Discussion on:

Five good apps to kick off a new Windows desktop

So where are the links to get these tools, and with which versions of Windows will they function properly? Which are free and what do the others cost?
You folks with six-figure incomes don't seem to worry about shareware or payware fees of $20 or more, but some of us out here have budgets and those add up fast!

The first picture of every item has a Link in the Text below it. The Blue Text under the first Picture of the Item is the Link to the software.

From what I can see most are Freeware with maybe the exception of the first and last entrees. Also the last entry doesn't have a Link to the software.

Col

Goodness me, someone is sharing their favourite tools with an audience, he's not doing a full review of each one. Try googling and doing your own research instead of complaining

i had a six figure income...

Oh Apps? now I get it, he installs some software applications.

Sounds like HyperSnap has caught the ribbon interface disease. Why any software company would deliberately use up a significant amount of screen area with an interface which makes accessing frequently used features more difficult beats me. It's a similar situation with laptops' glossy screens - all the laptop manufacturers seemed to get the gloss screen bug and it's only recently that a few, Samsung and Acer in particular, have started producing matte screen laptops. I don't deny that some people prefer the ribbon interface and some people prefer gloss screens but PLEASE, PLEASE, GIVE US A CHOICE. Don't just change for the sake of change and foist it on us whether we like it or not.

you know, like words. what is this nonsense. OK. I clicked on the "BLOG" version. that's at least an article. All but useless software, but at least an article. How about a real filemanager that respects file extensions and lists files neatly and consisely? Actually remembers my default viewing preferences and doesn't change them for CD's, or DVD's, You also don't have CATHY a database of all your DVD's and backups. or a real movie music player like VLC.

We are currently removing almost all of the Hypersnap licences in our Enterprise because of the Windows 7 Snipping Tool. It's FREE, built into the OS, and for 99% of our users does the job. For me as an IT Pro, if Snipping Tool doesn't do what I need, I also use PSR.exe for screen shots related to creating documentation.

Why would you install Daemon Tools Virtual Optical Drive with all the extras you will never use when you can install the free Virtual CD that comes from Microsoft? It's a tiny chunk of code, tiny runtime footprint, and it's free.

So, here is my list:

1 - UltraISO (mount, create ISO images)
2 - Notepad++ (Powerfull Text Editor)
3 - MS Security Essentials (AntiVirus Client)
4 - FileZilla (FTP Client)
5 - JDownloader (Download Manager based on JAVA)

Regards.

I use Daemon Tools Pro and happen to need some of those extras... Anyway, my list of the first apps I install on a fresh desktop is as follows:
1. Daemon Tools
2. MS Security Essentials
3. Firefox (not a utility but a definite must!)
4. GIMP / Paint.NET (yeah its no photoshop, but its free)
5. uTorrent
6. MS Office (duh!)
7. WinRAR
8. Media Player Classic

My first install on all new windows systems is process explorer, although Windows 8 task manager may make it that I don't need Process Explorer, not sure yet.
And I use a different iso mounter, virtual clonedrive and I have been using Microsofts virtual machine, Virtual PC for most systems but use use VMWare for some VMs. (VMWare can import a Virtual PC virtual machine if you need to upgrade.)

1. Firefox with AdBlock and several other favorite extensions (Firebug, etc.)
2. Open Office. Free. No ribbon. Compatible.
3. Acrobat Reader, Flash.
4. Antivirus/Malware. Choose from Clamwin (nice light footprint), AVG, etc. Also Ad-Aware, Spybot, and (my favorite) Malware Bytes.
5. Notepad2. Free text editor with nice find/replace, indenting, and syntax highlighting for everything from HTML to SQL.

Optionally: Filezilla (or FireFTP extension for Firefox), Thunderbird, Chrome, Opera.

I would say Notepad++ (for a great free development editor). I agree especially with the OpenOffice/LibreOffice choice. No ridiculous ribbon interface means productivity is increased and I can convert any document to MS-Docs, excel etc. or even PDF at no cost.

Nobody likes Chrome?

I like everything about Chrome , Speed ECT.

For virtual drives I like Virtual Clone Drive
For working with ISO files the old ISO Recorder powertoy is hard to beat
The built-in Snipping Tool (Vista and above) works great for screen capture

Most of these programs are superseded by Windows 8 native tools. I cannot decide if it good or bad.

Granted, it's no surprise that a ZD-Net publication is heralding the arrival of windows8. ZD-Net has been a Microsoft shill for as long as I can remember. The brutally honest truth is that real CIO, CTO etc. etc. other technology managers are not going to be rushing to adopt it. It simply too expensive to implement, retrain and attempt to convert existing applications and infrastructures to meet yet another Microsoft Hack on top of hack on top of hack.

I support Senior Citizens primarily. Their needs are a little different. While I agree with everyone and their choices, for the older frugal folks the top give are: MS Security Essentials, Firefox, FoxIt PDF Reader, Primrose CCleaner, Primrose Deflagger, and Open Office. Of course, screenings.to be configured for no fuss. OO set to Word and Excel defaults, MSE, CCleaner, and Deflagger set to run auto and all Win updates install auto.There's more, but that's a start.

MSSE I agree (no frills no fluff set and forget) but I would also think about Chrome, a gmail account with Google Docs access. It might be better to not only read PDF's but become accustomed to an online environment.

When working offline the operating system is enough of a challenge for Seniors. If you can successfully get them to negotiate WordPad, cut and paste, make and add simple shapes using Paint for a simple single fold Birthday Card for their Grand Kids they'll listen to every word coming out of your mouth.

Doing this with Open Office is I believe far too challenging for those who just want to stay in touch with what the younger members of the family are doing. I start every course by asking what they expect to learn from a course called Computing For Seniors. They are adults with set opinions and an Adult Educator needs to wok in with their choices.

Daemon Tools seems to collect and share the ISOs you mount even if you opt out.

http://www.withinwindows.com/2012/02/12/daemon-tools-is-cataloging-all-your-disc-images-without-permission/

I always help friends by installing an antivirus (Microsoft Security Essentials), disk cleanup (Piriform CCleaner), defrag tool (recently switched from Defraggler to Smart Defrag), PDF viewer (adobe reader), office docs (OpenOffice), and better browser (Chrome).

I prefer Virtual Box to VMWare. I find the snapshot tree very useful especially when using it for virtualizing software using App-V or Symantec Workspace Virtualization. I'm not sure if you pass the virtual extensions into it, but if you can't, I bet they will become available soon.

I always install the following.
MagicDisc for mounting ISOs
PDF Creator for creating PDFs from any app as long as you can select a printer.
PDF Split and Merge. Great for removing blank pages from double side scans.
Printscreen. Great screen grabber
7-Zip. Excellent archive util
WinDirStat. Great for seeking out issues with full HDDs

Unfortunately, Hypersnap is not free anymore.