Prophet of the Pimps Guide to Awesome Software, Must Have software that make using Windows Heavenly Options

[Alceister]

SUPERAntiSpyware

Now at first glance, the name may seem really tacky and highly suspicious.

However, looks can be deceiving: SUPERAntiSpyware is simply the best anti-spyware software I have ever used.

It outperforms Ad-Aware and S&D by a large margin. The interface is incredibly simple and easy to use, and the software as a whole is extremely thorough: it will often turn up results that Ad-Aware and S&D combined will miss. In fact, I don't even use Ad-Aware anymore, and just keep S&D as a back-up.


KillBox

KillBox allows you to delete programs while they're running, and can also act as a substitute task manager.

This makes it very useful for getting rid of frustrating software that manages to disable more conventional software or system tools like task manager or regedit. KillBox itself is pretty resistant to any attempt at disabling it: just make sure you download it beforehand, and not just when you need it.

[wb21]

6) Google Chrome
http://www.google.com/chrome
One of the lightest and the fastest browser out there and its made by the "Do No Evil" Guys at Google. If you are looking for a minimalistic browser then look no further. With integration with gmail, google, orkut and other google products makes any person who uses google products heavily an ease of use not present in any other browser. It does lack customisation aspect of Firefox or Opera but makes up for its in Sheer Speed and Usability. The incognito mode is good when you have <Google Marketing> "Hide the Details of what you want to buy a gift for your significant other and keep it a secret". </Google Marketing> *Cough PornMode Cough*.

At one time, seeing its speed in opening websites, I was going to download it, until I found out that it does not support Windows XP SP3 (I'm using Home SP3), ending up in scrubbing the plan, and sticks back to Firefox.

27) Notepad++
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm
Replacement of the default Notepad. lite and feature rich text editor.

A VERY useful text editor for the programmer/coder (like me, using it for my HTML project in college)

[walkingGhost]

At one time, seeing its speed in opening websites, I was going to download it, until I found out that it does not support Windows XP SP3 (I'm using Home SP3), ending up in scrubbing the plan, and sticks back to Firefox.

This cant be- I have XP:SP3 installed on my notebook, and chrome runs just fine. But sticking to Firefox is probably the better idea, anyway, because chrome's biggest advantage, the fast JavaScript engine, isnt that attractive anymore since firefox upgraded (version 3.5+) to a comparably fast JIT-Trace-compiler, called Tracemonkey. The firefox-addons, on the other hand- those you WILL miss if you switch to chrome.

About Notepad++ I wholeheartedly agree: It really is a fine editor (I'm using it for Lua-scripting). But if you really want to code, get a "real" IDE, like Eclipse (which is opensource, too).

[beefJeRKy]

Agreed, a text editor is all you need, but an IDE really boosts your productivity.

This post has been edited by Scope: 31 Oct 2009, 0:12

[Shiro]

Interesting fact, we at university are not allowed to use Eclipse or similar progs, this does not change the fact I have it installed on my Pc in case I need it.

[ΓΛPΤΘΓ]

Media Player:

foobar2000

Open sourced support any major file format. Have tons of useful plugin, including ASIO, WASPI and many more, great sound quality if setup to by pass Windows' sound mixer (XP mostly as Vista and 7 got a much better audio stack).

[Shiro]

KM Player:
very stable video player, runs VCD, DVD, AVI, MKV, Ogg Theora, OGM, 3GP, MPEG-1/2/4, WMV, RealMedia, QuickTime, IT, XM, S3M, DAT videos with ease (VLC still has his problems with MKV for example), has loads of options and possibilities to configure, plugins, light on the systems resources.

[Pickysaurus]

Operating System:
Windows 7 - enough said

[Alias]

While I believe Windows 7 to be the best version of Windows so far, I wouldn't claim it to be the 'best' OS.
The superiority of an OS would be defined by the requirements of the user, however. I'm sure there's a few people who find AmigaOS more than sufficient.

While I'm not against including it, the premise of this list is the software is free.

[Shiro]

Tune Up 2008
Once I find the link you should add TuneUp 2008 to the list - due to a nice action of its producer, it is free now (mainly to advertise TuneUp as a whole and 2010 which is 'vastly superior').
The link goes for the 30 days trial, I am still searching for the full version, however the Trial has all options the full version has too so that should be no problem.

[beefJeRKy]

Ubuntu is an OS that anyone should try out for a week IMO. And the best part is that it's free including a hard copy and shipping (though it takes time).

[Waris]

Comical - A comic/manga book viewer. Opens RAR and ZIP comic/manga archives as well as directories of images. Supported image format: JPEG, PNG, GIF, and TIFF. http://comical.sourceforge.net/

AniGet - An xdcc-bot indexer that mainly tracks anime uploads. Especially useful when your favourite anime torrent library is down (like TT is now). http://www.lazylabs.de/?page_id=7

TeraCopy - An alternate file copier/mover, replaces your OS' built-in tool. Lots of features but I especially like the summary function you can access after every copy/move tasks. http://www.codesector.com/teracopy.php

This post has been edited by Waris: 20 Dec 2009, 22:17

[ΓΛPΤΘΓ]

Thanks Waris, really gonna take a look at Comical, it looks rather useful.

But I already have mIRC playing nicely with XDCC dunno what AniGet is for.

[Waris]

It's good if you're too lazy to boot up mIRC

[Pickysaurus]

Picky's Media Management Review

So recently I've reviewed 3 media management programs, with some interesting results. So here's my reviews for the software.

First...

Windows Media Player 11 (Windows 7 Default)

As stated Windows Media Player (WMP) comes bundled with Microsoft Operating Systems. Now, being made by Microsoft, it has a good deal of basic features. However is slightly unstable and some features don't quite do what you'd expect. Out of the three I am reviewing, it has the prettiest GUI.
This is best suited for someone who isn't too serious about their music and just need a program for occasional playback.

Good Points:

• Easy to use
• Online Track info search
• Various useful sorting views
• Quick and easy to get used to as it follows the same trends as the Operating System
• Wide range of visualisations

Bad Points:

• Unstable, may crash if loaded with too many tracks simultaneously.
• Online track info search sometimes writes wrong data (I inserted my Now! 74 CD and it named all the tracks from a completely different album)
• Online track search is limited and sometimes doesn't correctly update the information
• Often becomes jumpy mid-track if left to play for extended periods.

Download: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme...11/default.aspx



Apple iTunes (Mac Default*)

Most people you ask about media management will recommend iTunes to you. This may be because it is designed by Apple, who take more care on expressive products, as opposed to Microsoft's informative approach. I personally did not find myself at all impress with iTunes, but I can see the audiences it applies to.
This software is best suited to someone with an existing music collections and who purchases music by the album. Not suitable for someone who only likes one or two tracks by each artist.

Good Points:

• Fairly easy to use
• Album Art Search (Requires iTunes Store Account)
• Excellent playback quality
• Store allows easy purchasing of new music
• Light on system resources and stable while running

Bad Points:

• Lacks online track information search
• Album Art Search does not make art visible in WMP or other non-iTunes programs
• Requires large window to be open at all times
• Can only sort music by album or by track

Download: http://www.apple.com/itunes/


Nokia Ovi Player (Supplied with Nokia Mobile Phones)

Nokia Ovi Player, formerly known as Nokia Music, is a new extension of Nokia's existing PC Suite range. It features easy music management systems and good quality playback. I personally prefer this program, despite it's short comings
This is recommended for those who like to keep their media library organised and managed easily, and also for those with mobile phones made by Nokia.

Good Points:

• The best track info search function I have encountered
• Multiple views for easily finding a track
• Can display different CDs within an album (preventing the list from reading 1,1,2,2,etc)
• Store function is good, but not as good as iTunes

Bad Points:

• Slow load-up time, up to 5mins waiting on the splash screen
• Takes a long time to import entire music collection
• Some errors when applying new album information
• Very Unstable when editing tracks that are open in Windows Explorer at the same time.
• Frequent "Not Responding" status, but recovers after a few seconds

Download: http://musicstore.nokia.com/

[Alias]

Needs moar Foobar.

You've got half the positives and negatives for iTunes the wrong way around. For Windows it is a huge resource whore, but it does have automatic track information, and the quality of the playback is due more to the file type and the hardware than the software. There's also way more sorting options in iTunes than just artist and album.
Oh, and if you do it right iTunes can is perfectly capable of showing multiple discs within the same album.

I by no means am recommending iTunes for Windows use as it uses waaay too much resources but on OSX where it's actually optimised for the OS you really can't get any better. Go try out Foobar for Windows audio.

[ΓΛPΤΘΓ]

Needs moar Foobar.

You've got half the positives and negatives for iTunes the wrong way around. For Windows it is a huge resource whore, but it does have automatic track information, and the quality of the playback is due more to the file type and the hardware than the software. There's also way more sorting options in iTunes than just artist and album.
Oh, and if you do it right iTunes can is perfectly capable of showing multiple discs within the same album.

I by no means am recommending iTunes for Windows use as it uses waaay too much resources but on OSX where it's actually optimised for the OS you really can't get any better. Go try out Foobar for Windows audio.

I guess the set-ups and plug-ins can confuse many normal users, but once set-up its a very nice player and can be modify to suit your needs.

[Overdose]

http://add-art.org/

This cultural Firefox add-on works in unison with Adblock Plus. Instead of leaving an empty space it will display a random culturally enriching and pleasant to observe image. Images change every 2 weeks.

Check the web page for further details.

-OD

[ΓΛPΤΘΓ]

foobar2000 now 1.0!

A bit late, but here: http://www.foobar2000.org/download

Enjoy!

[Overdose]

Is this Foobar better than MPC (Media Player Classic) with CCCP for animes?

[ComeOn]

I realllly want to try modeling units, for the fun of it.
Is there any free softwares that do this?

[Alias]

http://www.blender.org/

Or alternatively, you could try Gmax.

This post has been edited by Alias: 28 Jan 2010, 3:30

[Waris]

Is this Foobar better than MPC (Media Player Classic) with CCCP for animes?

It's an audio player that supports only audio-related formats if you haven't noticed.

[Overdose]

Ah nvm silly me

[beefJeRKy]

Why not just use VLC? It has never coughed at any file I've tossed it.