Windows 7: Great Additions

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I think it is safe to conclude that the new operating system from Microsoft named Windows 7 is a total success. It manages to both look good and work well. Furthermore, it boasts multiple additions and improvements, like the super bar, the library system and more. However, as good as it is, after a clean installation you are still far from getting a system with which you can work. Today I will present a couple of programs that I find essential to have after you finish a clean OS install.

You may ask why Microsoft does not add them in as part of the standard operating system. Well, the answer to this is fairness. It would not be fair to the competition. It's not that long ago that Microsoft concluded a trial with the European Union regarding the browser they offer as standard. Now at installation, Microsoft must offer a choice to the user of which browser s/he wants.

While this is true in the case of some applications, in other areas, their product is, to put it simply, just not up to the level of the competition. I think they decided to focus on other areas instead. For example, I ask: why does the standard built-in notepad NOT offer a programming language syntax coloring system?

This article will rely heavily on my experience, so for some of the options I point out, you may find alternatives that you like better. Personal preferences are not a subject for debate. Nevertheless, I believe by the end of the series you will have a good grasp of applications that are good to have, and even try out a couple of them.

In order to give some kind of structure to all this, I will split the applications into the field to which they correspond: document manipulation, image handling, file sharing/management, music, video and other handy additions to your OS. Moreover, I will also give to each of them a brief overview of the features I like, ultimately explaining why you may want to use it.

Squeezing so much information into a single article would be overkill, so I'm going to split it into two parts. Today I will go over document and image manipulation, and finish up with file sharing and management. All of the others will remain for a forthcoming piece.

Before we start, let me tell you that I always start with the installation of the browser and one antivirus.  However, debating which of these is best would call for an entire article of its own, so I will not go into it. For the record, I use Opera (for the overall look and feel, the speed, and built in e-mail/RSS reader) as my browser.

Microsoft Security Essentials is my antivirus choice because it is free, does not use a lot of memory, and does not get in your way while you work. What messenger program you use also depends heavily on what the other people around you use; therefore, I will skip it.  If you want a freeware cross platform messenger that supports all the major chat companies, you can look into Pidgin.

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