tankman1989
Active Member
- Reaction score
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Ok, I would like to create a list of freely available applications that can directly replace an existing Windows default application or applications that augment an existing MS application or just good apps to have on your system. I'm trying to create the "best of the best" list for the free apps out there, so please help me figure out what these apps are or what you think they are.
Default App --> Replacement App
MS paint --> Paint.NET - THIS IS GREAT!!!! I LOVE IT!
Notepad --> ConTEXT or Notepad++ - offers tabbed files (multiple file open at once). It is great for writing code as it will number down the side of the lines and it will display code in various colors. Both options offer this
built in Zip utility --> WinRAR, 7-zip I think WinRAR is indispensable if you download torrents and 7-Zip is just a better program
IE --> Firefox, Chrome, Opera
Windows Live Mail --> Thunderbird, Gmail
MS Office --> OpenOffice (Sun Microsystems) - excellent full office suite!
Wordpad --> Abiword
Outlook Contacts --> OpenContacts
file explorer --> UltraExplorer This ha a lot of really neat features you'll want to check out! The DOS box at the bottom is great for techs who need to test network settings or who know how to use the CL!
file copy process --> TeraCopy - this is great, it allows you to put files in a que to copy and tells you speeds, %'s and a lot more
Windows Media Player --> VLC There are so many great features about VLC (it's a remote media player as well as a streaming media player) I don't know where to start. I like the variable playback speed. Watching a movie that is a little slow? Need to watch a 120 min movie in 90 mins? Just increase the speed and VLC automatically adjusts the audio pitch so the voices and music sounds the same but faster. This is great for slow documentaries or How-to guides, where you may know a lot of the stuff already. There are a lot of plugins as well.
Media Center Edition --> XBMC I haven't used this in a long time but this turns your Windows 7 or Vista machine into a HTPC (home Theater PC) which allows you to categorize your movies, load DVD covers and a LOT more.
So, what can you guys come up with that can make Windows a better experience? I'm looking for something to make defrag and chdisk easier.
Default App --> Replacement App
MS paint --> Paint.NET - THIS IS GREAT!!!! I LOVE IT!
Notepad --> ConTEXT or Notepad++ - offers tabbed files (multiple file open at once). It is great for writing code as it will number down the side of the lines and it will display code in various colors. Both options offer this
built in Zip utility --> WinRAR, 7-zip I think WinRAR is indispensable if you download torrents and 7-Zip is just a better program
IE --> Firefox, Chrome, Opera
Windows Live Mail --> Thunderbird, Gmail
MS Office --> OpenOffice (Sun Microsystems) - excellent full office suite!
Wordpad --> Abiword
Outlook Contacts --> OpenContacts
file explorer --> UltraExplorer This ha a lot of really neat features you'll want to check out! The DOS box at the bottom is great for techs who need to test network settings or who know how to use the CL!
file copy process --> TeraCopy - this is great, it allows you to put files in a que to copy and tells you speeds, %'s and a lot more
Windows Media Player --> VLC There are so many great features about VLC (it's a remote media player as well as a streaming media player) I don't know where to start. I like the variable playback speed. Watching a movie that is a little slow? Need to watch a 120 min movie in 90 mins? Just increase the speed and VLC automatically adjusts the audio pitch so the voices and music sounds the same but faster. This is great for slow documentaries or How-to guides, where you may know a lot of the stuff already. There are a lot of plugins as well.
Media Center Edition --> XBMC I haven't used this in a long time but this turns your Windows 7 or Vista machine into a HTPC (home Theater PC) which allows you to categorize your movies, load DVD covers and a LOT more.
So, what can you guys come up with that can make Windows a better experience? I'm looking for something to make defrag and chdisk easier.
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