The first things I install when doing a fresh install of Windows generally are (in no particular order):
All of the above is Freeware (or has free versions for personal use), and a few of them are open source.
Basically this: http://ninite.com/installer/1b9a606cdaa7b4c039d22817c4b91590d84aa6b9 WARNING: Link leads to a download of a small installer for all of the above (minus the Firefox extensions).
Other things that usually get put on the machine shortly thereafter (again, in no particular order):
As before, most of these are freeware, donationware, open source, or have free versions for personal use, with the obvious exceptions of the games, game engine (and IDE), and Office 2007.
I have all of these currently installed on a Windows 7 (64-bit) machine.
- Firefox (though I've been using Chrome predominantly as of late). And the following extensions:
- Adblock Plus - Blocks probably 99% of ads
- BugMeNot - Login details for avoiding compulsory registration.
- All-in-One Gestures - Mouse gestures for easy browser navigation
- Download Statusbar - Little download progress bars for downloads
- Google Chrome (which has become my primary browser)
- DropBox - Data synchronization/backup/sharing
- Steam (and all the games from my Steam account)
- 7-Zip - For handling all those various compressed file formats
- FileZilla - FTP Client/Server (I use only the client)
- Picasa - Photo management and web albums
- Acrobat Reader
- Flash
- Google Talk - The best IM client, IMO
- AVG Free - Free Anti-Virus software
- ImgBurn - The Ultimate Image Burner
- Google Earth - It's like Google Maps, but more interactive and cooler
- Evernote - Notes, lists, photos, ideas, drawings, etc. in the cloud
- Java (Runtime Engine)
All of the above is Freeware (or has free versions for personal use), and a few of them are open source.
Basically this: http://ninite.com/installer/1b9a606cdaa7b4c039d22817c4b91590d84aa6b9 WARNING: Link leads to a download of a small installer for all of the above (minus the Firefox extensions).
Other things that usually get put on the machine shortly thereafter (again, in no particular order):
- Gizmo Central (Gizmo Drive for virtual CD/DVD drives and Gizmo Hasher to compare checksums)
- DcUpdater (which makes it easy to install ScreenshotCaptor and update other DC software)
- Trout - Tiny lightweight music player
- The Holy Blizzard Triumvirate: Starcraft, Diablo II, and Warcraft III
- LogMeIn Hamachi2 - VPN to play LAN games over the internet
- Torque Game Builder and Torsion IDE
- Office 2007
- EditPad Pro - Best text editor IMO (fast and lightweight), there's also the free Lite version for non-commercial use.
- Free Download Manager (to resume large downloads and for torrents)
As before, most of these are freeware, donationware, open source, or have free versions for personal use, with the obvious exceptions of the games, game engine (and IDE), and Office 2007.
I have all of these currently installed on a Windows 7 (64-bit) machine.
