Post your favourite programs!
Name: Mozilla Firefox
Rating: 5/5
Platform: Cross-Platform
Type: Web Browser
Cost: Free
Comments: I like Firefox because it offers faster browsing and tons of moddability. Firefox can be completely customized with any addon conceivable, and is way faster and less of a CPU-hog than IE. It is easy to use and is supported by more sites than IE (more standards compliant). Firefox is more secure, and updates come quicker than IE.
Name: VLC Media Player
Rating: 4/5
Platform: Cross-Platform
Type: Media Player
Cost: Free
Comments: VLC is the lightest media player I have seen. It has no performance drop and is infinitely superior to WMP. It plays almost every type of media file and can save streams, encode videos and a host of other things. It is completely cross-platform and can be run on Mac, Linux, Windows and more. However, it doesn't hae some features of WMP such as comprehensible playlist functions or CD ripping/burning, but that can be handled by another program.
Name: IrfanView
Rating: 5/5
Platform: Windows
Type: Image/Media Viewer
Cost: Free
Comments: IrfanView will load most image types available in a very short time. A plugin pack can be downloaded to allow IV to play music files and other formats. It is lightweight and easy to use, and supports batch conversions, image resizing, and minor editing. It can load hundreds of images with ease in rapid succession even on an old PC and is very good for just quickly looking at an image.
Name: CCleaner
Rating: 5/5
Platform: Windows
Type: Performance Enhancer/Clutter Cleaner
Cost: Free
Comments: CCleaner is a really handy program. It allows you to remove all of the temporary files on your computer, clean the Recycle Bin, uninstall programs, fix registry errors, and more. It is very quick, about 2 minutes for a scan and greatly improves performance.
Name: Power Defragmenter
Rating: 5/5
Platform: Windows
Type: Defragmenter
Cost: Free
Comments: Power Defragmenter goes one step further than your Windows Defragmenter and lets you do double passes or defragment single files or folders. It is very useful and is a good performance enhancer.
Name: Foxit Reader
Rating: 4/5
Platform: Cross-Platform
Type: PDF Reader
Cost: Free
Comments: Foxit is a very light program, it loads much faster than Adobe Reader. It has an option to integrate into IE, but it doesn't seem to work in Firefox. A very good program.
Name: Free Download Manager
Rating: 4/5
Platform: Windows
Type: Download Manager/Accelerator
Cost: Free - Duh!
Comments: FDM is a very good download manager/accelerator. It connects to a download site with multiple connections, but this makes it impossible to use some sites like RapidShare and FileFront. It has BitTorrent support and can upload videos, it is a recommended program.
Name: Google Web Accelerator
Rating: 5/5
Platform: Windows
Type: Web Accelerator/proxy
Cost: Free
Comments: GWE speeds up page loading times, and displays a clock of how much time you've saved. It doesn't work with sites who disallow proxies, these sites zare easily removed from the accelerate list.
Name: 7-Zip
Rating: 5/5
Platform: Cross-Platform
Type: archiver/Compression Utility
Cost: Free
Comments: 7Z is an awesome unzip/zip utility, it loads faster than WinZIP/WinRAR and supports more files. It has better compression and can make multipart and ZIP archives as ell as the native .7Z archives.
Name: Nero Burning Software
Rating: 5/5
Platform: Windows
Type: Burning Software
Cost: >80$
Comments: Nero is the best burning software I have used. It has many features and is very user-friendly. It can make CDs and DVDs and I believe that the new version has Blu-Ray support. A very good burning program.
