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I encounter a lot of different applications along my travels within the wonderful world of technology. I get to try out and test the very best (and worst!) utilities, tools, services, and products out there.

Here are some of the better products for a given category that I have found. I hope you find this list useful. If you have an opinion on something that is here (or not here), please feel free to send an e-mail or comment below.

PC Utilities

General Maintenance & Cleanup –

  • Glary Utilities – All-in-one way to fix, speed up, maintain and protect your PC.
  • Revo Uninstaller – This unisntaller makes sure files, folders, and registry entries are removed.

CD/DVD Tools –

  • CDBurnerXP – Burn CD/DVD’s; convert ISO/BIN/NRG files – User Guide
  • DAA to ISO Converter – Use this to convert a DAA file to ISO format for burning or mounting – updated
  • DVD Shrink 3.2 – Backup and reduce the size of DVD’s
  • SlySoft Virtual CloneDrive – Mount/view/copy the contents of *.ISO files. User Guide
  • VLC Media Player – highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats

Disk / File / Folder Tools –

  • 7-Zip – Create and extract .zip, .rar, and more.
  • AusLogics Disk Defrag – Graphical defrag for servers, XP, Vista, and Windows 7
  • DBAN – Wipe data to DoD specs
  • BartPE – System boot/recovery
  • GParted – Disk Partition Editor
  • AlwaySync – File / Folder sync
  • TrueCrypt – Easy and secure data encryption
  • WinDirStat – Visual and very organized way to view the data taking up room on your storage devices
  • WinSCP – Windows secure FTP file copy

Hardware Management –

  • Synergy – Share one Keyboard/Mouse with all your PC’s – Review
  • Edison – Power consumption tracking utility

Media Management/Players –

  • iTunes – Primarily used for dealing with iPod’s, iTunes is an acceptable media player/manager.
  • Windows Media Player – The free media player/manager included with Windows.

Security Suites & Products

Personal Firewall –

  • Comodo Firewall + AntiVirus for Windows – Defends both inbound and outbound connections

AntiVirus Solutions –

  • Comodo Firewall + AntiVirus for Windows – Free, robust AV client.
  • ClamWin – Free AV utility that works on MS Windows Servers – Scheduled scans only, no RTP.
  • AVG Free – Free protection for Windows desktop OS’s. – Review

AntiSpyware Solutions –

  • Spybot 1.6 – The leader of the freebies
  • Windows Defender – Comes with Windows

Utilities

  • LeakTest – A Simple tool to test the effectiveness of your firewall
  • Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) – Scans your systems applications and reports when updates and new releases are available.

Virtualization

  • VMware ESXi – Free, bare-metal hypervisor – Install this on a dedicated system and then create your virtual machines. Entry level version of ESX 3.x.
  • VMware Server – Free application that you install on either a Windows or Linux host OS. Create, configure, and run virtual machines on an existing machine.
  • VMWare Player – Free application that will allow you to launch/run an existing virtual machine. You cannot create or modify with this tool.
  • VMware Workstation – Paid product that adds some additional capabilities to VMware Server.
  • Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 – Microsoft’s free virtualization product that allows you to create, configure, and run multiple virtual machine OS’s on an existing Windows platform.
  • 10 free virtualization products – Find more products here.

Internet Communications

Browsers –

  • FireFox 3 – Mozilla’s game-changing browser!
  • Internet Explorer 8 – Microsoft’s classic browser updated to keep up with the competition.
  • Google Chrome – Google’s light-weight newcomer to the browser party.

E-Mail –

  • Gmail – Google Mail. Free, efficient interface, and lots of options make this a winner.
  • Microsoft Live! – Microsoft’s free mail and news product. Outlook style interface.
  • Yahoo – Yahoo Mail. (Adavanced features require a subscription fee.)
  • Windows Live! Mail – My choice for a free desktop client to handle multiple accounts.
  • Thunderbird – Mozilla’s mail and news client. -Not recommended-

Audio/Video Conferencing –

  • Skype – Free, tested, and approved, application for PC>PC audio, video and IM communications. Free calling to toll-free numbers. – Review / Version 4 info
  • GMail Voice & Video chat – Add voice and video to your Google chats!

Instant Messaging –

  • Trillion – Use one IM client for all major IM providers

Online File Sharing & Storage –

  • drop.io – file storage/sharing and much more

Web 2.0 Productivity Sites –

  • 280Slides – Create Online Presentations

Photo Editing

  • GIMP – Just like Photoshop, but free!
  • Picassa – My favorite photo manager. Easily create web albums to share.
  • Windows Photo Gallery – Free photo manager from Microsoft.

Operating Systems

Windows –

  • Windows 7 Beta – Free trial through August 2009
  • Windows Server 2008 – The latest Enterprise class NOS
  • Windows Vista – The current home OS
  • Windows Server 2003 – Stable and proven server NOS
  • Windows XP – Stable and proven home OS

Linux –

  • UBUNTU – One of the easier and more mainstream versions of Linux.
  • CentOS – A solid choice for business.
  • Fedora– Another solid choice.

Hardware Endorsements

  • Wireless USB Mouse
  • Wireless USB Keyboard
  • NoteBook WebCam
  • External USB Drive
  • All-In-One Printer

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Free Tools

  • – All –
  • AntiSpyware
  • AntiVirus
  • CD/DVD/ISO
  • Disk Wipe
  • E-Mail: Client
  • E-Mail: Web
  • Encryption
  • Hosting
  • Instant Messaging
  • Internet Browser
  • Internet Phone
  • OS: Linux
  • Productivity

Games

  • Bubble Shooter!
  • Tower Defence
  • Tower Defense!

Music

  • Audacity (Record/Edit)
  • Guitar Lessons
  • GuitarPro Tabs

Networking

  • LinkedIN
  • MeetUP

Our Friends

  • Three Foot Barbie

Podcasts

  • This Week In Tech
  • Windows Weekly

Technology

  • LifeHacker

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