Essential Software for a New Computer - Part 3 of PC Buying Guide

Part 3 of our computer guide covers software and the essential software you'll want to have installed.

There's a multitude of options to choose from but the core software you'll most likely use on a daily basis consist of:

• The operating system
• Office/school productivity software
• Virus & spyware programs
• Maintenance utilities
• Web browsers

Some computers have these programs pre-installed. To check if your computer has these programs installed. Go to the START button and then ALL PROGRAMS.  Scan the list of programs and verify the ones below are installed and up-to-date.

The essential programs your computer should have:

Operating System

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

Comes pre-installed on computers unless you request otherwise

Office or School Productivity

Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student – Priced around $140

OpenOffice – Free

Provides the same features and functionality as Microsoft Office and is compatible with all Word, Power Point, Access and Excel files.

Virus and Spyware Programs

Avast – Free

AVGFree – Free

Maintenance Utilities

They clean out the garbage files you don’t need that slow your computers performance.

CCleaner – Free

Browsers

It’s important to have more than just Internet Explorer as a browser on your computer. Why? If Internet Explorer gets corrupted (which it frequently does), then the only way to fix it is to get to the internet ... but if you can't get to the internet, you can't fix it. Having another browser on your computer will let you get to the internet if Internet Explorer isn’t working.  Additionally, browsers like Firefox and Chrome provide a more secure web surfing experience with some really cool options to personalize the look.

Firefox – Free

Google Chrome – Free

PDF Reader

PDF documents are the norm for viewing online documents.

Adobe Reader - Free

You may already have Adobe Reader installed on your computer but if you don't click here to get it.