Typical free software in 2005

In order to make full use of the computer, it is indispensable for software and especially for free software. In this article, we would like to introduce some of the most popular free software for the past year, according to TechSupport's ranking board.

Web browser

It's easy to understand that Internet Explorer must immediately upgrade to version 7.0 before the massive attack of more convenient programs with new features. Topping the choices are Mozilla's Firefox. Compared to IE, Firefox protects you from attacks by viruses, spyware, pop-ups more efficiently and especially faster web surfing. Browsing through tabs, Firefox also provides users with more than 600 extensions to upgrade. With new "moves" such as Clear Private Data, Live Bookmarks, and DHTML format viewing . you'll be assured when giving your web browser trust. If you're still not satisfied with Firefox, you should try Opera - a program that is rated equally good. These two software are included in the list of 100 best products in 2005 voted by prestigious computer magazine PC World. Download at: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ (5.0MB), http://www.opera.com/ (3.7MB).

Search toolbar

Instead of going to the homepage of Google or Yahoo! To do the search, simply download the toolbar and search the web directly. Yahoo's Toolbar is currently favored by users because of its ani-spyware feature and built-in pop-up blocking. Although Yahoo's Toolbar is only for IE, there is a trial version for Firefox. In the case of "Google sect", you still have very compelling reasons to use this product. The Google Toolbar has a spell checker and some other features are not available on Yahoo's Toolbar. While not anti-spyware, Google has a complete version for Firefox and pop-up users blocking like Yahoo! If you want a full search engine result, then Dave's Quick Search Bar will help you satisfy. Dave's also serves as a dictionary, glossary dictionary, calculator and many other utilities. Download at: http://toolbar.yahoo.com/ie (3MB), http://www.dqsd.net (327KB), http://toolbar.google.com/deskbar/ (447KB).

Software for web mail support

There are two options for you, the first is YPOPs! - the program allows you to receive mail from mailboxes in Yahoo! via Outlook, Thunderbird or Eudora. With this software, you can subscribe to mail from multiple accounts in Yahoo! Mail. The second option is MrPostman. This product is more amazing than YPOPs! when allowing you to download e-mail from HotMail, Lycos, Yahoo and other webmail services. If you only use Yahoo! Mail should not touch MrPostman what to do because this program is quite complicated and need to install Java Runtime Environment. Download at: http://yahoopops.sourceforge.net/ (1.3MB), http://mrpostman.sourceforge.net (1.5MB), http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=68124 (MrPostman's Forum ).

Bookmark Cleaner

AM-DeadLink will scan the bookmark to find out "dead" links or duplicate links, but you only have to delete them. This software is very effective in helping you identify which links are still active. Download at: http://aignes.com/press/deadlink140.htm (546KB).

Antivirus software

You can choose one of the three products below for antivirus. The first is AVG Antivirus 7.0, launched in 1991 and constantly upgraded. Small capacity, automatically update regularly and have virus scanning function in e-mail; AVG Antivirus is truly a high quality product. The second software is Avast! The quality is no less than AVG. However Avast! Require you to register regularly. AntiVir is your last choice with better protection of AVG and Avast! A little but this product does not scan the virus in e-mail. Especially when using AntiVir as an additional program, you should turn off Auto Protect during installation to avoid "war" between it and the main antivirus program. Download at: http://free.grisoft.com/ (AVR Antvirus), http://www.avast.com (Avast! 5 MB), http://www.free-av.com (AntiVir 6.8 MB) .

File Cleaner

Although there are many commercial software with specialized functions for temporary and unnecessary file deletion on the hard drive, but the software provided with Free Temp Folders is voted the best. It only takes a few minutes to install and with one click, you will have several megabytes of free disk space. Another easy-to-use software is CCleaner. Although not as effective as Empty Temp Folders in deleting temporary files, it "prompts" the Uninstall software function. You can use both products to ensure a lot of free disk space. Download at: http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp (667KB), http://www.ccleaner.com (403 KB).

File compression software

7-Zip is an open source product that allows you to compress / uncompress file formats. Especially, 7-Zip is the only program that can compress compressed RAR format files embedded in another ZIP file. However, with the ability to work with more than 50 different compressed file formats including ISO, BIN and IMG; IZarc is really the best decompression program. With 7-Zip's quick processing feature and the variety of IZarc, it's time to replace WinZip and even WinRAR. Download at: http://www.izarc.org/download.html 3.1MB, http://www.7-zip.org 1.05 MB.

Search Desktop tool

Once again Yahoo! is the name mentioned first. Present results clearly, Yahoo! DTS has the advantage of searching over 300 different file formats such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, Outlook, Outlook Express, HTML, ZIP, Adobe Photoshop and even e-mail in Outlook, Thunderbird. However, Yahoo! I can't search websites in History. If you need this function, then Google DTS is obviously something you should download. Version 2.0 of this product not only helps you find websites in the History section but also equips with Outlook toolbar, search Google mail, sidebar to view pictures, update news, scatch pad . very beautiful and useful though It takes a bit of desktop space. It should be noted that in order to use the above two search engines, the computer needs to have at least Win2000. Unfortunately, if your PC cannot meet the above requirements, try Copernic Desktop Search. Still providing the same basic functions as the two programs above, the Copernic results presentation is not as clear as Yahoo! DTS. Download at: http://desktop.yahoo.com/, http://desktop.google.com (1.4MB), http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/download.html ( 2.3MB).

Photo browsing software

One thing is for sure, Picasa software will make a strong impression on users because of its beautiful interface and usefulness. In the first launch, the program will suggest scanning pictures and videos in the hard drive and within a few minutes, you will have a full set of images, videos arranged in chronological order (timeline). To browse photos, you have three options, first of which is a photo view, slideshow and timeline - which is quite interesting and "Picasa." About image repair, the program supports you better than ACDSee with many professional editing tools. This family of Google products also allows you to load photos from cameras in a variety of formats, including RAW. In addition, from your photo repository, you can print, make a document CD, send photos via a message or blog. Download at: http://www.picasa.com (3.2MB).