Recommended Apps

Choose a category:
Desktop
Mobile
Web

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My desktop software recommendations, by category: (Windows 7 assumed)

  • Antivirus: Microsoft Security Essentials
  • Ant-malware: Spybot Search & Destroy, Malware Bytes (also see my Removing Malware page)
  • BitTorrent Client: µTorrent
  • Browser: Google Chrome
  • Cleaning: CCleaner
  • Codec Pack: K-Lite Codec Pack
  • Compression: 7-Zip
  • DVD/CD Burning: ImgBurn
  • Instant Messaging (multiple protocol): Pidgin (I hear Digsby is nice, too, but I don’t want all the social network integration)
  • Instant Messaging (single protocol, w/ video): Skype
  • Multimedia Player: Windows Media Player, VLC
  • Office Productivity: Office 2010
  • Uninstalling: Revo Uninstaller (only if Window’s built in doesn’t work or you want to be very sure all traces of the program are removed)
  • Virtual Drives: DAEMON Tools Lite
  • Virtualization: Windows Virtual PC
  • PDF Viewer: Foxit Reader
  • PDF Printer: CutePDF
  • Photo editing: Picasa (simple), Photoshop Elements (everything else)
  • Remote Access (LAN): Microsoft Terminal Services Client (MSTSC, RDP), TightVNC
  • Remote Access (WAN): Microsoft Terminal Services Client (MSTSC, RDP), LogMeIn Free, trying out TeamViewer now…
  • Screen capture (single image): Snipping Tool
  • Specification Gathering: Speccy (for everything), CPU-Z, GPU-Z
  • Video Format Converter: Any Video Converter
  • VPN: Hamachi

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My mobile application recommendations for Android, by type:

Apps:

  • Adobe Flash Player
  • androidVNC
  • Banking app (for whichever bank you use)
  • Barcode Scanner
  • Bible (from LiveChurch.tv)
  • droid VNC server
  • DroidLight
  • Facebook
  • G-MoN
  • Gmail
  • Goggles
  • Google Voice
  • GTasks
  • Maps (Google)
  • Mobile Banking
  • Pandora
  • PdaNet (non-rooted phones)
  • Shazam
  • ShopSavvy
  • Speed Test
  • Street View
  • Stumble Upon (for stumbling apps)
  • TeamViewer
  • Uninstaller for Root
  • Wifi analyzer
  • Wireless Tether (for root users)
  • Woot Watcher
  • YouTube
  • Zillow

Games:

  • Angry Birds
  • Wordfeud Free

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My web application (or single-purpose web site) recommendations, by category:

  • Blogging / CMS Platform: WordPress (self-hosted)
  • Digital music downloads: Amazon
  • Email: Gmail
  • Photo printing: Snapfish
  • Photo sharing: Flickr
  • Radio: Pandora, Slacker
  • RSS Aggregator: Google Reader
  • Social Networking: Facebook
  • Video on Demand (episodic, feature-length): Hulu, Netflix