There are whole communities for open source software. These are legally created programs that have been designed by programmers who are tired of the strangle hold certain industry giants have on the market. They are called “open source” because the source code is transparent and can be redesigned by anyone who wants to improve or alter the program. However, if you aren’t a programmer, this isn’t necessary. The programs are constantly being improved. Linux is one such site and program. Linux is a computing platform that replaces Windows. Many consider it to be easier to use than Windows, less cumbersome and of course, it is free.

There are also websites that provide feedback and links to various types of free software. One such site is PC-WORLD. If you navigate to their site and click on “downloads” they have categories like; utilities, anti-virus and security, office, etc. If you click on one of these links you will get a whole list of screened software. Some of the software is for sale, some is “shareware” and some is free. Most of the free programs are just as good as the programs for sale. You should stay away from “shareware” as most of it requires you to sign up for a website or allow tracking cookies to be placed on your computer. Compromising your security isn’t necessary. The free software is usually well written, user friendly and often takes far less of your computers thinking power to operate. For example, there is a search utility called “Agent Ransack”. It is completely free, is tiny compared to Microsoft’s search feature yet does a MUCH better job at quickly searching your computer.

Of course there are the free software programs that are becoming quite famous and are readily available. Internet browsers are the most common because they can easily pay for their development by selling advertising. Mozilla’s Firefox is a very popular free browser. Google Chrome is another. There is a full office suite called Open Office that is becoming more common that replaces Microsoft Office while still being compatible. Open Office provides word processing, a spreadsheet program compatible with Excel, basically everything offered by Microsoft office but it is completely free.

What you get from commercial software is a look. Commercially sold software is almost always bloated and saps computing power because it has a very sharp color scheme and looks really slick. If you aren’t hung up on looks, free software performs as well or often better. And with the more popular free software like Firefox, their graphics are becoming higher and higher quality. One word of caution: When searching for free software, go directly to the download site. Don’t download from the many “free software” sites that offer pages of links. You often have to compromise your privacy or security to use these sites. Find the name of the software then go directly to their site to download directly from the developers. And no matter what, always scan you new software with an anti-virus program before opening and installing it.

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There is a computer in our cars, TV’s, cell phones, our cable boxes, and other electronic devices. Without the software, these electronics would not work as they do. They may turn on, but the programs that we need to use would not work properly without the help of software.

The operating system that came with your computer is a computer software program. All computers come with an operating system, such as Windows aka XP, Vista, 2000, etc. Other operating systems are Linux and Mac. Without an operating system, your computer will not operate as it should. It may turn on, but it won’t run properly.

There are so many different programs today to do just about anything you want to on your computer. Some computer software program names are Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office, Print Shop, QuickBooks, video games, etc.

Some programs come in the form of CD or DVD, or floppy disks. This software can also be downloaded from the Internet, called electronic download. A software program is usually all set up to run on your computer. Each program will tell you what operating system and other criteria needed to use the program on your computer.
There are programs that will diagnose, troubleshoot, and fix problems that may occur with your computer, without the help of a computer tech.

Some programs online are in the form of a zip file, closed to make the file smaller. Most operating systems have a program on them that will automatically open a zip file so that you can install it onto your computer without a hassle. If you do not have a zip file software program, you can find a free program online. A great place to find free software downloads is at http://download.cnet.com/windows/.

Each program will tell you what the computer requirements are to run the program on your computer. It may specify that the program is only for Windows 2000 or XP, but most programs are available to run with Vista, Mac, and Linux now. http://www.microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx offers free trials for a lot of their software programs so that you can try it out before purchasing a copy of it.

Nearly everywhere we go or whatever we do, there is computer software running something. It is a wonderful idea to learn more about the computer world, as it will always be a big part of life. The technology continues to change and improve in most areas. A lot of the local Adult Education centers offer classes for free or at a very reasonable price to learn more about computers. Some local computer technicians also offer tutoring at reasonable prices. The World Wide Web has loads of free information on this topic as well.

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The computer program has to be installed on the system. It integrates itself into the right-click context menu of executable file extensions such as exe, bat and cmd with the option to add custom file extension during installation.

The advanced run box becomes available after right-clicking a supported file type and selecting run with parameters from the context menu. It is then possible to supply command line arguments to run the software with these additional parameters.

The computer program will remember command line arguments that have been used in the past for that specific software program. This option is also configured during installation. Up to 20 arguments are saved by default. The program will only use system resources during execution. The main application will terminate its process after the selected program has been started with the command line arguments. Run With Parameters is therefor a lightweight software program ideal for launching executables that require parameters from time to time (for example Google Chrome with or without extensions, Firefox with another profile). It can be downloaded from the developer’s homepage.

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The so called MUI Cache is a special cache that contains information about recently launched computer software programs in Windows. The cache does contain application names and paths which can be problematic for several reasons. A system administrator or user with sufficient rights could find out that a user launched applications from removable media. It could also mean that the contents of a hidden or encrypted partition become visible because of this.

Mui Cache View is a Nirsoft application that displays the cache in the usual Nirsoft environment. The portable software program is compatible with several different Microsoft operating systems including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. It is likely that the program will also work under Windows 7.

It basically creates a list of all applications that are located in the MUI Cache with editing and deleting options. It is possible to edit or delete entries so that they appear in different form or not at all in the cache. Users who want to analyze the programs in detail find export options to do so.

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The list of supported applications reads like a who is who of the most popular free computer software programs. Everything seems to be there from Firefox over AIMP to Notepad++, True Crypt and WinSCP.

Liberkey comes with its own application launcher which can be extended with software that the developers have not already included in the packages. Software can easily be added by a simple right-click in the program’s interface. It is furthermore possible to remove and add categories and applications from the application launcher.

A left-click will attach a new window to the launcher that contains information about the computer program while a double-click will load the software right away.

Liberkey will automatically check for computer program updates which can then be downloaded to replace the old programs. A free account is required to make use of the auto-update feature though. Liberkey is an excellent portable software suite that shines because of its update feature and extensibility.

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Enter Nirsoft Installer. This third party software program has only one purpose: To provide an installer for all Nirsoft computer software programs. The installer itself is actually just a normal software installer that is listing all Nirsoft computer software programs in the list of programs that can be installed. The top 10 applications are checked by default and it is possible to check or uncheck single applications in the installer window. It is probably not the best way of displaying the programs as the installer window limits the descriptions to a few words only. This makes it sometimes hard to identify the purpose of listed applications.

A text stating that hovering the mouse over an application will display its description can be found under the computer software program list. This did not work on the test system though. Neither did the size calculator which always showed 0 Kilobytes even when all applications where selected.

A pulldown menu on top provides quick access to some predefined selectors. Next to the already selected Top 10 entry are options to download all computer software programs that have been designed for NT based systems or all for the Windows 95 / 98 / ME operating systems. This is completed by None which deselects all selected entries and Custom which makes it possible to check individual items.

Nirsoft Installer can be installed in a directory of choice on the computer system. All selected computer software programs will be downloaded into the default download directory of the computer system and afterwards unpacked into the Nirsoft Installer application directory.The programs will be downloaded from the official Nirsoft website. All programs are added as executables to that directory which can be started directly from that directory. The other possibility is to load them from the Windows Start Menu. All downloaded Nirsoft applications are listed there under the Nirsoft Installer entry. Selecting all will create a huge list of programs in there.

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A better and more natural computer screen magnifier would be one that would magnify the screen around the cursor position. That is what Magical Glass brings to the table. The computer screen magnifier is completely hotkey driven. Hotkeys are available to turn the screen magnifier on and off, to lock it on the computer desktop, to zoom in or out, to change the size of the part of the screen that is magnified, to change the brightness and to capture the part of the screen.

The main hotkey is [CTRL ALT Q] which will turn on or off the screen magnifier. The rest of the functions can be accessed from the num pad on the keyboard.

The software is low on resources while running in the background. It uses about 3.2 Megabytes of computer memory which goes up to about 8 Megabytes when the magnifier is turned on.

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It would not be Ghacks if we would not ask you to contribute to that list. The only requirements are that the software has to be free. It does not matter if they are Open Source, freeware or donation ware. If they are free they have a chance to make it on the list.

Asking for names for any kind of software program would make it very hard for us to turn the information into a list. We have therefor decided to divide the process into different articles which will only accept programs of one specific category.

We start with security applications. This can be anything from antivirus programs to antispyware, firewall or process monitors. Yes, some applications fit in more than one category. Name them whenever they fit in so that they can be included in the list.

Please include at least the name of the application. A link to the program’s website would be great and helpful as well. The results will be published at the Computer Software Recommendations article.

So come on. Let us create the best recommended software article ever.

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