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I download and review a lot of great software, but obviously I don't keep everything. Some programs don't make the cut simply because I have a better option on my computer already or I have no use for them at work. But other applications I've downloaded have withstood the test of time and remain useful on a day-to-day basis. I'm talking about my must-have applications.
I've already given you my Big Three free security applications which should be the first programs you download when setting up a computer. Clearly if you haven't downloaded software to cover each of those security areas, you should do so right away. But today's post is about the applications I can't live without--the ones I download after I feel like my computer is reasonably secure.
Today's programs are the workhorses behind the scenes in my everyday work life. One is a text editor that's perfect for quick word processing and looking through HTML code. Another is a multipurpose screenshot and image editor that's great for most basic graphics needs. The last is a Firefox extension which is great for a pro downloader like me, but I think it will be useful for you as well. The best thing about all three of these applications is that they're completely free.
Syntax coloring makes working with confusing code much easier.
(Credit: CNET Networks)NotePad++ is a HTML and text editor with several excellent features for writing HTML code, but is also perfect for jotting down or pasting text you're going to use later. I really like the tabbed interface because NotePad++ automatically saves every tab until you close it--even when you quit the program. This makes getting back to a project the following work day extremely easy. When dealing with HTML code for Web pages or newsletters for Download.com, NotePad++ offers syntax coloring so sifting through code (something I would rather not do) becomes a lot easier.
Windows Explorer navigation on the left and thumbs on the right help you find the right image.
(Credit: CNET Networks)FastStone Image Viewer is a solid free image-editing application that's great for resizing, cropping, and converting images to different formats. An intuitive interface makes it easy to browse through folders of images using thumbnails, so getting the image you want is a snap. If your chosen image needs some editing, simply double-click the image to go full-screen and move your mouse to the sides of the screen to bring up pop-up toolbars for quick editing, cropping, resizing, and image conversion tools. I use this one often for editing and resizing screenshots for software (including the shots you see in this post). This one is so useful, you won't believe it's free.
Downloads show up as blue boxes across the bottom of your Firefox browser.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Download StatusBar is a Mozilla Firefox extension (apologies to non-Firefox users) which adds a bar to the bottom of your browser to let you know the progress of downloads. Mousing over a download pops up a window showing the download link, where on your hard drive the file is going, the file size, how much time is left, and the speed of the download. Once the download is finished, you can double-click the box to begin installing the file without leaving Firefox. A right-click lets you choose options like getting the source URL and the containing folder. Frankly, if you're a downloader (and I hope you are) this Firefox extension is a must-have.
Not everyone uses the same kind of software in their profession so my workhorses might be different from yours. If you have use for any of these types of programs, I suggest you give my favorites a try. If you have other free applications that are worthy of everyday downloaders, let us know in the comments! What are your must-have applications?
The FastStone Image Viewer is a good find for a multipurpose image tool. Although the main interface looks too cluttered with buttons at first glance, the three main windows are intuitive enough once get your bearings and several included skins make it easy on the eyes.
Clicking a thumbnail puts a larger view of the shot in the lower-left pane, and you zoom in simply by dragging the mouse around. You can resize, crop, remove red-eye, and adjust color, brightness, and contrast. You'll also find a few simple effects and filters, including Lens, Waves, and Morphs. Other nifty features include multiple folder slide shows, batch cropping and batch conversion. Though its image-editing tools can't compete with those offered by a full-featured suite, there's still enough here to make a decent amount of tweaks to your shots, and fast.
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Every computer user needs a good screen capture utility at one time or another. Whether doing a Web research project, getting a slick new desktop background, or just adding to an image collection, the flexibility of these utilities make them much more useful than the full-screen capture in Windows. As a reviewer of software, I often need to take screenshots of programs I'm reviewing. A screen capture utility lets me capture the whole program, or just a section of the screen depending on what I want to call out.
Windows comes with the Print Screen function which saves a full screen shot of the desktop to the clipboard. However, to crop or edit the image in any way, an image editing program is needed. Even worse, with Print Screen, once another screenshot is taken the previous capture is lost forever.
For more flexibility with screen captures, check out one of these programs. They each have their advantages and disadvantages.
Users can set all preferences before hand, so they can capture images one after the other
(Credit: CNET Networks)ScreenHunter Free is the simplest of this group. It is perfect for users who need to capture several images and save them to the same folder. The ScreenHunter interface lets users set up a hot key for captures, choose a destination folder, designate a file-naming convention, and choose between full screen captures, a rectangular area, or whatever is in the active window. Once done with the set up, users can choose a hot key to capture screens quickly.
Choose a screen capture type from the left sidebar
(Credit: CNET Networks)MWSnap lets users capture all, or part of a screen using hot keys just like ScreenHunter. However, it adds a few other useful features. Users can designate a fixed capture size for all their shots, add stylized frames or make buttons from images, they can also save all images to a specified folder. MWSnap also offers an on screen ruler for precise captures, a simple color picker tool, and rotate and flip image features.
Use the change destination button to set which image editor to use
(Credit: CNET Networks)Gadwin PrintScreen is my favorite of the group, and is best used in tandem with a free image editor, such as FastStone Image Viewer. First, set the type of screenshots that are to be taken, file format, and folder to save the images to. Just like the others, users will be able to set hot keys, and designate naming conventions. What makes Gadwin Printscreen useful is the capability to automatically open the image in an editor. That lets users immediately crop or make changes to the screenshot.
Using the Print Screen key is limiting. Rarely do users need a full-screen shot of their desktops, and saving to the clipboard requires too many steps to save and name the files. One of these screen capture applications may make taking screenshots more convenient and useful. As always, let us know in the comments if there is a better application for taking screenshots.
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Once I've taken care of installing security software on a new a PC, one of the first programs I end up downloading is an image editor. Whether I'm using it to make a quick edit to a screenshot, convert a digital photo to a more Web-friendly image format, or even something as mundane as cropping an image for a desktop background, an easy-to-use image editor is a must have. Those of you with recently acquired computers probably have a lot of holiday photos you've resolved to go through, so this little collection will definitely come in handy.
Obviously, Photoshop is the heavyweight champ in the image-editing category, but most people don't need such an advanced toolset for everyday image-editing tasks. Also, $650 (for Photoshop CS3) is not exactly pocket change for most of us. Fortunately there are a lot of options available at a fraction of the cost, and some of the best downloadable image editors are completely free. For those who just need a tool with a modest feature set for everyday tasks, I've rounded up my three favorite free image editors.
For the most lightweight and nimble editor, IrfanView is the best choice
(Credit: CNET Networks)IrfanView is longtime user favorite for its simplicity. It was the go-to for free image editors a few years ago and remains as one of the best for quick image editing. Basic features such as cropping, resizing, and file conversion are all part of the toolset, and if you want more options, there are IrfanView plug-in packs you can download from the IrfanView developer site. This one doesn't have the prettiest interface of the group, but for basic tasks it gets the job done.
FastStone Image Viewer's easy-to-access full-screen mode lets you view and edit your images without distraction
(Credit: CNET Networks)FastStone Image Viewer is the program I use to crop and resize screenshots here at work. I even have Photoshop on my hard drive, but it just can't beat the speed and convenience of FastStone Image Viewer. An intuitive interface lets you browse your image folders and select what you want quickly and easily. But my favorite thing about this free program is the ability to double-click an image to bring it up in full-screen mode for closer inspection. You can then mouse to each side of the screen for pop-up tools for editing and basic effects, file management, and image info.
Paint.NET gives you more effects to play with along with a layer manager and history window.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Paint.NET is a free alternative that is closer to Photoshop than the rest in this collection. Complete with Photoshop-like toolbars, a layer manager, a history window, and more image effects than the others, Paint.NET offers just about everything you might need. Though the feature list is not nearly as long as Photoshop, you can't beat what you can get for free with Paint.NET. The only caveat is you'll need to download Microsoft's .NET framework to run this program.
If you're a digital camera enthusiast or like to scan or collect images, you need a good image editor. These apps are definitely great for the basics and some offer extra features that make them an even better value. As always, if you have a favorite image editor which is not listed here, let me know in the comments!
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With the holidays over and only a few days to go in 2007, Power Downloader decided to take a look back at the year to relive some of his more exciting adventures. Always knowing which software to download in a given emergency is never easy, but having Download.com at his disposal definitely helps when on the trail of an Internet bad guy.
Looking through his case files, Power Downloader remembered the time when he had to get a new laptop computer. As with anytime Power needs to get a new computer, he knew he wouldn't be comfortable until he headed over to Download.com to pick up his must-have apps for security and major everyday tasks. Security programs are especially important on that first run of a new computer, and he knew just what software standbys to download.
As Power Downloader continued to flip through page after page of past exploits, he came upon the time he was out in the field when suddenly he realized his hard drive was almost completely full. Fortunately, like any emergency situation, Power Downloader always knows where to find the best software to make space on his hard drive.
Among the great events of 2007, Power Downloader can't forget his niece Kitty Kilobyte. With her away at school for much of the year and sometimes in need of his help, he was always happy to find the perfect download in hopes that it would make her life a little bit easier. On one occasion she needed a way to easily distinguish between high-res and regular images from her digital camera. Always quick to help out his niece, Power Downloader knew the perfect program to sort through images for free.
With the clock ticking down on 2007 and another year to capture criminals just ahead, Power Downloader reflected on how glad he was to be able to do the things he loved. Keeping folks safe has always been his mission, but the ongoing search for great software would continue to be his passion.
The free app Paint.NET offers strong image-editing features in a small package.
(Credit: Paint.NET)Adobe Photoshop is a fantastic software product. I use it at CNET every single day. However, I don't own a personal version at home, and I find that I don't miss it much for my own limited image editing and graphic design needs. For cropping snapshots, removing red-eye, resizing, or creating LOLcat images, I turn to the free image editors available at CNET Download.com.
The grandaddy of free design software is the GIMP (short for GNU Image Manipulation Program), which provides much of the functionality of Photoshop, with a very large and dedicated community that produces tons of valuable tutorials. However, the GIMP isn't the most user-friendly application. Newbies would be advised to try GIMPshop, which puts a Photoshop-like interface on top of the GIMP's core functionality. ... Read more
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