The Windows Starter Kit is a collection of some of the best and most essential freeware to get your new PC going. From browsers to productivity to utilities, we cover all the bases. If you're looking for the best in security freeware, check out our Security Starter Kit for all your antivirus needs. Essential utilities have earned their own kit, too: the Windows Utilities Starter Kit.
Chat
Pidgin
- CNET editors' rating: 5.0 stars
If you need to use Yahoo, MSN, AIM, and Google at the same time from the same window, Pidgin is your bird. Like other third-party IM clients, this open-source messenger accesses multiple IM networks, including MySpaceIM, as well as lesser-known protocols such as Jabber and Gadu-Gadu. Among the many plug-ins available is one that will give you Facebook IM access. Twenty-two plug-ins come prepackaged with the installer.
The IM features are unimpeachable: smileys, file transfers, and multiperson chats. The Buddy Pounce feature automatically performs certain actions when a contact signs on or off. Pidgin gets lots of intangibles right: logging and time-stamping, for instance, are well-executed. Although bugs do crop up from time to time, Pidgin's open-source development means that they rarely go long without a patch. For text only, Pidgin remains highly recommended.
Trillian
- CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars
A more polished-looking alternative to Pidgin is Trillian Astra. More than three years in the making, Trillian returns with a slew of new core essentials, including long-overdue support for Google, MySpace IM, Skype, and Facebook, as well as AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and IRC. Both POP3 and IMAP e-mail checking see some love here, too.
Trillian now has deep hooks into Facebook and Twitter, and it runs lighter than the previous version, too. You're less likely to experience system slowdowns because of Trillian's memory leaks. Video chat gets basic support, as does universal drag-and-drop file transfer. The paid upgrade gives you browser-based IM from Trillian.im, full-screen video, tech support, and other features that are available for the first 30 days in the free version. Whether you upgrade or not, longtime Trillian fans won't be disappointed.
Skype
- CNET editors' rating: 5.0 stars
Although there are other options available for VoIP, Skype gets our recommendation for video chat because of its popularity and excellent video compression. Skype 4 has been reworked, stripped down to its core competency of delivering high-quality audio and video calls over the Internet. The improved sound and video quality were notable in our tests, the result of Skype 4.0's sound engine and bandwidth manager.
New in this version is screen sharing, which initiates a video call and broadcasts a recording of your screen--either a portion or the full screen--to one other viewer. You can't simultaneously see a video of your buddy and their desktop, image quality decreases during screen sharing, and the one viewer limitation prohibits using it as a replacement for collaborative Web conferencing. For international callers, this program is a no-brainer solution for slashing those long-distance bills.
