Useful programs for PC. What programs do I install on a new computer?

I spent a long time choosing a new computer, and finally here it is - standing on the table, the Windows screen saver is on the screen, and what to do next, what programs need to be installed? I saw something somewhere, heard something somewhere, in general my head is a mess! Let this article be a small guide to the TOP most necessary programs for a computer, according to the site.

No matter how hard Microsoft tries to refine its operating system, a clean OS can only be used in limited conditions - for example, at work, where installing additional programs is prohibited or there are no rights.

What to choose, paid or free programs

It just so happens that free programs alone are not enough, it turns out somewhere 50/50. I in no way advocate using cracked versions, but this is our reality that “cracked” programs are used everywhere. In my experience, to solve almost any problem there is at least one free program that is sufficient. But paid software is usually more convenient and has more features. But they are needed for large-scale work or for professional activities.

Antivirus – necessary protection

I have already touched on the topic of antivirus more than once; this is an absolutely necessary program that I download on any computer immediately after installing Windows. Perhaps an antivirus is the program that is better to buy and live in peace. Paid versions eliminate the headache of searching for updated keys and signature databases. Our most common ones:

Which one to choose is a personal matter for everyone. No one will provide 100% protection, so just choose which one you like best.

Good ones from the free ones:

Alternative browser

For the convenience of using the Internet, you will need to install one of them to replace the standard Internet Explorer/Edge. Popular in our area:

All of them are free and very useful programs. Today the browser from Yandex is rapidly gaining popularity. This is undoubtedly one of the best browsers, but everyone has their own preferences.

In terms of speed and system resource consumption, I prefer Opera. And those who like flexibility in configuration can choose Mozilla FireFox. If you remain on standard Internet Explorer, then at least update it to the latest version.

Archiver

By default, Microsoft Windows cannot work with such a common archive format as “.rar”. Probably in the West everyone only uses zip. I install a shell that supports all the necessary archive formats, including “.zip”. WinRAR is built into the operating system, allowing you to work with archives from the context menu in Explorer.

As an alternative, I can recommend the program 7-Zip. It also has all the necessary functions, but it cannot pack into the “.rar” format. But it can unpack the “.7z” format.

Office suite

A must-have for working with texts and tables: Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Although I included this in the mandatory list, not everyone needs it. But I have never seen a laptop without Microsoft Office or its free equivalent OpenOffice. Among the lighter office packages, I recommend WPS Office.

To read PDF books you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. PDF is the most common format for documentation, books and instructions. It will work without a special program, but the functionality will be limited to the simplest actions. Acrobat Reader is a completely free program.

Messenger, Internet phone

Programs for free communication around the world via the Internet:

• Skype is the most famous, but is becoming outdated, there is a detailed
• Viber is actively gaining popularity
• WhatsApp is one of the most popular in the world

All programs support voice, video and chat. An indispensable tool for communication, in addition to social networks. To do this, headphones and a web camera (for video communication), as well as an installed program on both devices of the interlocutors. Messengers also allow you to call landlines and mobile phones, but this is no longer free.

In order for you to communicate with relatives and friends, you need to find out what programs they themselves use. But usually everything is installed at once. I note that in order for Viber and WhatsApp to work on a PC, they must be installed on the smartphone too.

I showed the basic programs for a laptop in minimal variety. For the more advanced, I recommend another package of software.

After installing the drivers, first of all I install the file manager. This program provides convenient access to the file system, replacing the standard Windows Explorer. It is much more convenient to copy, move, change files. I advise everyone! My work with the computer begins with the launch of Total Commander.

Mail client

To check their email, a person usually goes to a website such as gmail.com and looks at their inbox. But it is much more convenient to use special programs - email clients, especially if you have several email accounts.

The program connects to the server and downloads all mail to the computer. You can view it without browser delays, quickly switching between boxes. I recommend or Mozilla Thunderbird. The standard Microsoft Outlook (built into Windows XP/7 and Microsoft Office) and the Mail application in Windows 10 are not bad, but The Bat! I like it better because it is very easy to transfer mail to another computer or to a new operating system without the risk of losing important information.

Convenient video and audio player

I recommend installing separate video and audio players to replace the standard Windows Media Player. No matter how hard the developers try, they cannot combine both a video and an audio player in one program so that everyone likes it. For these purposes, it is better to use separate programs. The following have worked well for video playback:

Torrent downloader

Today, something worthwhile can be downloaded for free on the Internet either from file hosting services or using torrents. You will need the uTorrent program.

Password Manager

In order not to remember all the logins and passwords that you will certainly start to acquire, I recommend using one of the password managers. The program remembers all your passwords and stores them on the server. Subsequently, they can be used from anywhere, on any computer and browser. I recommend using or LastPass.

RoboForm is the first thing I install because it stores all my access to Internet services and applications on my computer. I also have an add-on for the Mozilla Firefox browser on my smartphone, with which I always have up-to-date logins and passwords on my phone.

Cleaning the CCleaner system

I’m sure a useful thing for any system running Windows 7/8/10 is the CCleaner program. Designed for periodic, approximately once a month, cleaning of the operating system and programs from accumulated garbage. Basically, these are various temporary folders, files, caches, which not only fill up free disk space, but also often worsen the performance of the computer. Especially useful for improving the performance of browsers that begin to slow down over time.

Optional Settings

Useful only if you have special system requirements.

A set of codecs for video and audio

By default, Windows can only play the most basic video and audio file formats. To support other formats, you will need one of the codec sets, such as K-Lite Codec Pack or Win7Codecs. This installation is not necessary because any modern multimedia player already has all the common codecs built-in, or it immediately offers to download them.

Disc burning program

DVD drives are used less frequently than before, but are still found in almost every computer. I use the program to burn discs. For free ones, I recommend JetBee FREE or ImgBurn.

Outdated, somewhere else popular ICQ

A popular client for communicating via the ICQ protocol (“ICQ” in popular parlance). Previously, every computer had a former “de facto” standard for exchanging instant messages via the Internet, such as free SMS, only in a larger volume. You can often see it in contacts on various service sites and online stores.

I use social networks, Telegram and ICQ at the same time. This way you can keep constant contact with people. Instead of the cumbersome ICQ program, I recommend installing a convenient QIP client. The program is in Russian and has a simple and intuitive interface.

Bonus – Punto Switcher

This is the minimum program that is needed for a computer and I use them myself. I literally opened my Start menu and selected the most basic thing. I do not recommend using various Windows builds, such as “Zver”, although some of the necessary software is already built into them. But it is precisely because of them that inexplicable problems with the computer later emerge.

Each of us has more than once been faced with the need to download a program from the Internet, but not everyone thought about the fact that along with the downloaded program, various malicious programs can get into your computer, which can significantly complicate your life. That’s why downloading any kind of program from the network should be treated extremely carefully, without relying on “maybe.”

Today we will tell you about the three most reliable and convenient ways to download programs from the World Wide Web.

Official website of the developer

The most reliable way is to download the program directly from its developer’s website. For example, for Opera it is https://www.opera.com/ru/computer. In this case, you can be sure that you will download the most current version of the program and nothing else. Usually, when searching for a particular program on the Internet, the developer’s website appears immediately on the first page of the search. You just need to make sure that this is not a page that copies the style of the developer’s site - such copying is quite common on the Internet.

Soft portals

Today there are many sites on the Internet that offer a whole catalog of different programs for computers. Usually these directories are conveniently structured, and you can easily find and immediately download from it a browser, an antivirus, and any other program. But here again the question of the reliability of a particular resource arises. It’s no secret that some sites try to impose on you, in addition to the selected program, a couple of unnecessary utilities, and you won’t even understand where these programs on your computer came from. It’s good if these are ordinary harmless programs, but sometimes they can also be programs containing malicious code. Therefore, be careful when choosing the soft portal from which you want to download something. We advise you to use only the most popular and already well-proven resources, such as BesplatnyeProgrammy.Ru, a cult and authoritative resource of free software with a classic old-school interface and current versions of programs, or SoftoBase.com, which, in addition to a huge database of programs for Windows, Android and iOS contains a lot of useful information: thematic collections of software, answers to questions, video tutorials, etc.

Multi-installer of programs

Another reliable and convenient way is to download programs using a multi-installer program. A great example is InstallPack. This is a small utility that facilitates the process of finding and installing the necessary programs for Windows on a PC (more than 700 items). To find the program you need, you can use the built-in search or thematic collections. Installation files in InstallPack are distributed on a zero-touch basis. That is, in the form in which the developers give them, and only the latest versions. The application downloads and starts installation of selected programs one by one and does not create its own files on the system.

How do you most often download programs onto your computer?

This set provides a list of the most necessary programs that are perfect for installation on a new laptop or device with a new Windows operating system.

Good antivirus protection

1 The first thing that needs to be installed is, of course, good protection. Without a good antivirus, visiting any pages on the Internet or using third-party applications or devices can lead to your computer becoming infected with dangerous viruses and Trojans. To do this, we suggest you use the new, free antivirus solution 360 Total Security, which you can download from a special page on our website.

Multifunctional browser

2 Next, to visit sites on the Internet, you must have an installed, modern browser. There are quite a lot of applications, but each of them is unique in its own way. If you want to spend your time as efficiently and safely as possible while visiting Internet resources and using various services on the Internet, then we recommend that you download and install the free Yandex browser. This program has all the necessary tools for effective and safe work on the Internet.

Good file archiver

3 After which you can install a shareware archiver. Most files on the Internet are distributed in archived form, and in order to extract content from them, a special program is needed. We recommend that you download the very good WinRAR application and install it as your main tool for working with archives. You can find out more about it and download it by clicking on the button below.

Multimedia

4 To play music and watch videos, we recommend that you pay attention to the KMPlayer player and the AIMP player. By downloading and installing the proposed programs for working with multimedia files, you can easily listen to music and watch any video, without the need to install additional codecs.

Optimization

5 During the use and installation of additional programs on a laptop, various unnecessary information and records accumulate in the system, which load your computer and significantly slow down its operation. For such cases, we recommend downloading a special utility called CCleaner, a program for cleaning and optimizing the system. With this application, you can easily delete all unnecessary entries and junk files that accumulate during active use of the laptop.

Here are 5 essential programs that should be installed on your laptop. If this list does not satisfy your needs, then you can always use our website and select from the list all those applications that you want to download to your computer.

Hello, dear friends! In today’s article I will tell you about all the necessary programs for a computer, without installing which working on it will be very difficult or simply impossible.

To fully use all the capabilities of your computer friend, you need to install the necessary programs on it.

All the necessary programs must be installed on your computer or laptop, regardless of what activity you engage in on it. They significantly expand or improve the functionality of your device.

After installing an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) on your computer, you have access to a certain number of programs built into it (the number and versions of programs depend on the version of the installed OS). As a rule, the functionality of these programs is limited.

To use all the capabilities of the software, we are advised to purchase it (for a lot of money) 🙂 There are many ways to get around these restrictions, or use free software.

The list will contain both paid and free programs that have similar characteristics and perform the same task.

Each program will be analyzed separately. The pros and cons of the programs, their brief description, and links to developer sites for downloading them will be indicated.

All the programs below work only under Windows OS (versions for each program will be indicated separately) So, let's get started...

Regardless of whether you bought a new computer assembled (with a pre-installed OS), purchased individual components and assembled the computer yourself, or simply reinstalled the operating system, you need to install drivers for the existing hardware on the computer to get started.

To see if all the drivers are installed on a computer with a pre-installed OS, you need to click the “start” button, then the “control panel” tab, then for Windows 7 select “device manager” from the list that appears, and for Windows XP click “system” and select there "device Manager".

A menu like this (or not) will appear:

It should not contain any red or yellow icons. If they are not present, then all devices are installed and working normally. If there is, then you need to determine by the name of the device what the problem is and try to fix it.

Drivers for desktop computers come on disks (CD or DVD)

For laptops, they can also come on disks (if you buy a laptop without an OS installed). If the operating system is installed, then most often the drivers are located in a special folder (software distributions, drivers, etc.).

Driver installation procedure

If you install drivers from a disk and there is an automatic installation option, you can use it.

This is the best method for an inexperienced user. The disadvantage of this method is the installation of unnecessary programs (various temperature sensors, fan speed control, etc.) that come with the drivers.

If you know what needs to be installed, then in the disk menu you can uncheck unnecessary programs and install only the necessary ones. Below I have given an example of a disk menu from my motherboard:

Installation of drivers can occur either automatically or manually, which gives us the opportunity to install everything separately or only the drivers we need.

It is advisable to install drivers for each device separately with a restart of the computer and in a certain order (preferably, but not required).

1. Chipset
2. Sound
3. Video
4. All other internal devices, and after them the peripherals (printer, scanner, etc.)

As soon as we have all the devices installed or connected to the computer working, we can proceed to installing the programs that are so necessary for our work or entertainment.

Archivers

To continue further installation of the necessary programs, we first need to install an archiver, since almost all software distributions are packaged in archives.

The most popular of the paid archivers is WinRar.

In my opinion, WinRar has the only drawback, it is paid, but it returns 100% of the money spent on it. This is a great and reliable tool for storing, transferring and protecting any of your files. Be it a photo, text document or video. If you don't mind the money, then this is the best option.

WinZip is also a paid archiver, but twice as expensive as WinRar. In terms of functionality, it is in no way inferior to WinRar, but ease of use suffers. Because of these two shortcomings, its rather low popularity is reflected. You can see the comparative characteristics of these two archivers.

Now let's move on to the free and very popular archiver 7Zip.

7Zip has all the necessary functionality and is considered one of the best programs for quickly compressing, storing and transmitting important information. The main advantages of this archiver are the presence of its own 7z compression format, which is ahead of WinRar in speed and compression ratio. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions of the program.

Each of the presented archivers will provide you with everything you need for fast and productive work.

Antiviruses

Now let's talk about the next type of necessary software - antiviruses.

Antivirus software is one of the most popular and popular among all computer users.

Antivirus is considered one of the most necessary programs, not only because of its extreme practical usefulness (with proper configuration and correct use), but also simply as a necessary attribute of a normal computer, although many users do not pay any attention to the operation of the antivirus. They believe that if an antivirus is installed, that is enough. It works, it updates, and that’s fine. Many people simply have no time or are not interested in learning at least a little about the capabilities of the antivirus they have installed and the minimum necessary settings to make it work much more efficiently.

You can afford not to be very well versed in Word, Excel and other fairly important programs for everyday computer work, but you cannot afford to be irresponsible with your data on the computer.

If the antivirus cannot prevent the threat, then you (under certain circumstances) may lose important documents, photos, etc., and no one wants that. If you do not have copies of the data destroyed by the virus, then consider that you have lost it almost irrevocably.

Therefore, choosing a good antivirus that is right for you is quite a difficult task, even for an experienced user, and even more so for those who are less knowledgeable. Below I will provide and briefly describe the most popular antivirus programs and provide links to developer sites.

And remember, there is no ideal antivirus, regardless of whether you choose a paid or free program.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus is deservedly considered the most popular paid anti-virus program in Russia. It has two most popular packages representing basic and optimal protection. You can see more details about the capabilities of these products. There are also versions of the program for mobile phones, tablet computers and Apple products.

If you decide to purchase Kaspersky Internet Security or Kaspersky Total Security, then by clicking on this link, you will receive the ORFO spell checker as a gift.

It is followed, in descending order of popularity, by Dr. antivirus programs. Web and Eset NOD32. These programs are paid. Their functionality is quite sufficient to provide the user with good protection against various computer viruses.

Also Dr. Web provides an excellent free utility for detecting and removing Dr. viruses. Web CureIt!

Of the free antiviruses, I would like to especially highlight Avast! Free Antivirus. It provides excellent protection against most existing pests and is simple and easy to use. There is a more powerful paid version called avast! Internet Security. At the end of 2013, the most powerful version of the antivirus appeared - avast! Premier

Also, many users use less popular, but not much inferior to their advanced counterparts in finding and destroying malicious code, anti-virus programs. These include: AVG Anti-Virus Free, Comodo Antivirus, Avira. All of them are free, but at the same time they provide reliable protection for your computer. McAffe antivirus is very good. It is often installed by default on laptops. By clicking on the picture below, you can learn more about this antivirus. Website in English. To enable any other, select a special menu item in the upper right corner.

A paid antivirus may differ from a free one, both for the better and for the worse. The algorithms for searching and detecting malicious code are different, and you don’t know which virus will get to you. It may be that a simple antivirus can easily catch an unexpected guest, but its sophisticated counterpart will let it through. Choose what suits you best, install, configure and surf the Internet in safety.

By the way, I myself have been using the free version of Avast for more than three years, and I am quite pleased with its work. Viruses, of course, slipped through, especially Trojans, but running a full scan of the computer and using the Dr. utility. Web CureIt! (once a month is enough) solves this problem. The article describes in detail about this and other programs for quickly and effectively checking your computer for viruses.

After you and I have protected our computer from the unwanted effects of various malware, we can calm down a little, think and make up our minds. What should we install next? What programs do we need most?

To do this, ask yourself. What do you do most on your computer? Work or play. After answering it, you will know exactly what to put first, and I will move on to programs for viewing images.

Image Viewers

Programs for viewing images or simply “viewers” ​​are an integral part of any computer, since without their capabilities, you will never be able to view your photographs or drawings. The absence of a program on your computer that is so necessary for everyday activities greatly limits your ability to use the unlimited potential of your computer.

All modern operating systems have a built-in program for viewing graphic images of almost any format, and it does an excellent job with simple viewing and this is enough for many, but for some users more functionality is needed. For this category, many different (both paid and free) programs have been specially developed for viewing a huge variety of graphic formats.

The once most popular paid program for viewing images, ACDSee, very quickly lost ground to its free counterparts.

Thanks to the emergence of fully functional free programs for viewing all kinds of graphic formats, users have the opportunity to choose, and there is no need to necessarily use paid image viewers.

These programs will allow us to view documents and read e-books in popular formats such as PDF and DjVu.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most powerful program for reading and editing PDF files. Its capabilities significantly exceed the requirements of the average user and it is too “heavy”, so I advise everyone to install the simple and fast-loading Foxit PDF Reader. This free program is quite enough to view any documents or books.

WinDjView is a fast-to-use and extremely easy-to-use program for viewing DjVu files. The DjVu format allows you to save printed documents and images with excellent quality into files much smaller than the original ones.

I would especially like to highlight a program such as STDU Viewer.

I started using it in 2015 and am very pleased with it. It easily replaces all three previous programs.

Its advantages:

• Reads all major image, book and document formats (see supported formats);
• Light weight;
• Free for non-commercial use;
• Can replace several utilities.

Flaws:

In fact, it has one drawback: it is a less convenient and practical interface when working with files and less functionality when working (unlike specialized software), so to speak, the price for versatility. But many people don’t need the bells and whistles (like me, for example), I looked at the document and forgot. So I strongly advise everyone to add this software to their list of must-haves, more than anything else.

Video players

To view video materials in a variety of formats, we will need to install a video player on your computer.

Here I will give only free programs for watching videos, since there is no need to use paid video players, due to their high price and absolute uselessness for the average user, for whom simplicity and ease of use are more important than sophisticated functionality.

– probably the most popular video player for the vast majority of users. The popularity of Media Player Classic is justified by the fact that this player is present in such a popular codec package as the K-Lite Codec Pack, which will be discussed below. Its capabilities are quite sufficient for regular viewing of films and videos, it is unpretentious and easy to use.

Media Player Classic once again confirms that most users value speed and ease of use, and additional features fade into the background. This player can also be downloaded separately. It's called MPC-HC, which essentially doesn't change anything. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions.

Next comes a more beautiful and modern video player. This video/audio player has built-in codecs, which allows you to watch video movies (including DVDs) and listen to music without installing any third-party codecs. KMPlayer has advanced video settings, which can significantly improve the quality of the played video, as well as replaceable skins to change the appearance.

And finally, I will present a powerful and very easy-to-use media player.

VLC is a free, open-source, cross-platform player for any audio and video information. Just like KMPlayer, it has built-in codecs for playing audio and video files. Supports a huge number of formats and various streaming protocols.

To play video on your computer, you can use any of the programs presented here, making a choice based on your aesthetic needs. The capabilities of each of them are sufficient for use in most everyday tasks.

P.S. I myself constantly use all three multimedia players, depending on the format, quality of the video file being launched and my mood :). For regular DVD Rip movies, Media Player Classic is enough, and for watching videos and movies in Full HDTV I use VLC media player. KMPlayer can play back both DVD and HDTV with high quality, although I rarely use it, I like it for its excellent design and capabilities.

Audio players

For high-quality playback and listening to music, we need to install a program for playing audio files.

Above in the article we discussed multimedia players that are more suitable for playing video, although all have the ability to play audio files. Using them to listen to music is not very convenient, so I will tell you about audio players that are specially designed to perform this function with the highest possible convenience and quality.

The first representative of this class of programs is the very popular, beautiful and convenient audio player Aimp. In December 2015, the fourth version of this player was released. The player is absolutely free, and this is very pleasing :).

The Aimp player has conquered and firmly occupied the niche of the former very popular and high-quality music player WinAmp.

Thanks to its free nature, beautiful appearance (you can change skins), user-friendly interface, high-quality sound playback, functionality and constant updates, it has won the hearts of many users around the world. If you choose Aimp, you will never regret it. Ideal solution for home use.

It has a modest interface, but at the same time it has enormous possibilities for expansion, customization and high-quality sound reproduction.

The theoretical capabilities of Foobar2000 for high-quality processing of audio files exceed the capabilities of professional audio equipment.

Has a huge number of plugins.

An excellent player for those who like to play around with sound settings. It is also very suitable for use in office computers, as it consumes very little RAM and has the ability to adjust transparency.

It is a fast, very small size (490kb in the archive), but at the same time powerful and flexible tool for listening to music.

Supports major audio formats WAV, OGG, MP1, MP2, MP3, AIFF.

Due to the extremely spartan interface, Evil Player is not very convenient to use, but it does an excellent job of performing its main function.

For a home where several people usually use one computer, it will be inconvenient, but for listening to background music in the office it will be very suitable.

Codecs

The most popular, stable, universal and necessary set of codecs for viewing and processing audio and video files is undoubtedly .

Thanks to the existence of five package options, any user can choose the one that suits them in terms of functionality.

Basic(Basic) - contains the necessary components to play all popular audio and video formats.

Standard(Standard) the same as in the basic version, plus a very good and necessary Media Player Classic Home Cinema player, which was discussed above, and a built-in MPEG-2 decoder for playing DVDs.

Full(Full) same as the standard set, plus MadVR, GraphStudioNext and a few additional DirectShow filters.

Mega(and so it is clear) the same as the full package, plus ACM and VFW codecs for video encoding and editing, several additional DirectShow filters and tools.

Previously, there was a special 64-bit version of the codec designed to work on 64-bit operating systems, but now it is built in by default and there is no need to download anything separately.

To view full descriptions of the composition and capabilities of different versions of the codec, follow the link above.

It is a set of the most necessary codecs for watching videos in the most popular formats and listening to audio files.

The package includes such popular codecs as ffdshow, DivX, XviD, x264, h.264, Windows Media 9, MP4, MPEG4, MPEG2, AC3, DTS, Flash Video Splitter, many filters, various plugins and other auxiliary tools for working with video and audio files.

This is a universal free application developed by Adobe, which allows us to view pages with dynamic (interactive) content, beautiful special effects and video clips, and play flash games.

Flash technology is very common on the Internet, and using a computer without a Flash player installed, you will not be able to fully use all the capabilities of the modern Internet.

This software is simply necessary to install on any computer.

To view instructions for installing Adobe Flash Player on Internet Explorer, Opera and Mozilla Firefox browsers, click here.

Adobe Flash Player is already built into the Google Chrome browser. Updates automatically.

Office programs

It is the most essential set of office applications created by Microsoft for the Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X operating systems.

This package includes software that allows you to prepare documents of varying complexity. Allows you to work with various types of documents: texts, spreadsheets, databases, etc.

Microsoft Office occupies a leading position in the word processor market, and its formats are the standard in the document flow of the vast majority of enterprises.

The most popular applications from the Microsoft Office suite are Microsoft Office Word, for working with text data, and Microsoft Office Excel, for working with tabular data. But these applications are quite difficult to master on your own, and during self-study we use the capabilities of these programs by 10-15%. Therefore, if you want to surprise your friends, girlfriends, comrades and co-workers with an advanced level of Word proficiency, and do your work more efficiently and quickly, I advise you to take it.

Microsoft Office is an excellent product for processing text and tabular data, but its main disadvantage is the price.

The 2013 version costs about 15,000 rubles. This is a very large sum for us, so the vast majority of users have versions of this program, so necessary for many, unlocked in various ways on their home computers.

Now let's look at the free office program OpenOffice.

This is the most popular free office suite designed for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and more.

Supports many languages ​​and works great on all personal computers.

OpenOffice can be used completely freely for commercial and non-commercial purposes.

The OpenOffice office suite has less functionality and ease of use, so it will not replace Microsoft Office in enterprises, but for home use it is more than enough.

A simple text editor can also be a very good option (especially for owners of laptops and tablets).

Browsers

(read as Internet Explorer) is a browser developed by Microsoft Corporation. It is included with all operating systems of the Windows family, and thanks to this it remains today one of the most popular web browsers on the Internet.

For most users who require the Internet occasionally, it will be sufficient, but for those who spend a little more time in front of the monitor in search of information and entertainment, a more flexible and customizable tool may be needed.

In general, the latest versions of Internet Explorer are convenient and work quite well when properly configured.

At the moment, Microsoft is very actively promoting its Microsoft Edge browser, which comes with the Windows 10 operating system. According to user reviews, it is quite good and superior to Internet Explorer.

Although the package includes many modules, the most common application from this package is Nero Burning Rom. It is responsible for recording, erasing, copying and cloning disks. Nero Burning Rom has established itself as the fastest, most convenient and high-quality program for burning discs. Supports recording of all existing discs and formats. The disadvantage of the program is that it is paid, but it is cheaper than Ashampoo Burning. It is the best choice for burning discs among all programs in this class.

With this, I want to finish describing the set of necessary programs for any computer running operating systems of the Windows family, and move on to less necessary, but sometimes necessary software.

Such software includes programs for scanning text and images, translators, downloading files and torrents, communicating on the Internet, cleaning the operating system, convenient work with files and defragmenters. Now first things first...

Convenient work with files

The most popular program for conveniently working with files is . This is the best two-panel file manager. It has all possible options for conveniently working with many files. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions of the program.

A good option would be to use a free file manager. In terms of stability and functionality, it is inferior to Total Commander, but for many it will be enough.

Communication on the Internet

Programs designed for communication via the Internet are divided into those that allow you to conduct a conversation through a microphone with the ability to connect video via a webcam, and simple communication using text. Almost all modern programs support all these options for interaction between users.

The most prominent representative of this segment is Skype.

Skype allows all Internet users to communicate for free, regardless of their location. It is possible to call any mobile operator or landline number at very low rates.

Easy to install, understandable and easy to use, Skype is a must-have for those users who want to make the most of the Internet.

A good replacement for Skype is the Mail.Ru Agent program, but it has a big disadvantage: it is a lower quality of communication than Skype. Otherwise, this is a fairly convenient and high-quality product. Has millions of fans thanks to the popular instant messaging service ICQ (better known as ICQ). When downloading the agent (and other programs), be careful. Be sure to uncheck the box before you start downloading, otherwise you will end up with a bunch of digital crap. With all due respect to the Mail.ru company, they do not hesitate to clog up our computers with very annoying and, most importantly, absolutely unnecessary software for the sake of a penny.

Uploading files and torrents

All modern browsers have a built-in module for downloading files from the Internet, but their functionality and ease of use do not satisfy many users. An alternative to standard methods of downloading information from the Internet can be programs specially developed for this. They easily integrate into all major and popular browsers and have significantly greater functionality, speed and reliability.

The best program in this class is.

Download Master is a convenient and highly efficient tool for downloading any files. It will provide you with high download speed, the ability to continue an interrupted download from the point where the connection was lost, and a convenient interface for managing the program and downloaded files.

There is a portable version of Download Master Portable, which, when recorded on a flash drive or portable disk, will allow you to download from any computer connected to the World Wide Web. All versions of Download Master are free.

Another good program for downloading files from the Internet.

In terms of functionality, Free Download Manager is in no way inferior to Download Master, but loses in ease of use, although many people like it precisely because of its simplicity and the presence of only the necessary controls.

The following program is a torrent downloader. If you don’t understand what we’re talking about, then read what torrent files are.

µTorrent is one of the most popular torrent clients in the world.

The advantages of this program are its small size, convenient and intuitive interface, and most importantly, it is absolutely free. I recommend it to anyone who downloads large amounts of data from torrent trackers.

Cleaning the operating system

To maintain the operating system in good working order and remove unnecessary files and programs from it, we simply need the program.

CCleaner is the best free program for optimizing your computer's registry and files. After finishing your work, you will see how much faster and more efficiently your computer will work.

CCleaner will instantly free up valuable space on your hard drives, while you can be sure that the program will work correctly and reliably. The program will not delete any necessary files. Built-in support for the Russian language, the small size of the program and a clear and simple interface make CCleaner an indispensable assistant both at home and at work.

Recently, to optimize and clean the operating system from various garbage, I began to use Advanced SystemCare. An excellent replacement for many cleaners.

Defragmenters

Very fast, powerful and reliable defragmenter.

Auslogics Disk Defrag allows you to optimize the file system, the placement of both system and regular files to speed up your computer. Supports work in the background. Free for commercial and home use.

There is also a portable version of Auslogics Disk Defrag, which can be written to a flash drive or removable disk, with the further ability to run the program on any other computer without installation.

Optical text and image recognition

If you frequently work with text and graphic data, you may need essential software such as text and image recognition programs.

It is a leader in the field of optical data recognition and has all the necessary functionality for quickly and conveniently converting paper documents into electronic editable formats. It defines and allows you to convert text and tabular data, as well as images, into documents of various formats. Performs all this with maximum speed and quality. For her, the type of document being identified does not matter, be it a photograph of a book or a regular text document. ABBYY FineReader will identify the data in both documents with the same quality. There is a built-in spell checker. The disadvantage of the program is that it is paid.

For those who are not ready to pay for the ABBYY FineReader optical text recognition program, there is its free analogue CuneiForm.

The functionality and quality of work of CuneiForm is inferior to ABBYY FineReader, but it copes very well with scanning simple documents and images. Any printed fonts are recognized.

The results of the work can be translated and edited in any office programs and text editors, and then saved in popular formats.

To improve the quality of recognition, CuneiForm uses a dictionary check. The standard dictionary can be expanded by inserting new words from text files. Suitable for anyone who needs optical data recognition on a case-by-case basis.

Text translators

Electronic dictionary is the most powerful package for translating text from one language to another.

It comes in home and professional versions, which differ in the set of dictionaries. Each version has the ability to connect additional dictionaries. It has a huge standard database of words and popular phrases. It has the highest quality automatic text translation, selecting the translation of words according to the meaning and content of the translated material. ABBYY Lingvo is a very high-quality paid product that is far behind its paid and free competitors. It is simply necessary for everyone who studies foreign languages ​​and translates texts.

NeoDic is a free program for contextual text translation. It will help you cope with the translation of unfamiliar words by simply hovering your mouse over the desired word or phrase. This type of translation is very convenient to use when viewing information on the Internet. The program supports the Russian language, is small in size and has many settings that allow you to change the program to suit your needs.

This concludes my review of the necessary programs for your computer. The set of software presented above is sufficient for full use of all the basic capabilities of a computer, which are used by the vast majority of users, at home or in the office.

You can download them from official websites (this is not always convenient), using the links provided in the article, or go to the useful resources page and select the one you like from the listed catalogs of free programs, search and download the desired program from it.

If you liked this article, then perhaps you will be interested in my other materials. To view all blog articles, please follow the link to. The author of this article and the Computer for Everyone blog is Alexander Osipov. See you again on the pages.

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