The Personal Computer Enthusiast

Here is software that I use on my personal setup of Windows XP. I highly recommend all of the following software for anyone and everyone.

• Firefox (see menu on right for download) – best internet browser to date - More Tips
  
• Extensions:
• Flashgot – for use with Flashget
• NoScript – disables user-defined javascript (prevent popups/ads)
• Adblock – more ad prevention
• IE Tab – allows you to view Internet Explorer inside Firefox
• Undoclosetab – handy if you accidentally close a tab
• Linkification – turns text into clickable links
• Greasemonkey – 100% Internet customization (I use it for viewing launch.yahoo.com videos and converting mailto: links for gmail)
• Google Web Accelerator – slight speed increase in page load times but also works as a proxy to change your IP
• iTunes – can be set up to do just about anything you need for your personal music needs.
• PeerGuardian – IP Specific Firewall for added protection on p2p
• Flashget – extremely well put together program for downloading
• AVG free – free antivirus to replace Norton/McAfee
• Netlimiter – lets you monitor and control your bandwidth usage
• GAIM – replaces AIM and MSN Messenger
• Spybot: Search & Destroy – good spyware remover

There is also Google’s suggested software which has some good picks, but of course many of these items are not necessary (i.e. Google Talk is supported inside of GAIM).