Looking to learn or do more with your computer?
There’s plenty of in-depth and practical technology information online covering just about any topic you can think of. There are also a host of free programs available that can make using your computer more efficient, fun and enjoyable. Here’s just a few links we can recommend to get you started.
While we’ve selected these links and programs because they aren’t overly techy; technical websites, programs and tutorials certainly aren’t for everyone! If you need more personal assistance, please feel free to call NetRepair on 1800 33 44 45.
Windows Vista Upgrade advisor
If you’re curious to see whether your existing computer can be upgraded to Windows Vista, follow this link and download the Windows Vista upgrade advisor. It will let you know how your machine will fare running Windows Vista.
Google Earth
If you haven’t played with this yet then you haven’t seen what the Internet has to offer. Google Earth pieces together millions of satellite images to create a realistic online globe. You can literally go wherever takes your fancy and zoom all the way in to the point where you can see your house. Very impressive!
Picasa 2
Picasa 2 is a great little application which makes it simple to organize, edit and view your digital photos. Much simpler than the versions that usually ship with digital cameras we’d recommend it to anyone who finds the standard programs difficult to manage.
Skype
Skype is probably the world’s largest provider of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services. Installing and configuring Skype is very easy. Once it’s up and running you are able to make calls worldwide for really low rates. Give it a go.
Information Sites
Cnet.com
Covering a wide range of gadget related areas, Cnet.com is full of useful DIY projects, reviews and information. Tutorials are step-by-step which is great.
PC Mechanic.com
PC mechanic is a great site for people who want to know more about the bits and pieces inside their computer. This site is definitely for more advanced users rather than people who are still learning.
Wikipedia
Not just for IT advice, wikipedia has something to say about almost everything. Wikipedia aims to challenge conventional knowledge repositories (books and libraries) by becoming the world’s largest knowledge source.
About.com
About.com features reviews and information for those looking to buy/upgrade their computers. It’s a little bit techy, but definitely a good site to visit for those in the market for a new computer.
Communicators
Google Talk
Google Talk allows you to chat for free via text and voice to other Google Talk users. It also has a really nifty little voicemail feature which lets you leave voicemail messages which get emailed to the recipients gmail account.
Live Messenger
The latest and greatest incarnation of the Windows Messenger series, Live Messenger has many cool new features.Especially popular with school kids, messenger is probably the most popular IM (Instant Messenging) client in the world.
Web Browsers
Firefox
The major competitor to the stock-standard Internet Explorer, Firefox is a progressive browser which is useful for people who find themselves regularly infected with Spyware or who simply want a different browser look and feel. There’s no harm in having two browsers so we’d recommend giving it a go.
Internet Explorer 7
The newest incarnation of Internet Explorer is called IE7. Unless you’ve downloaded it, chances are that you will have the older IE6. IE7 offers tabbed browsing and has many improvements over IE6. If you haven’t tried tabbed browsing before we’d definitely recommend giving it a go.
Opera
Much less common than Firefox, Opera is a good solid browser which offers a host of useful features. One very cool feature of Opera is that it allows you to use mouse gestures to do tasks such as “go back” and “go forward”.
Browser Tools
Browser tools are essentially add-ons which give your browser the ability to do something extra. These can include things like playing animations and opening adobe acrobat files and much more.
Shockwave Player
Shockwave player allows you to open animations, games and web-based applications either on the web or on your computer. Most browsers will prompt you to install it automatically but if they don’t you can get it here.
Real Alternative
Lots of multimedia content, especially videos and audio, is stored in Real Media format. RMA (Real Media Audio) and RMV (Real Media Video) are the most common. Real Alternative is a program which is designed to access and play these types of files. By offering the same playing functionality as Real Player (the commercial version). It does not have all the same advanced features but uses less resources and gets the job done.
Real Player
Plays files saved in Real Media format.
QuickTime Player
QuickTime allows you to play .mov files. QuickTime Video is one of the most common types of video format that used on the Internet.
Email Programs
All Windows XP computers come with Outlook Express built-in. While this is good enough for most purposes, there are a number of other browsers available which offer either unique features or simply a different experience than Microsoft Offers.
Thunderbird
Thunderbird is made by Mozilla, the same people who make the Firefox browser. Similar to Outlook Express, Thunderbird is a handy alternative.
Opera Email
Like the browser, Opera Email isn’t mainstream but is a solid product if you know what you’re doing.
Business Tools
Below are some really nifty little business applications you can use to become more productive and professional.
Cute PDF
A tool which lets you create PDF files. PDF files are great as they look professional, can’t be modified (easily) and most people can open them.
Adobe Reader
Adobe Reader lets you download and read PDF files. The sheer number of people who upload documents to the web in PDF format makes this reader one of the most important pieces of software to have on your computer.
FOXIT Pdf Reader
FOX IT PDF reader is a much smaller and faster program than Adobe Acrobat. We’d recommend having both the FOXIT Reader and Adobe Acrobat just in case.
Open Office
If you can’t afford to buy Microsoft Office then Open Office is a valid replacement. It offers much of the same functionality but as it is not a paid product it is not as polished as the Microsoft Office Package. If you’re not sharing your work or running a business then it’s a great free tool.
Search Engines
Search engines are a great way to find what you’re after on the web. Below are some of our favorites.
Google.com.au
The world’s most popular Search Engine. Its simple and it works. Google also offers free email, websites, spreadsheets, blogs and more.
Yahoo.com
Another popular search engine which offers a host of added extras
Windows Defender
To protect Windows from Internet nasties such as viruses and spyware, Microsoft has released Windows Defender. Defender scans your computer and removes malware when it finds it. This is a useful program which we’d recommend installing.
Ad aware SE
Ad aware is a utility which scans for and removes Spyware from your computer.
AVG
A free antivirus program.
AntiVir
A free antivirus program
