CCleaner, The Tool which all Windows users need!
CCleaner is a tool I always install Windows, and use regulary to make sure my machine is running quick and is clean.
It basically removes unused temporary files, logs, application data cache data and junk files. It has support for many applications, such as; All major web browsers, Office, Windows files, Flash, VLC, MSN, AntiVir, and the list goes on.
Apart from cleaning old files, it has an excellent tool for finding unused registry entries from old application left there after they were removed. Word of warning, it could always been dangerous changing things in the Windows registry, but I have never had an issue using this tool.
CCleaner is also an excellent tool for removing software and managing which software starts on boot up, a far better solution than what Windows is offering.
There are many solutions like CCleaner, but most of them cause damage to your system and slow it down, basically Junk-Ware! CCleaner gets the job done, consentily being updated to support more applications, and will improve your system's performance. On your first clean up, it will likely find over 2GBs of junk data!
CCleaner can be downloaded for free here!
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool
Windows Apps I Always Install
Want to show some Windows love today by posting a short article about the Windows applications I install after a fresh install of Windows. All these apps are free to download and use!
Firefox
The first app I install, Firefox is world's most popular alternative browser. I love this browser for its look and feel, speed, addons and tons of features!
Foxit Reader
Foxit is a PDF reader you might have never heard of. Most people will use Adobe's PDF reader, since thats the one most people only know about. I hate Adobe's PDF reader, it has loads of great features, but it is very slow and heavy on system resources. Foxit Reader is designed to lightweight, very quick to load, and just provide the features view the PDF document.
OpenOffice.org
Microsoft Office is an excellent set of applications, however it can very expensive to buy. If you need an office suite, OpenOffice.org is a free office suite which is very similar to Microsoft Office. It has word processer, spreadsheet, presentation, database and drawing. Plus, OpenOffice.org can open Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. OpenOffice has about 90% of the features which Microsoft Office has, and I believe the interface in OpenOffice is better.
VLC
VLC is a media player, and I love it, just because it will play any audio and video file format you throw at it!
CCleaner
Windows computers can get full of junk files, old applications and a messy register. CCleaner is an excellent tool for removing junk and cached files, which can save you 100s of MBs of data. It can safely clean out your registry, which can become messy over time. It is also a very good tool at uninstalling applications and managing the startup of applications in the background.
Pidgin
If you need a lightweight Instant Messenger (IM) client which can handle multiple IM accounts in one application, Pidgin is for you. There is no need to have MSN messenger for your MSN contacts and Yahoo Messenger for your Yahoo contacts, etc; you can have all your contacts in one application! It supports over 20 accounts from different providers. Plus it has great features such as tabbed chat windows, video/audio chat and file transfer.
GIMP
Adobe Photoshop is the hallmark in photo editing, however it is incrdible expensive. If you need a photo/graphic editor for free, with the majority of the same features as Photoshop, GIMP is what you need!
My Thoughts on Synergy
Synergy is a great tool if you have/use more than one computer. It allows you to use your keyboard and mouse on one computer, on many other computers.
One set of keyboard and mouse across a unlimited amount of computers!
It is especially good, if you don't have dual monitors, but you can create that sort of setup with two computers. However, in away it is better to use Synergy than dual monitor, because you can be sharing the computing power across two computers. You can even copy and paste text between computers. Its cross platform, so you can use the tool between Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
Its a great tool if you need to use of different computers at the same time,I found it very useful for IRC client on my eee pc and my general work on my desktop. You can download it here for FREE!
Install all your apps at once with Ninite!
Got a new computer? Installed Windows 7 for the first time? Reinstalled Windows? Need all your apps downloaded and installed easily and quickly? All you need is Ninite!
Select the applications you want to install from the list (such as Firefox, iTunes, Pidgin, AntiVir, OpenOffice, Flash, etc), download the Ninite tool and Ninite will download and install the latest version of the software you want!
Get Your Apps Fast!
The Ubuntu Effect!
My brother has a really old laptop, which he got free from a school, they were throwing them out. Came with Windows XP on them, fine for my brother who just wanted MSN & Facebook.
However, fairly soon after, Windows XP broke. Time for a reinstall! However, I had no XP CDs, so for the time being I installed Ubuntu. Eventually, I got hold of an XP CD, and when I was ready to put XP on the laptop, my brother refused, he was happy with "thing I had put on his laptop" (his words).
My brother doesn't carry for computers, he is just happy if he can get on Facebook and MSN. I was slightly confused at why my brother, who has always used Windows, all of a sudden, he wanted Ubuntu. Reason was that it was alot quicker than Windows. Fair point. If all he wants is a Web browser, why do you need Windows.
It seems Ubuntu is having an effect on people, who don't even know what it is!
Vista’s failings has made Windows 7 a certain success
(Originally posted on 22 Oct 2009)
Today is the Windows 7 Launch. Much hype surrounds today, because this could be Microsoft's best OS since XP. Vista was critical hated, and still is today. However, after 3 years since its release, I dont believe it deserves all the abuse it still gets. Though the failing of Vista, will certainly help Windows 7's certain success.
Before the Vista launch, the release had mixed reactions. The OS itself was shaping up to be a huge improvement over the aging Windows XP. Shiny new interface and tons of new features. Although, the OS looked solid, support from vendors and pressure to release Vista on time was likely to hinder the launch. Delays to fix and fine tune Vista was the start of the problems. Microsoft wanted Vista out of the door before Christmas, a lot of pressure was applied to make sure this happened. Vista was rushed out of the Redmond doors before it was stable. Not enough time was given for Hardware vendors to get drivers sorted for the new OS.
When Vista was released in January, there were 3 main problems:
- Terrible Hardware/Software Support – Vendors had not been given enough time to support the new OS. Hardware and Software failed to work with Vista, and if they did, not very well.
- Unstable – Vista was rushed to be released, was fully tested.
- High System Requirements – Vista was a big jump from XP, most people's computers could not run it.
These main problems plagued Vista for many months. Most of these problems were solved, but sadly no one forgot about them. Critics still criticise the OS, Businesses and Home users have not bothered to try it again and Apple has done extremely well exploiting the issues with Vista.
People mentioning how bad Vista is today, tick me off. Windows Vista is a great OS. I personally really like the look of the OS, has many great features and in some areas, it does perform quicker than XP (some games, can utilise more RAM and Dual/Quad Core). People who complain about Vista, should stop living in 2007 and look at Vista in 2009. Hardware/Software issues were fixed by vendors releasing new drivers and updates. Vista has had two service packs which have made Vista more stable and quicker. People have now purchased newer computers. The problems of Vista are now solved, people can enjoy using a good OS.
Now, with the release of Windows 7, which is shaping up to be one of Microsoft's best products. Windows Vista will go down in history as being one of Microsoft's worst. I believe it was Windows Vista's failings which has helped Windows 7 become a success. Two reasons I believe this. First, Microsoft have had a wake up call, and realised that they can't release another product unstable again. They made excellent decisions by having a long testing process and releasing Windows 7 beta & RC to the public. Secondly, Windows 7 has the same problems as Windows Vista! The difference is that these problems have been fixed, thanks to Windows Vista.
- Hardware/Software Support – Windows XP hardware drivers and applications wont run in Windows 7, like with Vista. The difference, this time round, is that vendors have released updates which will allow hardware/software to work with Windows Vista & 7.
- Stability – Windows 7 has been in testing, really since the development of Windows Vista. All the bugs and crashes found in Vista will not happen in 7, because they have been fixed in Vista. Windows 7 is made up of Vista with all the fixes and a few more.
- High System Requirements – Windows 7 suffers from the same high requirements as Vista. Though actually, 7's system requirements are higher. Windows 7 requires 1GB RAM, while Vista only needs 512MB. The difference this time, is that people now have newer computers, they will not suffer the same problems as they did with the XP to Vista upgrade.
Essentially, think it like this. If Windows 7 was released in January 2007, it will go down in history as Microsoft's worst OS.
My Thoughts of Windows 7
(Originally post on 27 Oct 2009)
The latest Microsoft OS, Windows 7, has been out for a few days now. I have spent good amount of time with 7 for me to be able to give you my thoughts on the OS.
It was important Microsoft got their next OS right this time round. Windows Vista was a good OS, but due to issues with hardware support and instability, it never took off. A result of this meant that Windows XP still had a high market share of 80%, user decided to switch to Mac OS X or Linux. Thankfully this time round, Microsoft has cracked it. Windows 7 is an excellent Operating System, hopefully it will encourage business and home users to make the move from XP to 7.
For me, there are two key areas where Microsoft have improved over Windows Vista. Firstly, the User Interface. Its a refreshing change to see a different task bar. The task bar has not changed much since Windows 95, finally Microsoft has done
New way to manage open windows
something about it. There is no point me telling what they have done, since most of you will have seen it and tried it, so I will just tell you what I think. I really like the new way of managing your open windows. It can be confusing first time round, seeing how your quick launch icons become active windows, and how active windows become quick launch icons. However, it does add some consistence to the task bar, since all the icons look the same and work in the same way. We have seen grouping applications together before, but the way it is presented in Windows 7 is finally properly utilised. Given quick previews of your open windows, and perform fancy effects when moving your mouse of each window. There a two small issues about the new task bar. If you right click on a window/quick launch icon, it gives you a small context menu. For example in IE, it has a list of most viewed websites. The issue is that it only works for Microsoft only apps at the moment. Second issue, the system tray, if the are two many icons in the tray it creates a small box for them, bad UI design, very clunky. Window management is excellent in Windows 7, I do like the ability to move windows to the top to maximise and to the side to have the ability to view two windows at once. However, not so keen on the shake to minimise windows, whats the point when you have the show desktop icon. Personally, I see Windows 7 just being a UI improvement over Vista. There are no key new features over Vista, it is essential the same OS. If your moving up from XP to Vista, like most people, there are tons of new features to look forward to. Such as instant search, a much improved Windows Explorer and DX10/11. One disappointment of Windows 7 is the removal of Windows Mail and Calender from the OS. It was an excellent feature of Windows Vista, both programs were well polished and incredible useful.
The second key area of improvement in Windows 7 is speed. The OS is quick and less memory hungry. Everything about the OS is quick over Windows Vista. Boot time and Suspend is better, sadly in my tests shut down is just as slow. Memory usage, Windows 7 will use less memory when booting to the desktop, but as soon as you start loading up the applications it soon fills. A few days ago, you may have seen my post about installing Windows 7 on a 1.4Ghz processor with 512mb RAM, it ran very well. Just shows you how scalable Windows 7 can be. If your upgrading to 7 from XP, you may have a few complaints about the speed. Its not as quick as XP and it will use more of your memory, but you have to expect since XP is nearly 10 years old and is designed for old slow hardware.
I'm not going to talk about how much better driver support Windows 7 has over Windows Vista, and how it won't crash all the time. It is very stable, and most of your hardware should work fine. Windows Vista is very stable now and has good hardware support. The difference this time is, that on launch day Windows 7 is stable, unlike Vista which took about a year. However, the same problems will arise if your upgrading from Windows XP to 7, like it was if you upgraded from Windows XP to Vista. Your old XP hardware may not work in Windows 7, it uses the same driver support as Vista. Your old XP computer may not be powerful enough to run Windows 7. Again, like I said in a previous post Windows 7 has the same problems Windows Vista had.
To quickly summarise, Windows 7 is an excellent Operating System. The UI is excellent and enjoyable to use, plus Windows 7 is quick and stable! If you have Vista, upgrade to 7! You will able to run Windows 7 and all your hardware should work fine. If your on Windows XP, upgrade because you are getting a new OS, which takes advantage of all the new advancements in the computing world. Its not 2001 any more, upgrade to an OS for 2009! Just be careful of System requirements and that your hardware has Windows Vista/7 drivers.
Me!
Ed Hewitt, 19, Studying @ - Bored waiting for lecture!
- Coffee and dairy milk :D
- Brilliant match, no way I was expecting a 4 - 0 result. Nice to see Neville.
