Recommended Freeware and Shareware

We recommend, from time to time certain software products that are either free or "shareware" This term is based on the concept that the author makes it freely available and asks that you share it with your friends. There is usually no up front cost involved -- the author asks you to try it out first and, if you like it, to pay a modest amount -- often quite small compared to similar commercial software.

We do not recommend all shareware, just those products which we have tried out and can vouch for from personal experience.

Our current list includes:

Mozilla Firefox: As an alternative to Internet Explorer. Firefox is significantly safer because, unlike IE, it does not allow the execution of some of the more malicious code that web sites can use to install spyware, trojans, and so on. It's official release was early in November 2004. Between then and the end of April 2006, more than 172 million copies have been downloaded! Firefox is a powerful and flexible browser with a simple initial interface, but tons of other features lurking beneath the surface. If you would like an introduction to some of these features at no cost, call us for a free initial consultation.
If Firefox is not your cup of tea, you might consider the Opera browser instead. It's also free.
Mozilla Thunderbird: As an alternative to Outlook Express. Like its cousin Firefox, Thunderbird is free and is winning many awards. In addition to its clean, easy to use interface, it has built-in intelligent spam filters and RSS newsfeeds. If you would like an introduction to some of these features at no cost, call us for a free initial consultation.
To compress and uncompress .ZIP files and similar archives, we would suggest the free 7-Zip utility, or the very affordable and more flexible WinRAR utility.
AdAware SE Personal:. This anti-spyware is free and is a valuable tool in fighting the current onslaught of spyware and other nasties.
Spybot Search & Destroy:. This is the second half of our free anti-spyware 1-2 punch. We suggest using both products as one will often catch what the other misses. They should be run once a month with the first step each time being to check for updates. If you have concerns about spyware, viruses, trojans and the like and would like our assistance, please call so we can meet to evaluate the situation. Please note that AdAware and Spybot S&D are not a substitute for a good Antivirus or Internet Security program such as Kaspersky Internet Security. To find out why we recommend this product, please give us a call.