New computer...

[neotoma]

So I purchased a Toshiba laptop today... any choice bits of (free) software you think I should install on the new machine?

I'm already putting Firefox, Open Office, Gimp, and Avast on the new machine... but is there anything else?

Comments

[author376]

I generally also put adaware and spyware blaster on any new machine I get as well, but it looks like you've got everything pretty much handled! And congratulations on getting the new machine! ^^

[neotoma]

I've been using Spybot Search and Destroy for a while... but I should consider other spyware-killers

I also need to put Semagic and Yahoo!Messenger on

[author376]

I have that one too, I think.... Yep, checked, and I have all three. My general rule is redundancy as long as the programs get along.

[alexseanchai]

Adblock Plus and NoScript addons for Firefox if you haven't already. VLC Player works fabulously for anything video or audio unless you want a playlist. GnuCash has a bit of a learning curve unless you're familiar with accounting, but it's a marvelous finance-tracking program.

Also, I messaged you on LJ about the Gabriel's vessel fic from help...pakistan? (finally finished it), I don't know if you've seen it yet.

[neotoma]

I've tried NoScript before, but it wound up blocking so much that I actually liked...

GnuCash sounds interesting... do you have a URL forit?

[alexseanchai]

So you tell NoScript which scripts to allow. Occasionally a pain trying to figure out which ones you need to run, but I've found that running very few tends to work well.

http://www.gnucash.org/

'Scuse me, I need to go be miserable. Of all the times for an abrupt-onset illness, did it have to be the night before the test to skip one required class and the final exam in another?

[neotoma]

Maybe I'll try NoScript again.

GnuCash looks interesting. I could certainly use an accounting program.

Sad to hear you're having a hard time of it. Hopefully you can just get an early start on your sleep and be okay in the morning.

[alexseanchai]

Thanks

[mara]

Ooooh, let me know what you think of it. I'm in the market for a new laptop and I was looking at a bunch of the Toshiba Satellites. Oh, does your laptop have the keypad? I really want one on my next machine.

[neotoma]

Yep, it's got a keypad. I picked it up at Micro Center today -- it was the middle priced one of three options I had preselected using their 'Compare' feature on the website. 2GHz chip and 250G HD, a keyboard I can actually use, and a keypad too.

[meri_oddities]

Depending upon how much you want to customize your computer:

http://lifehacker.com/5412886/61-free-apps-were-most-thankful-for

this is a good place to start.

Also for Firefox:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-firefox-extensions-to-improve-your-productivity.html

I have tons of others bookmarked.

Why yes, I am a total geek. *g*

[neotoma]

Hee... I've have downloaded Chrome, just because I want to play with it, and about a dozen other things from the 61-free-app list, but that's a lot more for me to think about now...

[fyrdrakken]

Ah -- see, most of my computing is occurring on my work computer, and there's a limit to how much I'm willing to install to that computer, so I didn't have any suggestions until you mentioned Chrome. That's my browser of choice, at work and at home, and the Delicious tag app and Click and Clean are two I'm very glad I installed. Trying to remember what else I've got on the work computer -- I'm here at home, and the installed apps are different (and barely used, as little time as I spend on the computer at home). I think I've got TooManyTabs on both, though I hardly use it in either place. Oh, and a session-saving app on the work computer, whose name I can't recall -- basically, I periodically browse through the Chrome apps looking for anything that looks worth trying. Oh, and Flash Block -- important for browsing on overly flash-heavy sites without killing my processing speed. (I installed it for this one game site I use that can be nightmarishly crowded with animations I don't feel the need to see every time a page loads.)