Mimicking the Superior

Sallie over at WELSTech recommended Lifehacker's List of Essential Free Windows Downloads by Kevin Purdy. It's a very nice list of free software that will definitely enhance your computing experience. Every Windows user should check it out.

I have used many of the programs they recommend and I agree with many of their recommendations. They've also suggested some things I haven't tried yet but will soon. There are a small number of items on the list that I can't say I would recommend because I feel there are better alternatives.

I'd like to go over many of the items on this list with my own comments. I'll also be offering a slightly different perspective, being the Linux advocate that I am. You see, one of the best ways to get used to Linux is to use Linux-compatible software in Windows. That way it becomes easier to switch between the two operating systems.

I will also look at whether the software is open source, though this probably won't affect my own recommendations much. In addition, I will talk about other possible software needs they did not address.

Foxit Reader
Linux: Yes
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? Yes

Foxit Reader is absolutely wonderful and I completely agree with Lifehacker here. I switched to Foxit after Adobe Reader tried installing other junk on my computer in a rather sneaky manner. I've been using it for years, and so should you.

Most Linux distros come with their own built-in PDF readers that are also fast and friendly, so Foxit isn't really needed there.

Notepad++
Linux: N/A
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

Notepad++ is another sweet piece of productivity software. I'm a big fan of plain text because it's usually all I need to get the job done. The colors, tabs, and plugins great features.

While Notepad++ is open source, it does not work natively on Linux. However, this doesn't matter yet again. Linux distros often come with text editors that already include my favorite features in Notepad++.

OpenOffice.org
Linux: Yes
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

Lifehacker didn't actually put OpenOffice on the list, but they did recommend it in their Notepad++ paragraph. I also recommend it. OpenOffice serves as a great replacement for Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others.

Yes, it will still allow you to read, create, and edit .doc, .xls, .ppt, and other file types used by MS Office. If you're daring enough, you can even adhere to the OpenDocument standard. OpenOffice is free and open source, and is often automatically bundled with Linux distros. There's a very good chance you have absolutely nothing to gain by using MS Office, which costs a lot of money. So don't!


Texter
Linux: No
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? No

It looks like Texter is Lifehacker's own design. I can see how it could definitely be useful for some people with specific needs, but I don't think I'd get much use out of it at home. I might try giving it a whirl at work because I can see the advantages for a software developer. For most people, it will probably become another ignored app running in the background.


Firefox
Linux: Yes
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

The question of whether Firefox is the best browser available is not easy to answer, but you'll be hard pressed to come up with a good reason to use Internet Explorer instead. I've used Firefox for years. When I made the switch from Internet Explorer, my spyware detectors stopped finding crud on my system. I also super customizable, and Lifehacker has some awesome Firefox tips! I'll be trying many of them soon.

Again, Linux distros often come bundled with Firefox. The fact that it's open source is what really gives Firefox its strength. The community behind this product is massive.

Pidgin
Linux: Yes
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

I recently installed Pidgin and have been loving it. It works with my AIM account that is over fifteen years old, my Yahoo account that I created for communication with family, my Google account that I use more than the others, Xfire, Twitter, and many others that I don't use. I have all the mentioned chat accounts running at the same time using one simple, small program called Pidgin.

Linux distros often come with Pidgin too. You may need to install plugins for various services like Xfire, Twitter, or Facebook, but the process is not difficult.


Postbox
Linux: No
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? No

Lifehacker mentions several features Postbox has that Thunderbird doesn't, but the only one I think I'd use is tabbed e-mail views. I've never used Postbox, but I'm sure it's a good piece of software.

There are a few problems with Postbox, however. First, it's in beta. This isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself, but it does mean that there is less support in the form of addons. It's not open source, so people are unable to change it to fit their own needs. (While it's not supported by default, people have developed addons and source changes that implement tabbed messaging in Thunderbird.) Thunderbird supports calendaring through the Lightning addon, but Postbox has no calendaring support yet. Also, the Postbox FAQ says that "pricing has not yet been announced." No thanks.

Thunderbird is installed by default on some Linux distros such as Linux Mint, which is my recommendation for Linux beginners. If your distro doesn't come with it built in, it's easy enough to install. Lifehacker says they have previously recommended Thunderbird. They should continue to do so.

7-Zip
Linux: N/A
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

There's not much to say here. It lets you open pretty much any kind of archive. Use it and love it.

Linux distros usually come with their own archivers that support .7z, .rar, .zip, and other archive formats. This 7-Zip falls under the same category as Foxit and Notepad++ in that you simply won't need it if you use Linux.


Everything
Linux: N/A
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? No


Maybe it's faster than the basic Windows search, but I don't use that often enough to care. I wouldn't bother with this.

Linux distros come with efficient search tools built in.

µTorrent
Linux: N/A
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? N/A

The only reason I'm reluctant to recommend µTorrent is because I don't like recommending things I have never used. I don't use BitTorrent, but if you do this sounds like a sweet piece of software. I see no problems with it.

Many Linux distros include their own Torrent clients.

I'm starting to see an interesting trend here. I'll elaborate later.

Revo Uninstaller
Linux: N/A
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? No

One word comes to mind: overkill. While I do recommend running RegCleaner every now and then, I don't see a need for this uninstaller. Most programs provide their own uninstallers, and you can just delete leftover folders manually if for some reason they don't go away. If, however, you want your hand held through the entire process I suppose this might give you some comfort.

Linux installation and uninstallation is vastly superior to Windows, so solutions like this are laughably unnecessary.

TeraCopy
Linux: N/A
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? No

This is cool. However, like Texter and Everything, I don't see myself benefitting from it much at home. Back when I was doing tech support in college, I totally would have loved this. I just don't do much playing around with large files now. This probably fits in the same categories as Texter and Everything, where I can see how they could be useful in the right situation. However, they're just not awesome enough for me to bother with them.

I'm pretty sure Linux handles files a bit more efficiently and safer than Windows, but I'd have to do some reasearch before I could explain how.


ImgBurn
Linux: Official Wine Support
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? N/A

This sounds great and I plan on giving it a try, but as of right now I haven't used it yet. The burning software that came with my DVD burner does everything I need it to. However, I'm tempted to uninstall it and try ImgBurn, and I may do just that if I ever have some time to kill. (Yeah, right!)

Linux distros often come with their own burning software, though I can't really elaborate on all their features. ImgBurn isn't natively supported in Linux. However, it is officially supported in Wine, which means that it "works perfectly" in Wine.

Picasa
Linux: Yes
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? N/A

I don't really have much to say about Picasa because I have never tried it. It does work with Linux. I might suggest it to my wife, who manages our family pictures.

VLC
Linux: Yes
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

VLC is an absolute winner. I've used it for years and love it. It's open source and works with Linux.

iTunes
Linux: No
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? No

I don't have an iPod or iPhone, so I don't use iTunes. If you do, I guess you don't have much of a choice. It doesn't work with Linux.

Songbird
Linux: Yes
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? N/A

I think I will download Songbird soon. I've only used Windows Media Player and Amarok, but Songbird definitely sounds like a winner. I do like Amarok, so I'm curious to see how they compare. Amarok, however, doesn't really have native support for Windows.

Dropbox
Linux: Yes
Open Source: Partially
Do I recommend it? N/A


I can see how some people might like Dropbox's synchronization features, but I'd probably never use them. However, Dropbox does get points for its security measures and the fact that you can upload files through a web interface. I'm assuming this means you don't have to install software just to store files somewhere else. I'll probably try it out soon.

Mozy
Linux: No
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? No

While Mozy has good security, it doesn't support Linux or allow for much free space. However, ADrive has 50GB free storage space and supports Linux. Adrive doesn't use too many security features in the free version, so you might want to keep your sensitive stuff on Dropbox. However, the massive space is great for large photo albums.

KeePass
Linux: Yes
Open Source: Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

Well, the cross platform version (Windows, Mac, and Linux) is actually KeePassX. Martin over at WELSTech recommended this a while ago, and I just started using it. It's a great concept! I recently had a hard time trying to remember all my chat logins when I set up Pidgin. KeePassX will prevent me from having similar problems in the future while keeping everything secure.

AVG Free
Linux: Yes (Hah!)
Open Source: No
Do I recommend it? No

AV-Comparatives, an independent antivirus tester, shows that AVG just isn't cutting it when compared against other antivirus software. Instead, AVIRA does a much better job, runs faster, and is also free. AVIRA's only problem (which AVG also shares) is the fact that is comes up with more false positives than the two best (non-free) scanners, Kaspersky and NOD32. All this means is that if AVIRA catches something, you'll want to make sure it actually is a virus before having it removed. Quarantines work well for this.

I used to use AVG and I love the fact that they provide a free scanner for personal use. However, AVIRA's product is simply superior.

If you need a virus scanner on Linux, you're probably doing something wrong.




Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware
Linux: N/A
Open Source: No
Do I recommend them? No

If you use Avira and Firefox, these two programs will get bored with nothing to do. Therefore, don't waste your time on them. If you're really paranoid, go ahead and use Ad-Aware. However, Spybot got old a long time ago and just isn't as effective as it used to be.

Spyware and Linux don't belong in the same sentence together. Oops.

So there you have it. I haven't read much on Lifehacker before, but I thought this article was pretty good. I do disagree on a few things, but I'm also looking at this from a different angle. I'll definitely be trying out some of their recommendations. Below is a summary of my thoughts.

Things I recommend:

Foxit Reader
Notepad++
OpenOffice.org
Firefox
Pidgin
Thunderbird
7-Zip
RegCleaner
VLC
KeePassX
AVIRA

Things I would like to try:

µTorrent
ImgBurn
Picasa
Songbird
Dropbox
ADrive

Things I do not recommend:

Texter
Postbox
Everything
Revo Uninstaller
TeraCopy
iTunes
Mozy
AVG Free
Spybot Search & Destroy
Ad-Aware

By the way, remember that trend I said I thought I saw? After scrolling through this list, I came to realize that most of the items (2/3 of them) are attempts to give Windows features that exist in Linux by default or fix problems that don't exist in Linux. So basically, if you want a superior computing experience out of the box you should seriously consider my ultimate recommendation: Linux Mint.