WHAT ARE THE BEST SOFTWARE TO INSTALL FIRST ON YOUR PC?

WHAT ARE THE BEST SOFTWARE TO INSTALL FIRST ON YOUR PC?

When you buy a computer, it usually only has its operating system. This is why we have selected the 25 software to install when you start a new Windows PC for the first time.

Maybe you got a PC for the holidays, congratulations. But when you buy (or get offered) a computer, it usually only has its operating system, very probably Windows 10. It is therefore necessary to add multiple programs to it. is operational for normal daily use. You can download applications from the Windows Store, but also more traditional software. This is why we have selected the 25 software to install when you start a new Windows PC for the first time.

Kaspersky Cloud Security Free

Before any intervention on your brand new computer, it is imperative to install a security system to guard against malicious programs. If Windows 10 already includes a security suite, it is also possible to install a third-party solution to benefit from advanced features and an increased level of protection. And among free antiviruses, it's probably Kaspersky that offers one of the best alternatives. Kaspersky Cloud Security Free will indeed offer you an excellent level of real-time security, without being hyper intrusive like other free antiviruses.

Chrome

Google's browser has taken the pawn in Firefox, Safari and Edge. It now takes first place in the ranking of the most used browsers. Chrome is much faster at viewing pages. To this must also be added its ease of use which makes it the ideal browser even for beginners. No additional plug-ins are necessary for full exploitation of web content, although it offers a number of extensions and applications.

EditPad

To create or consult documents, there are obviously word processors. But when it comes to opening a small text file in the blink of an eye, there's nothing quite like using EditPad. This text editor can help you convert any type of file (not just those created in Windows), and even act as an HTML editor when needed. Software created more than twenty years ago, but which continues to be regularly updated and whose power and ergonomics have never diminished. The best in its class, without a doubt.

Kodi

To replay your multimedia files, you can use a very basic program like VLC (see below), or use media center type software like Kodi (ex-XBMC). This tool is a real Swiss Army knife dedicated to the management and playback of photos, videos and music. It is able to launch the TV, create a small library from your content, searching the web for all the information needed to create thumbnails and a summary for all the movies you have stored on your PC . And it also has a host of plug-ins, which allow it to become a platform for launching applications. In short, Kodi could almost replace the operating system as there are so many possibilities.

GParted

A hard drive can be partitioned. GParted is the ideal tool for this. Unlike the well-known Partition Magic, it is free and above all does an outstanding job. Thanks to it, it is possible to modify partitions or even create new ones without disturbing the data stored on the hard drive. The advantage of having several partitions is first of all to be able to partition your documents and software from an organizational perspective. Next, it cannot be said enough that important information should not be stored on the system disk (usually the C partition). If Windows ever crashes dangerously, recovering the data that is contained in its partition becomes more complicated. If they are on a second partition, then all you have to do is reinstall Windows without worrying about files located on the system partition.

OpenShot Video Editor

If you want to edit a video without spending a dime, there are some totally free and above all very powerful software out there today. OpenShot is one of them: the program has a host of features, which allow you to really do anything when it comes to video editing. With it, you can cut and merge different sequences, as well as add a variety of effects to them. The program can handle an infinite number of audio and video tracks, can create almost professional-quality titles, and can even remap video. An essential, certainly.

Discord

If you like to chat online with the whole world, there are lots of instant messaging software like Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc. But for gamers one software seems to be unanimous: Discord. This is very useful if you want to create chat rooms, chat with YouTubers or players you meet on Twitch. Discord has built a solid reputation as a replacement for Teamspeak in the hearts of gamers. The software is free and allows you to interact with your contacts, while preserving a certain anonymity. It obviously works on Windows, but also Mac, Android and iOS.

Ninite

Ninite is a package manager allowing users to automatically install applications selected from a wide range of popular software, including a large part of those in this folder (Chrome, LibreOffice, VLC, 7-Zip…). Best of all, Ninite is not only used to automatically install these programs, it is also able to keep them up to date. In short, this is an essential package manager, greatly facilitating the management of software installed on a computer.

Macrium Reflect

Macrium Reflect offers you to make an "identical" backup of a partition or an entire hard drive. The advantage of such an operation is that you can restore your hard drive almost instantly in the event of a crash. Or duplicate your configuration from one PC to another, without having to reinstall anything. With a clean interface and an exemplary speed of execution, Macrium Reflect is a tool that must appear in any repository worthy of the name.

Google Music Manager

Music Manager is a small piece of software developed by Google that will allow you to upload all the music stored on your hard drive to Google Play Music. Google's music streaming service allows you to subscribe so you can access the entire catalog, but it is especially useful for being able to access its entire music library from any device, all for free. Music Manager therefore allows you to select the playlists to import, but also to download its library to another computer and even to upload its podcast. Music Manager works in the background and can automatically add all songs added to iTunes to its Play Music library. A great way to always have access to all your music, with no storage limits.

Steam

Valve's gaming platform is not only a portal to buy cheap video games or find great indie gems, it is also one of the most successful online gaming platforms. Steam is software for purchasing digital games, often inexpensively, and playing online with friends with built-in written and voice chat. In addition, Valve is far from being the only publisher to publish games on its portal since LucasArts, Activision, 2K Games or Ubisoft and even Electronic Arts, have done so. However, some Electronic Arts or Ubisoft games are still reserved for their own proprietary platforms: Origin and Uplay.

LibreOffice

When Oracle bought Sun Microsystems in 2010, many contributors to the open source office suite OpenOffice left ship to build a free competitor, LibreOffice. LibreOffice offers the same tools as OpenOffice, including word processing software, spreadsheet software, presentation software, vector editor, database management program, and math software. We thus have a good equivalence of Microsoft software without spending a single penny and all in a free version.

Audacity

Need to edit an audio file or just convert it to another format? Without a doubt, Audacity is what you need. Enjoying an excellent (and deserved) reputation, this program allows you to cut or merge different audio recordings, while adding filters (wah-wah, phaser, noise reduction, echo, etc.). The most musicians will finally appreciate the possibility of changing the key of a track, without modifying its duration. Totally essential when it comes to audio editing.

Foxit Reader

Foxit Reader is an alternative to Acrobat Reader. Lighter, it loads PDFs faster than its counterpart. It has the same features of zoom, text mode, search tool or even the possibility of adding notes to its PDF documents. While Windows 10 now includes its own PDF reader, Foxit is much more complete with more tools than Microsoft's version.

7-zip

Compression utility, 7-zip has one of the highest compression rates. With it, documents no longer take up space and can be easily sent or stored. Several compression formats are available: 7z, Zip, Gzip, Bzip2 and Tar. On the decompression side, 7-zip manages even more extensions (RAR, CAB, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM and DEB). Let us add that 7-zip blends into Windows through the contextual menus, which simplifies its use.

UltraCopy

UltraCopier is a handy little utility software to replace the default Windows copy / paste system. You can thus create copy lists to optimize the movements of your files, pause the movement, resume a trip that has crashed, limit the movement speed or better optimize the management of simultaneous transfers. It is also possible to deactivate UltraCopier. The Windows copy system will then take over.

VLC

VLC is the multimedia software par excellence. Massively adopted, it is regularly updated. Very light, it has been designed to operate independently. Therefore, with the Windows media player installed by default, there is no need to install codecs. It plays music, video and other streams on its own. In its recent versions, the player is even capable of supporting 3D videos. Let us add that Free subscribers can use it to receive TV channels on their computer thanks to the multi-user.

Spotify

Released in 2008, this music streaming software is one of the most popular. Its basic principle is similar to Deezer but Spotify translates well into software to install in order to be able to listen to your music. While free access includes a lot of advertising, the Premium and Unlimited plans at 5 and 10 euros allow unlimited access to the entire catalog of 30 million titles from your computer. In addition to searching and listening to songs, Spotify is also a music discovery software with a home page showing suggestions of artists or albums to listen to according to the likes of your Facebook friends or the most popular songs. .

Paint.net

Windows offers Paint to perform some squiggles. For anyone who wants to expand their mouse stroke or even resize images, Paint.net is the tool to have. Packed with features such as layers, event history and a range of options for image processing, it is a great alternative to Paint Shop Pro or PhotoShop as long as you don't need to. 'tools too pushed.

BurnAware

Burning CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays as easily as possible, that's what BurnAware offers. Its very clear interface puts it within reach of any user. It supports the most popular types of formats and is also capable of handling image files.

Skype

A prominent Internet telephony (VoIP) software, Skype is also a fabulous video conferencing tool. Thanks to it, you can call your loved ones for free via the Internet, but also use its instant messaging function which has now replaced that of Windows Live Messenger. It is also essential software for telecommuting.

WhatsApp Desktop

WhatsApp is a cross-platform encrypted instant messaging application, available on smartphones as well as PCs and Macs. Computer operation requires that you also install the application on your mobile, but you can then synchronize all your chats and use the desktop application directly.

Handbrake

Handbrake is open source video conversion software. Both simple and comprehensive, Handbrake offers various options such as chaptering converted videos or embedding subtitles in the final video. Many audio or video codecs are integrated into the software, such as H.265, H.264, MPEG-4, VP9, ​​Theora, MP3, (HE-) AAC, Vorbis or Flac.

Ccleaner

Of course, Ccleaner cannot be used on a new PC (although ...). However, after a few months of use, it will be useful. After installing and uninstalling several software, the hard drive becomes cluttered with multiple unnecessary DLL files which can slow down the system. You can also use Ccleaner to clean your browser (history, cookies, personal information, etc.) or other software that uses cached files sometimes unnecessarily overloading your hard drives and SSDs.

Filezilla

Filezilla is an FTP client from a student project. It quickly found its audience and is now one of the most used FTP clients. Establishing links between the PC and remote servers, Filezilla manages downloads by offering filters, but also their pausing and resumption. It should be added that large files, greater than 4 GB, do not constitute a limit for him.