. Like Mac users (sometimes we just have to admit “Sorry, I can’t do that, I have a Mac”), Windows users of combined programs sometimes end up not being able to use a feature that a Windows user with a regular program will expect to just work. Everyone else is using official clients, and there are lots of experts in those programs that aren’t power users in other regards. Multiclients are just more likely to cause problems for the regular user.
john
the windows unzipper is vastly slower on all my pcs then the winzip one is. and i believe osx has had “add to archive” since its first release.
Mike
The reason I installed Media Player Classic and the Codecs is so that I could avoid installing RealPlayer. VLC doesn’t appear to play Real streams (accd to the VLC site), so it wouldn’t be an option for me.
For my zip needs, I use JustZipIt. Freeware, though every 10th time or so that you use they put a bookmark to their site on the desktop. I can deal with that.
shadytrees
I recommend TugZip instead of 7-Zip. TugZip has a few more features than 7-Zip such as folder tree view a la Windows Explorer, recent files, encryption, self-extractor creator, and repair. (In general, TugZip is more fleshed out than 7-Zip.) It also supports a few more file types such as the CD images family (BIN, ISO, IMG, NRG).
It’s also free and free of ads.
http://www.tugzip.com/
Jat
For a good free unzipper with no fuss, use ExtractNow. I adore this little app. :) Even even does rars and many others.
Also, I use MusikCube as my music player. VERY lightway, iTunes-like interface and has all those great features you would like with the ‘bloated’ media jukeboxes out there.
Ryan
Hate to say it, but I have to disagree on the Adobe/FoxIt thing. At first, I was in love with FoxIt, loads in a 20th of the time of the resource-bloated Adobe Reader. However, FoxIt consistently gave me errors in which images would be horribly mis-displayed: reversed images, inverted colors, weird graininess - generally turning them into unusable garbage. Adobe does not do this. Especially because I do graphic design and images matter, I had to switch back to Adobe.
Mr. E
You never need to install an internet browser as Internet Explorer is all you ever really need.
Also .zip files are now managed out of the box and most digital cameras you can unload out of the box as well.
TIm
@Ryan You should check out SumatraPDF if you want an alternative to Adobe for PDFs. Sumatra is blazing fast compared to Adobe Reader.
EWilson
Ditch Quicktime and RealPlayer. Quicktime Alternative and Real Alternative are much less intrusive.
Also, I like IZArc for zipping.
Christoffer
Anything by Corel. Includes winzip, word perfect, Corel draw (pre-press nightmare)… pretty much anything by them
Greywolf
I use ALZip for compressing/decompressing files…it is free!!!!
Christoffer
Anything by Corel. Includes winzip, word perfect, Corel draw (pre-press nightmare)… pretty much anything by them
Amos
Sony software, as a rule, is awful, be it Connect Player/SonicStage, camcorder software - it’s all pretty awful in my experience. Luckily their camcorders work with Windows Movie Player/Windows Explorer after initial driver installation.
Rae
@Mr.E I really hope the IE comment was sarcasm.
christian
that’s it? that’s your list: don’t install winzip and codec packs? wow! thanks for wasting my time ;)
Roger Benningfield
RE: codec packs
No, they’re not necessary for most people, but CCCP is a quick, easily managed way to get ffdshow and a few other bits installed, filetypes associated, and so on.
In addition, if you plan on viewing much h.264 content, run far away from ffdshow and install the CoreAVC codec. It ain’t free, but it makes non-hardware-assisted HD a realistic goal on older machines.
RE: WinZIP
To echo someone else: pony up the cash for WinRAR and forget about everything else.
Dave
Media Player Classic is the best out there. Lightweight, fast, and only 2 files. Winrar is the best achieve utility I’ve ever used. I think its better than 7-zip. Though you do have to pay for it. I have to use Adobe Acrobat because I use the advanced functions. But I’ve never liked Foxit or the alternatives. The only alternative I’ve liked is the Mac OS X preview that opens PDFs. Firefox 3 beta 5 is my preferred browser. Switched from opera after firefox got memory usage under control.
itunes, quicktime, and pretty much anything apple makes for Windows is crap. Avoid them.
phani
I would recommend not to install
- Yahoo Messenger (alternative - Pidgin)
- Adobe Acrobat reader (altermative - Foxit,Sumatra)
- WinZip and WinRar (alternative - 7Zip)
- Internet Explorer (comes by default… but prevent its usage and restrict your browsing to Firefox, Opera)
- Anti virus/spyware products from pctools (go with AVG,NOD 32)
- Zone alarm Firewall and Windows default firewall (disable it) - Alternative - Comodo Firewall,AVG
anonymous
Why not download winrar, then google for the co…oh wait, that would be piracy. But yeah, winrar is by far, the best archive manager out there. For media players, I have found TCPMP (www.tcpmp.org) (The Core) to handle most everything I have ever needed.
Now, in addition to the stuff NOT to load: Any crap that wants you to install a toolbar. yes, firefox is great, but once you start having 20 or so toolbars installed (or other extensions) it gets bloated and acts worse than, god forbid, IE 7 (Ie 8 is not bad). (oh, but you can fix this with some memory tweeks if you know where to look)
Sean Lear
There’s a lot of chatter about Winzip on here, but has anybody discovered the simplicity of “JustZipIt”? Like Foxit reader, it is simple and doesn’t hog up sytstem resources.
Jim Wylie
Another reason to install WinZip is if you require path support. This can be critical when moving zipped files between different machines where many files across many paths are involved.
Mark LaFlamme
“You never need to install an internet browser as Internet Explorer is all you ever really need.”
Wow, Mr. E. Don’t get out much, do you?
Nights
CODECs???? Why? Use Kmplayer, a.k.a. ‘Korean Media Player’, extreme fast player, low resources, and Every Codec you imagine inside. If you care about craps in the system, this software don’t need instalattion , can be portable.
Dan White
Jim Wylie: 7zip has path support. shadytrees: use 7-zip via Windows Explorer for a folder tree view, AES-256 encryption, self-extractor creator. If you think it’s going to be needed to be repaired then use PAR. It also supports a lot of file types including ISO’s. It’s also free and free of ads. Jough Dempsey: Right click on a file “Send to” > “Compressed folder”. Instant zipping.
7zip’s native format is far superior to rar and isn’t proprietary people should see the light and ditch WinRAR.
Mark McCann
LINUX !!!!
Everyting you will ever need can be obtained in the add/remove window.
If you get certain distributions you will never need anything everyting you need is there.!!
Brigitte Bone
Hello Anil! I agree with you wholeheartedly!!!!!
Anonymous
“You never need to install an internet browser as Internet Explorer is all you ever really need.
Also .zip files are now managed out of the box and most digital cameras you can unload out of the box as well.”
bahahah
on a more serious note, Windows. Just don’t install it. There is a fresh new version of Ubuntu out Today I believe :)
Steve
See what a LifeHacker bump will do to ya? :-)
I agree 100%. I’m frequently being invited over to friends’ houses to exorcise the crap off their ‘puters.
James
The worst of the worst though is always anything by Nokia, Having to uninstall the Nokia manager which associates itself with every extension possible is a nightmare, it does not put the extensions back to their original values, so you end up with a system that can not open any typical files because it is looking for its nokia based reader/software.
They even have a section on their website where you can download a tool to completely remove the software, but even that is broken and will still not fix everything… Never ever let anyone install from the nokia cds included with new phones…
Anonymous
I’ll second the nomination of ExtractNow as the best unzip utility. It is elegant, lightweight, and free. My favorite feature is the ability to extract all the zip archives in a folder. It saves me a lot of time. Highly recommended.
Jahandar
How about this one:
Never install any of the crappy “software” on the CDs that come with any cable/DSL modem, router, etc. It’s all junk, providing no additional functionality.
Second, regarding the multi-IM programs, by far the best available for Windows for some time now is Miranda (www.miranda-im.org). It is much more streamlined than the bloated trillian, more powerful than wingaim and extremely flexible (and yes, open source).
Foosaa
Never install symantec products. they are the crappiest coded stuff which kills your machine even if it is a quad-core!!
Keeter
Linux just won’t do the job for power users…. yet. Yes it’s fun to work with, and configure, and you can look super-cool to other nerds.
Someday soon it will be the ultimate OS, but it isn’t yet… Though I’d suggest having a copy of it on a computer so you’re not lost when that day comes.
As for file archiving, 7zip alongside the native zip functions of Windows is all you need.
For codecs, media player and something that plays divx should be all you need. I can’t understand why people even encode movies in other formats.
For PDF, yeah I’ve seen some documents get messed up by Foxit Reader, so I keep a copy of Acrobat on my system for when I need it (but foxit is the default program)
And for messengers, the only problem I have with multi-client messengers is that they aren’t always fully compliant with the subtle features of each program (for instance, some people on Adium use smileys I dont see on GoogleTalk)
Anthony
I will never use IE ever again for as long as I live. The only thing I got out of IE was a whole lot of trouble. I would use Firefox or Opera anyday. Although, I mainly use Opera because of Firefox’s slow download times on my computer(not sure of the problem). I reccomend Firefox to anyone who is ignorant or naive enough to use anything else as their browser.
The best media player I have EVER use and will never turn my back on is KMPlayer. The best thing I have ever used. It’s interface is so simple, plays absolutely anything I throw at it, comes with codec pack of any file I’ve had to play and looks nice to boot.
Oh and I use WinRAR. It works really well for me and I have never had any problems with it. Easy to use, just right-click and you can uncompress or archive into .ZIP or .RAR formats.
Some Random Guy
I think that a lot of people have good points here. I have seen many cases where these so called free (or once free) applications install other things that clutter down systems.
@Mr. E — I can’t install IE due to being on Mac therefore it doesn’t meet my needs. TBQH, I wouldn’t recommend IE to anyone. When someone tells me they use IE, I chuckle and direct them to firefox’s website.
I do however have to say that while we are stating that codec packs are never needed, I have grown fond of klite mega codec pack. This is only because some of the vids I used to download wouldn’t play on anything else and Media Player Classic was always the quickest application to launch. I know there are other’s out there.
I use Adium as do some people on here. I would highly recommend that as opposed to using just one client. It’s just more convenient.
One thing I despise is ‘nix users thinking they are superior or better because they use the distro. Get over it. I can’t tell you how many times my father flaunts that he is an Oracle DBA and making fun of windows yet he runs 2k Pro(not to mention mistakes AGP for PCIE,that’s a whole nother story). Doesn’t matter how good you think you are, MS has the upper hand right now and will more than likely always. So when people say “OMG SWITCH TO LINUX…ITS DA WIN!!!!” It’s not for everyone and it most certainly isn’t for your average home user that is all about the point and click.
Charlie Anzman
Anil - You could have added about 1000 more to this, not to mention 100 web-aware apps running simultaneously and people wondering why their computers are slow :)
o3hill
@Jat Thanks for the recommendation
MusikCube as a Music Player rules.
Wojtek
A note on IE and associated comments (disclamer: I am a techie, administered tons of unix and windows huge networks, managed large installations, yada yada yada)
I used to use firefox, which is a great browser, for years. Then I gave a try to IE7 and: - it is not as powerful as firefox - there are no zillions of add-ons - it is branded Microsoft (which is THE sin) - … and I stick to it because it works for me. It has tabs, usually works, usually displays pages, has ONE PROXY SETTING which is used by the vast majority of Windows programs (so I need to change that only there).
It crashes maybe once a week or so — like any other program. If someone complains about that he/she should use a dishwasher as it usually works fone for years. In our world software do crash and this is how life goes. It sucks, I know. An operating ssytem is not a life-saving device or a plane. It is supposed to be nice, colorful, work more or less and play movies. And MP3.
If you use your broswer as an interface for everything (emacs used to be like that… emacs… what was that?) well then you should maybe install FirefoxOS and yo, no more OS to complain about.
What I want to say here is that 97.7% of users worldwide have an understanding that internet = browser, that they laboriously type in an URL … slowly … and look at the porn^H^H^H^H news. They do nto need a web acclerator and a gmail add-on and a tracker of the current phase of moona nd a weather thingie on the bottom and … and … and .. and…
Now - there is still the 2.3% of power users. It is importnat to create the right tools for these 2.3% of people.
Joe
Never install real player or quicktime
jenn
Great list. Totally agree. however I disagree with people who commented on VLC. That is a great media player that not only is open source, it plays quite a lot of different formats. Even cd images.
Brian Carnell
The lesson here is that Anil’s “don’t ever install X” is a vastly oversimplistic approach to the issue. For some users, WinZip is a good option. Sometimes, you run into obscure formats and odd conflicts in Windows and you do need to try different CODEC packs.
There just isn’t a one size fits all solution.
Kurt
You don’t need to install Vista :P
But seriously, things like Realplayer and quicktime are HORRIBLE. Just get VLC. Plays anything and everything. And any HP programs… my laptop came packed with about 15 USELESS games.
CW
Real Player is a virus.
McOv
Firefox 2 is a virus… It takes like 40% of your RAM! Install k-Meleon …
Banyan
Maybe I missed it but I cannot believe that nobody mentioned AOL
Anonymous
Everyone brags about Nero, so I installed it one day. That NAZI warlord software took over everything on my computer! It installed itself everywhere!
Un-installing it was a nightmare. The un-install only un-installed some of itself, and left tons of crap everywhere. I was finding bits and pieces of Nero hidden here and there for a long time afterwards. What a nightmare.
Regardless to say, your experience with Nero might have been better than mine. Personally, I want my applications compartmentalised with one user interface; and when I want to use it: I open the program. Simple. I don’t do a lot of burning, so my Roxio Easy CD Creator works fine, and does the job. I am not likely to try the nightmarish Nero again.
Tom
Don’t forget the best example of an entire GENRE of software that has outlived the problem it was created to solve: Screensavers.
On people’s reservations about multi-protocol IM programs not supporting some of the obscure features of particular protocols: that may be true, but I think you’ll find in most cases, these are rarely used. It is also arguably easier for an average user to have a single program to learn and run. Especially considering that most of the IM clients become increasingly more bloated and intrusive. How many times have we all been asked why a computer takes so long to startup, only to look at the system tray to see twenty different IM programs?
I have to second the support for Korean Media Player for more advanced users, its really nice. In case anyone is wondering, yes it is available in english. However, I’d say that for average Windows users, WMP or Media Player Classic are sufficient.
The comment “Linux just won’t do the job for power users” made me laugh. The fact that Linux is far more configurable, stable, secure, and efficient means you could call it the ideal Power User OS, and it has been “doing the job” for Power Users for some time now.
From what I’ve seen, the two extremes have a better time with linux. First are Power Users already know Linux or can easily adapt to it so they can reap the full benefits. Second are beginners who mostly just check email, surf the web, and maybe write a letter or two, and benefit from Linux’s stability and security (once it’s set up, it’ll keep working like a horse, and they have little to worry about from malware, viruses, and other Windows frustrations. It just works.).
In the middle, the people who are most likely to have problems with Linux are the average users who’s understanding of computers is limited to Windows. They have managed to become pretty good with Windows and often think of themselves as being a “power user.” Then they come to Linux with preset ideas about “How Computers Work.” When Linux doesn’t conform to what they expect, they bemoan how “it won’t do the job for power users.” Sure it will, just go find a real one and ask him.
Again, before the inevitable accusations. I don’t have any blind resentment of Windows. In fact, I am typing this now on my Windows PC. I have both on my desktop, and enjoy the best of both worlds.
Willie
Firefox 3 Beta 5 is awesome and they fixed the memory problems.
Alzip is what I sometimes use at home. It also adds context menu options. Like New Folder, which creates the folder using a name of a bird.
Aud1073cH
for protection, I go for AVG Free Antivirus for virus protection, and Spybot S&D -(now has a resident shield) for other malware (AVG free anti-spyware doen’t auto-update or scheduled scan, or have a resident shield)
I’m all for Firefox. My three must-have addons are 1. Adblock plus (blacklists advertisements, so firefox doesn’t even load them) 2. Filterset.G updater for Adblock (auto-updated list of known advertisements) 3. NoScript (allow javascript for your whitelist sites only, or on a temporary basis) NoScript may take a couple weeks of training while you browse your frequent sites, but it is well worth it not to get odd scripts and popups on strange sites.
There are lots of other good ones out there, depending on individuals’ needs, but those are three that I install for anyone for whom I am installing Firefox.
The only thing Win users need IE for is Microsoft Update (for other MS software that auto-update doesn’t cover) - but this can be done in Firefox with the IE engines using the IEtab addon.
Daniel Branconnier
Instead of using a bloated security program like Norton Internet Security, try the freeware SpywareTerminator (http://www.spywareterminator.com). It provides you with Virus and Spyware Protection and doesn’t use up much resources, it’s free and offers real-time protection. I find it better than AVG.
antemon
and here I thought I’d see great advice.
true that winzip isn’t the best tool out there, but other people in the world don’t exactly use ZIP as an the default archive tool. 7zip’s ok.
codec packs. true that for the below average user, one shouldn’t even bother with them but if you do more than just typing in spreadsheets and stuff, you’ll probably need a decent video player and stuff to decode your vids. CCCP pretty much covers everything you can throw at it, proprietary formats not included and windows media player isn’t exactly the best at watching videos.
Opera, yep, but only becuase firefox2 is broken (and yeah I do realise this thing was written before firefox2)
bah… I really shouldn’t have to worry about you windows people…
Peter
Buy more RAM…LOL…but seriously: - get rid of using Explorer as your default shell for windows (you know - the start button on the lower left, tasks, desktop icons, etc.) There are a multitude of alternatives, but my favorite bloat-free one is called blackbox, originally for *nix systems but ported to windows. You can see screenshots of a bunch of different configs at boxshots.org - if you’re a fan of multi-protocol IM clients, try Digsby. Kinda bloated (but still much much better than having 4 IM programs running at once), but offers LOTS of features including logging into social networking sites. Looks like Pidgin too if u like the interface.
Kyle Green
For most of my life I’ve been a windows user. I’ve only recently developed a taste for Linux by installing YDLinux on my Playstation 3. I am however an expert class user for MS Windows, and particularly, Vista.
Vista is not the evil demon you think it is. It can be reduced to a fully functioning, low-memory cost, almost processor free OS. Yes, it does take some registry tweaks, but that’d be article all of its own. Lets assume for a moment, you’ve installed windows and you’re down to the basics, and you’ve got it simple, secure, (mine is) crash free, and looking just how you like it.
7zip and those other free zip programs you use, well, lets not kid ourselves. Most power users want the best and will pirate if they have to. (Don’t start a controversy argument you twerps, I’m not going to check this page to defend my point)
I use WinRAR. Lets just say, it has a vast multitude of good, daily use features, and not once has it ever crashed. Did I mention it’s compartmentalized, custom shell integration options, and extremely fast? That solves 99.9% of your compressed file issues.
Moving on, the next .1% would be ISO and BIN and DAA files. Disc images (simply put) for those of you who don’t know, or these don’t apply to. Personally, I just have one disc I wanted to copy to HD and mount. I Googled, got PowerISO, and everything has been perfect since. Enough said, lets not argue ISO programs all day. I’m sure there are others for different users.
Media Player Classic? Pull your thumb out of your butt and grow up. Use VLC for all your video demands. If it’s stored with two audio tracks, 4 subtitle tracks, perfection is only a right click away. You can even skin it to look like WMP11, which by the way is a great program to use for the library and to play your mp3s. FLAC files? Sorry, I don’t much care for stuff that’s uncompressed, the internet is too big to be THAT picky and petty.
Codecs! Yes, you may like your codecs, but VLC plays everything I download on the first try. Who needs codecs? Stop downloading k-lite. It’s wasting your space. It’s slowing down your computer. Benchmark it before and after, you’ll see.
Windows Media Center. If you don’t have cable tv running into your computer, I’d suggest you remove/disable this nice piece of software. Otherwise, it’s the bomb diggity and is just terrific and fulfilling your television needs.
Opera, Firefox, IE. Opera is a lowcost browser, but guess what? Firefox is too, at last. The Firefox fanbase is much larger than anything else, and can be customized right down to the chrome. You can tweak every little facet of it much farther than Opera, as far as I can tell. Also, it’s built and set up much more closely to IE so it’s an easy transition for any user who is stuck using that Microsoft made virus. Yes, you might recommend Opera over IE, but both are truly inadequate for for the 2.3% of power users out there. If you think otherwise, you’re just depriving yourself of true awesomeness.
OS interactive experience? Okay. Sit down for this one. Why don’t you install RocketDock right above your taskbar? You’ll have the best of Mac and Windows right in one spot! OMG! No way! Are you serious!?
Hmmm, what else? Messenger software. Now this is where I’m not going to stand by any of you. I use AIM, Yahoo!, ICQ, MSN Messenger (2 accounts), and I don’t have a single messenger program installed on my Vista PC. For those of you who just raised an eyebrow, try http://www.meebo.com/. I mean, c’mon, you’re sitting at your computer, your web browser is open, it has tabs, so use them! If you absolutely MUST have software installed, then I support Trillian or GAIM or whatever the hell you kids are using these days.
Here’s my short list of things never to install: AOL Messenger software Corel products Avast! Antivirus (uber bloated interface) iTunes (unless you own l337 iPods)
Anything “just because it’s free” - give me a break, noob. You have a job don’t you? Buy it. If you’re too cheap, pirate it. It’s your computer, do it right, or not at all.
Sri
You guys are being overly harsh on MrE. There is a very good reason for sticking with IE, it gives you a reason to use Anti-Virus and Anti-Adware programs.
Andrea
For multi-IM programs, I just use the chat feature in Gmail. No drain on memory, and it logs all of your conversations to your Gmail account. Plus, you never have to worry about uninstalling anything.
mrogi
Lots of computer geeks swear by the CCCP codec pack. I installed it and it works great. If CCCP is good enough for nerds, it’s good enough for me.
Mr. Z
You should use: Archivers: WinRAR (Pay); 7-zip (Free)
Media players in this order: mplayer based player (use smplayer) plays really almost anything; VLC (fails some avi, almost all wmv and ram, rm; Media Player Classic (for some RealVideo)
PDFs: although it has it’s faults, adobe acrobat reader is so much better. There’s no contest. Foxit fails miserably half of the time. The others are even worse.
You should not use:
Anti-something; yes, avoid all those “antis”; avoid software firewalls. Use your intelligence. If you don’t have one, no software in world will save you. Go to the desert and stay there.
Avoid installing anything and everything. If you want to test something use a virtual machine and use the snapshot function.
Installer programs: they put themselves everywhere. Some of them put copies of themselves in several places.
Applications that create folders and files everywhere without any reason at all. Applications that force you to save your in My Documents folder.
Windows. It’s so broken in so many ways. The installation procedure for 3rd party apps is a great example. It’s unfixable!
Net frameworks. There are 3. All of them have to installed. So much wasted space. And there’s rarely a good program based on it. Garbage!
The Windows folder, that grows, grows, and grows and looks like a garbage trunk.
Windows explorer. One of the most useless pieces of software ever created. Incapable of doing the most basic things. And crashing all the time for no good reason. The Explorer in Windows XP is basically the same as it was in Windows 95. It even has the same bugs.
The default installation of Windows provides almost no useful software at all. That’s why people install those 3rd party apps that slow down their PCs. It’s an act of frustration and despair.
Windows is a mouse trap for its users. I know. I’ve been using it for 12 years. I’ve had enough.
Where did the 6 billion dollars that Microsoft allegedly spent go? It wasn’t to create better software. that’s for sure.
not a pwrusr, in need of help
@KYLE GREEN “Lets assume for a moment, you’ve installed windows and you’re down to the basics, and you’ve got it simple, secure, (mine is) crash free, and looking just how you like it.”
I’ll remind you of the old adage “to assume makes an a$$ out of ‘u’ and me.”
Now, please tell me how to fix my vista! My screen goes black all the time like “ooh, everything is normal but I’m not going to let you see it.” I’ll be watching something on youtube and I’ll hear it but can’t see it!
Anonymous
What about Flock? I’ve been using it for about a couple of months and I haven’t had any problems with it. Where would you place it in the IE7 - FF - Opera browsers? It has some cool features and doesn’t hog all the ram. I am in FF burnout and wanted something different.
Computer Geek #9
At the top of my list is RealPlayer… I hate that program so much. Some nice alternatives to the “usual” are…
Internet Explorer -> Opera (Firefox is ok) Windows Media Player -> Media Player Classic (VLC has a nasty GUI) AIM, YAHOO, MSN -> Digsby (beats Trillian cuz it works) Winzip -> Winrar (Right-click awesomeness)
Anonymous
I have read all these comments, and let me say that I am not sure I can agree with all of them.
First off, let me explain that I am a power-user in some regards, but not all.
For example, I would say I am not at all a power-user when it comes to PDF files. I do not create them at all on this machine, nor do I use them unless I have to. I use FoxIt, which I have found loads quicker and has never given me weird image issues either. For most of the files that I need to access, FoxIt does the job. After downloading the new version of Adobe Acrobat Reader, I knew I would have to get a new reader; the new Adobe was a piece of crap. It was slow to load, slow to load PDF files, and slow to peruse them. That is why I went with FoxIt.
For antivirus and firewall, NEVER EVER use Symantec products… that is my philosophy. I have seen people who use them… even my family uses it on some of their computers. All I have seen result from this is a slowed down computer. AVG works wonder in terms of free anti-virus protection. Then for firewall, having a router with Zone-Alarm free works wonders too. I hardly have any problem. For anti-spyware programs I use Spybot Search & Destroy as well as Ad-Aware Free. I have not tried everything, but these products work for me.
As for some of the other things mentioned in posts, I know codecs are necessary at times. I have found VLC to be one of the most amazing pieces of software when it comes to being able to play a file. If you find this weird video file that won’t open anywhere else, it can almost be assured that VLC can handle it. However, one of the biggest problems I have had with VLC is the interface. Sure, you can download skins, but all they really do is build themselves some graphics around the crappy menu system. I think VLC could be better built to tailor itself to more users and become a more efficient media player… but really I use it for playing videos and music files. I do NOT use it for my media library usage. I have a program known as Winamp. I am not sure whether to recommend this program to people or not… it is owned by the same company people know as AOL. However, the software, as of yet, has never given me spyware, viruses, or any trouble. It can be skinned. It can read an iTunes folder and find EVERYTHING in it. The way it is laid out, you can play files as you would on an ipod…playing music from any artist to any album, etc. etc. It can also play many video types. Playlists work SO simply… it has free radio and video to watch as well. It can even read iPods and play or copy music off of them. It is one amazing piece of software that I love to organize my media collection. iTunes is a crappy piece of softare in my opinion… I would only suggest it to people with an iPod or if they have a Mac. On OS X, iTunes is better and okay. Windows Media Player is as scary to me on Windows as iTunes is. I might be more of a power-user here, but those are my opinions on media.
I am surprised no one has mentioned office programs. Who uses Microsoft Office? My question comes down to this: does the REAL non-power user need a bloated up, visually pretty yet functionally inefficient (in their terms since they haven’t used the software yet) piece of software known as Microsoft Office? Try OpenOffice. It can be found simply at openoffice.org . It is free, can open most Microsoft file types, and does all the basic features of Microsoft Office and then some. The visual interface and menu system is nearly the same… will take some learning as all software does however. I would not say I am a power-user here… but have Open Office is so much nicer… the file formats can work on any operating system if you want. It can even export as PDF very simply and free. I do have some gripes on Open Office. For presentation, Powerpoint can be better in some cases… though OpenOffice has been improving I know… I used to have MAJOR problems adding video to slideshows. It has limited features, limited support, etc… and also OpenOffice is Java-based and runs somewhat slowly. For the free nature of it though, I would say it is worth it. Lastly, I would suggest differently for Mac users. I would suggest Apple’s iWork. For those who have not tried it, some of the software is amazing. Again, for basic functionality, Pages (equivalent of Word) is for writing documents. Now, they have Numbers as well for spreadsheets.. I have not played with these as much… but I know Microsoft Office is not that well for Mac (install Microsoft product on a Mac? As dumb as installing an Apple product on a Windows PC, ie. iTunes). OpenOffice is not that great for Mac either. It is dependent on X11 and X11 for Mac is one of the most crappy implementations I have ever used. It is slow, and makes me want to scream my head off. If anything, use Parallels for linux functionality. But, the best piece of software I have ever used is iWork’s Keynote. This Powerpoint replacement is fantastic. It has the beauty of slideshow that beats out even Powerpoint in my opinion. You can make some of the prettiest graphics in it… you can do basic photo-editing on the slides. It is very intuitive and has so many features for visual effects. The transitions work beautifully. The media library is connected in with all other Mac programs, iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, etc. For my old theatre, we used to run this program for slideshows in shows as video. It has the power and the simplicity packed side-by-side. It can even be a slight replacement for iMovie if one is making slideshows of pictures… it is more powerful than iMovie for this! It can connect pictures and video together and export itself as a Quicktime video file or as images. Again, one amazing piece of software for all those Mac users out there in need of good presentation software. The last option are some online Office programs…. Google has one… I am not so certain about how well it works, as I have not found the need for it, nor the time to handle it. I find software on the computer works best.
Next up is a brief thing on a good audio program… Audacity. It is a very simple program that is amazing and runs on Mac, Linux, and of course Windows. It can handle any combination of multi-track editing. I have used it to build sound effects, record audio, edit audio, etc. It is free of course, open source. It is not for most users who might be intimidated by it, but it has much more power over Windows Sound Recorder (and no time limit).
Next up is web browsing. Many users like Firefox… but for Windows I cannot stand it. Really, I like three different web browsers for the three main types of operating systems. Opera for Windows. Mozilla Firefox for Linux. Safari for Mac. First off, Opera works wonder on Windows. It has functionality packed in it with the first install… no addons necessary. Mouse gestures, voice commands (cool, I do not use them however), Speed Dial (one AMAZINGLY fast feature, not as well-implemented in Firefox addons), and tabs as always. Tabs are amazing and in all three web browsers. I love mouse gestures as well. Opera detects them the first time you use them. After some editing, I have it all tailored the way I like it. Opera is more edit-able than most people will think… not as much as Firefox, but the interface sure is. I love Opera for its speed as well. Firefox for me used to be bloaty and had memory leaks. Opera has never failed me. Even if Opera crashes, it comes built in with a session manager to restore your last state, all tabs and windows! You can even save sessions if there is one you commonly use. This is all built-in when you first install Opera. Then with IE’s new interface, I never want to even touch it. I cannot see why anyone would want to use it. But they can if they want, I mention more on that later. Firefox for Linux works well. It is always made to, and it works wonders. The only problem is Opera cannot view all pages the same… but again, I have had very little problems with this in any of the web browsers… MOST websites look the same. The few that have the problem, I keep IE or Firefox onhand just in case. As for Mac, Safari works wonders. Updates with the operating system, tabs now, simplicity, and speed… all integrated well within the OS. It also has great previewing abilities for PDF’s that I wish other browsers had (and worked well that is).
Now onto instant messenger programs. I use it all the time. I would not call myself so much a power-user as a limited need user. I have all the regular programs onhand if I need them, but I usually use Pidgin, formerly known as Gaim but changed due to the name being similar to AIM (dumb I know). Anyways, Pidgin is really lightweight. It has the power to log your data, sign you in to any of your accounts, alias names, and IM with tabs. For me, that works very well. It has simplicity. As for the interface, it might be lacking in comparison to other messengers like Trillian, but it is not as bloated or slow as it. I used to use Trillian, but I had problems with it, mainly sucking up more resources than necessary. Pidgin works on Linux too. As for Mac, Adium is just great. Works similarly to Pidgin in my opinion. They might not be able to start up a webcam or use all the functionalities as the original clients, but these replacements do wonders for memory resources and are even worth it alone for the tabs to save desktop space (like tabs in an internet browser). Also, AOL’s AIM is a piece of junk that installs other programs on your computer too. I would go so far as to call it spyware. Plus, ads and you will want to pull your hair out (I almost did). If someone really loves interface and pretty graphics, then Trillian might be the way to go. Online instant messengers like Meebo work well for users that do not use it as much as I do… I go on whenever my computer is, so Pidgin works better for me.
My last little touch will be on imaging. Many users might use a variety of products for image-editing… Mac users might use iPhoto for example. This is a great little image library and probably will do what msot users need it to do, integrated with the operating system. As for Linux, I have heard of F-Spot has simple media collection and editing, like iPhoto, again free. For Windows, I have never found any other photo manager that works well (not some crappy bloated one found off of a camera) besides Picasa… it can go on Linux and Windows. It has simple photo editing as well, plus integration with the web. As for myself, I just use folders. I keep folders of MY photos and photos from others (so I know what is mine and what isn’t) and then I organize into what they are. This works well for me, since I have many different photo types, even some most managers couldn’t read like .psd or .xcf types (editable image files). This folder scheme is easy to transport to different operating systems by just burning a copy to DVD or copying to an external hard drive instead. However, when it comes to photo editing, I would consider myself a power-user. Most users can deal with the photo editing that comes with programs like iPhoto, F-Spot, or Picasa. There are also easy photo-editing possibilities in Windows’ Printer and Fax Viewer or Mac’s Preview. But, when it comes to power that I need, I use The GIMP, open source and free. It is what I would nearly call a Photoshop replacement. For most users who use Photoshop on Windows, chances are they do not use its full potential. Let me start by saying GIMP is different though… it is one window that holds all the tools and power (or a few that do that) and then a new window for every image. Photoshop just has a base program with all that in there, with mini-windows inside itself for every image. Maybe this is taste, I do not really care when it comes down to this. GIMP has many powerful features built in. Photoshop has a wider range of brushes, and it is simpler to learn. GIMP has powerful features as well that are harder to learn. I love learning them however, since GIMP is free and can work on any operating system. Linux and Windows work best. Again, GIMP for Mac uses X11, so I do not ever like to use it on Mac. I do not know yet if there is a good implementation of GIMP on Mac…. there is a light-weight one. I wish it was available for Windows & Linux as I would recommend this over GIMP as a lighter-weight editor and less for power-users, more for basic users. It is called Seashore. It has some of the power of GIMP in a simple interface that runs SO much faster than Photoshop. For many users, this is one amazing program. It was built off of the GIMP’s base, but it was coded for Cocoa, the Mac interface. I wish there was a Seashore for Windows/Linux to recommend to basic photo editors… but The GIMP is always there for those who wish to have the power all packed into one application. One could maybe try Paint.NET for Windows, but I found GIMP to be more useful to myself. I do wish the interface for GIMP would improve. It is lacking in some ways, and this makes it a tough interface to learn if one is either coming from Photoshop or not, it can still be tough. GIMP does not replace Photoshop; Photoshop can handle more image types (higher resolution, more colors, etc.), has more filters, simpler to use filters (less power though), adjustment layers (an amazing feature GIMP needs to implement soon, editing a layer while leaving edits possible is a good tool), and layer features (for all the simple shadows, etc. that can be done, another feature GIMP needs to open itself to simplicity and useability as well). And again, I might be more of a power-user here, but GIMP works very well for me since GIMP was my first ever photo editor (Photoshop followed that). Also, for vector images, the open-source Inkscape works best for me. Again, it works best under Windows and Linux… not sure of a better one for Mac.
As a final note, let me mention that there are a lot of different operating systems out there. From Mac to Windows to Linux (and all its distros), each operating system has a plus. Windows has games and easability. More applications. Linux is more open-source, has more power, more custom options, more things to play with really for those power users. Look at a lot of open-source Windows software and it has a Linux base: Audacity, The GIMP, OpenOffice.org, VLC, etc. Mac has the power of a unix base, simplicity, good graphics without a big memory cost (like Vista), and nearly flaw-free interaction of media programs with the operating system with the hardware (‘tis why Macs might cost more, plus they have good hardware built-in too). Overall, I have no favorite. Linux can be the cheapest with most power but most time spent on it. Windows can be the cheapest with least power and time spent on it. Mac can be the most expensive but least upgradeable yet least amount of time spent on it (less than Windows even). They each have their perks. If I could, I would have one of each. I really love it all. Computers are an amazing part of the twenty-first century. As for open-source software, I say use Windows and Internet Explorer all you want main-stream audience. I love that. The fact that Firefox is rarely used means that it is RARELY TARGETED by hackers, etc. The same goes for Safari or Opera for example. The same goes for Linux and Mac. They all can avoid being at risk because less people use them. Another reason I love non-Symantec products since they are less targeted out there. There will always be a target. If there is a new software that everyone loves and uses, then it will be targeted and likely fall apart. I fear open-source software being targeted. They do not have the power or money to fight viruses with updates like Microsoft could. If there is a virus found for IE, release an update. If there is one for Firefox, it could be a lot tougher to make a fix to the browser. The fact that you can surf without worry means that there are many others that surf eithe with worry or without the knowledge. If that is their choice, then let them, as it keeps you safe.
Richard Lee
I love all the people that recomend 7-zip because it’s free and open source. well i’ve got news for you, I have lost track of the amount of times it was incapable of opening rar archives (even though it claims to support it).
interl0per
^^^^ Jesus Christ 0_o
My first vote would be Quickbooks, which I unfortunately need as there isnt really any viable open source one I have ever found. It installs everywhere, and doesnt uninstall most of it when you try to.
Otherwise my spread is Firefox, Free Commander, 7Zip, Teracopy, foxIt to name a few. Seems to be a nice free replacement somewhere for useless MS software. Always curious how they can spend so much money on R and D, yet be smoked by people who build these in their spare time… One I think everyone should have is Teracopy, handles file copies and moves infinitely better than Windows can alone.
Furious911
You made this big ol introduction to say don’t install winzip and codecs.. thats it?
Syahid A.
Erm.. Windows? (joking!)
Rick
I find it humorous that people say that Winzip is so much better than the Windows Zip utility. The Windows Zip utility is Winzip, Microsoft OEM’d it.
puptentacle
I’m that Windows “Power User” you hear so much about. Even with that, I’m running Ubuntu now for many reasons. I do still have an XP machine here for various reasons, but…
For Windows the NEVER install list is simple:
Antivirus -Anything with the word Symantec on it. Many times I’ve had my internet connection just stop functioning and the problem was Norton. There is only one option for Win antivirus and that’s pay the money and get Nod32. It’s small, it’s low-resource and it has never failed to catch the bad stuff before it bothers me.
Browser - Internet Explorer? Don’t make me laugh. Opera is fast and does almost everything without a problem. Firefox was fantastic up to 0.9, after that it’s been a black hole for memory. I haven’t tried the latest under Windows yet but it seems to be better for Linux thus far.
File Compression - Winrar. Nothing else works as well on as many different formats.It’s worth the money.
Office software - OpenOffice does MORE for the average user than MSOffice, is free and uses fewer resources. Why pay several hundred bucks for the bloatware?
Multimedia - I install VLC for those rare occasions that something won’t play under K-lite with Media Player Classic. Works great and between them, everything I’ve ever thrown at it plays. If you are a music junkie and sound is important to you, get Foobar2000. Not exactly easy to use (though it is getting better) but for sound quality and options it can’t be beat. Winamp works for a lot of people but I’ve never liked it. VLC is a perfectly capable player as well, if all you want is to start it up and play music.
Email - I didn’t see this mentioned before in this topic. Thundbird without a doubt is a better option.
I’d like to point out a really great Windows app that I really love. It’s called Creative Elements Power Tools. It is 19 dollars or so to register, that gives a lifetime license and it does so many great things I can’t go into them all here.The cost is worth it simply for the ability to right click a file and move it ANYWHERE on the computer. Do a search for the name and get that app, try it out. You won’t understand how you lived without it before.
As for OS choices, I’ll preface this by saying I’m NOT a Linux fanboy. I’ll run whatever works. I’ve made the switch to Linux a number of times over the last five years and have always gone back to Windows up until six months ago. Yes, Linux is a challenge at first. There IS a learning curve. But the main problem most people have is that they are coming from a Windows environment and they think that’s how it should be done. I dare say if you sat a brand new user down in front of a Linux box they would have fewer problems overall than the same new user at a Windows machine. I’ll admit, I’ve spent a number of hours in front of Linux trying to figure out how to do something but you know what? I did the same thing with Windows. I won’t go into the several hours spent trying to get mp3 players and cameras to operate or the several weeks spent trying to get wireless networking to operate within a Windows environment. The networking took some learning in Linux, but it did eventually work. The mp3 players and cameras? Plugged them into my Ubuntu box, they recognized them straight off without hours of searching for codecs, fighting settings, etc.
In general I’d rather run an OS built by a Community than one built by a Committee.
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