Please note that the following software is meant for general everyday use, not for troubleshooting or fixing misbehaving or broken computer systems.
| Program | Description | Website |
|---|---|---|
| 7-Zip | Program for managing compressed archive files (much more flexibly than the built-in Windows facility for handling ‘zip’ files). | https://www.7-zip.org/ |
| Adobe Acrobat Reader DC | Program for displaying and printing PDF files, and filling in PDF forms (when downloading and installing this program, remember to untick the items under ‘Optional offers’). | https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/otherversions/ |
| Audacity | Sound recording and editing software that allows you to cut and paste chunks of audio data, alter volume levels, fade in, fade out, synthesize sounds from scratch, etc. | https://www.audacityteam.org/ |
| Avast Free Antivirus | One of the best free anti-virus programs available (when installing this program, you can reduce the overhead of running the software by just asking for the File, Behaviour, Mail, and Web shields). | https://www.avast.com/en-gb/free-antivirus-download |
| Blender | 3D graphics program for producing stills and animations (similar to Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, and Lightwave 3D). This software is very sophisticated, but can be rather confusing for beginners. The most recent version (2.80) is easier to use than the previous version (2.79), but only runs on up-to-date graphics hardware. | https://www.blender.org/ |
| CDBurnerXP | Program for creating Blu-Ray discs, DVDs, and CDs. This is much better than the disc-burning facilities built into Windows. | https://cdburnerxp.se/en/home |
| Desktop Restore | Program that saves the layout of icons on your Windows desktop and allows you to easily restore that layout if for some reason your icons end up all over the place (believe me, it happens). | http://www.midiox.com/desktoprestore.htm |
| DS Clock | Digital clock program that can display the date and time in numerous formats anywhere you like on the screen, and in any colour or typeface of your choice. | https://www.dualitysoft.com/dsclock/ |
| GIMP | Photo-editing and image creation software (rather like Adobe Photoshop). | https://www.gimp.org/ |
| Google Chrome | Web browser program (similar to Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge). | https://www.google.co.uk/chrome/ |
| Greenshot | Screenshot program (takes snapshots of your entire screen, or a particular window or other area, and saves them in a format of your choice). This is similar to ‘Lightscreen’ described below. | https://getgreenshot.org |
| Inkscape | Vector-based drawing program (similar to Adobe Illustrator). | https://inkscape.org/ |
| IrfanView | Image viewing program that can be used to display just about any file that contains a photograph, picture, or illustration. | https://www.irfanview.com/ |
| Krita | High-quality painting program. | https://krita.org/en/ |
| LibreOffice | Word processor, spreadsheet program, drawing program, presentation program, etc., all in one package (similar to Microsoft Office, but runs on other systems as well as Windows). | https://www.libreoffice.org |
| Lightscreen | Screenshot program (takes snapshots of your entire screen, or a particular window or other area, and saves them in a format of your choice). This is similar to ‘Greenshot’ described above. | https://lightscreen.com.ar/ |
| Mozilla Firefox | Web browser program (similar to Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge, but runs on other systems as well as Windows). | https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/new/ |
| Mozilla Thunderbird | E-mail program (similar to Microsoft Outlook, but runs on other systems as well as Windows). | https://www.thunderbird.net/en-GB/ |
| NetTime | Program for making sure that your computer’s clock stays highly accurate by synchronising it with other computers on the Internet that have access to time-keeping devices such as atomic clocks. | http://www.timesynctool.com |
| Notepad++ | Advanced editor for plain text files, and various other text-based file formats. | https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ |
| PDF-XChange Editor | Program for displaying and editing PDF files, and filling in PDF forms. | https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor |
| Scribus | Desktop publishing software that allows you to manipulate text and images very accurately to produce datasheets, newsletters, flyers, booklets, any many other types of document. | https://www.scribus.net/downloads/ |
| SnapTimer | Timer program that counts down a set number of minutes then rings an alarm. This is useful for tackling horrible jobs in bearable fifteen-minute chunks (such as filling in tax returns). | https://dan.hersam.com/software/snaptimer/ |
| VLC Media Player | Video and audio player that can play DVDs, CDs, and just about any kind of multi-media file (rather like Windows Media Player). | http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.en-GB.html |
| YouTube Downloader HD | Program for downloading YouTube videos in different formats, and at different quality levels (higher quality videos take longer to download), for offline viewing. | http://www.youtubedownloaderhd.com |