Must have windows (7) programs/customization

[Silver]

So, I'm a native apple user, but because I'm going into architecture this fall, I needed a windows partition in order to run AutoCAD, so I installed a nice fresh new version of Windows 7 Pro, and am basically running it as is out of the box.

My question to you windows buffs, what are some amazing programs that every windows user should have, and or stuff for customization that everyone should have?

 

[donavannj]

Well, Windows 7 isn't really lacking in much at the moment out of the box, other than having no means of defending against malware.

I personally don't have any programs that I depend on regularly, myself, other than using a web browser other than IE or Safari for Windows.

That said, if you're looking to use it for something like making CD images, ImgBurn is a good free CD/DVD ripper/burner. DVD Flick is useful in creating DVDs. And, well, that's basically it for programs that I use regularly that I got for free.

Someone will probably recommend Open Office, but I personally have found that I can't get it to do certain things the way I want it to do them for things like budget managing, whereas I could do them far more easily in Office 2003.

 

[John-117]

is just depends, for me, I use tuneup utilities, infraview, adobe CS5, and Microsoft office. And other software that depends if you need it.

 

[Captain Fabio]

is just depends, for me, I use tuneup utilities, infraview, adobe CS5, and Microsoft office. And other software that depends if you need it.

Macs are compatible with Adobe software; most likely runs better on them in some cases.

There aren't that many things really, but I would suggest for video editing, Total Video Converter. Hasn't let me down.

 

[donavannj]

Macs are compatible with Adobe software; most likely runs better on them in some cases.

Macs are actually compatible with their own retail versions of Office, too, now that I think about it.

 

[Snatch That Child Drifloon!]

Macs are compatible with Adobe software; most likely runs better on them in some cases.

There aren't that many things really, but I would suggest for video editing, Total Video Converter. Hasn't let me down.

Not so great really, considering how Jobs is trying to ditch flash since Apple can't make a working OS that can handle flash.

As for programs, you really don't need to worry as much since you can probably find freeware software of something that you need to do.

 

[mr. ck]

No Flash on Mac, that's new O.o
But then again, it's not like I use Macs that I would know :P

Anyway,
For Video / Audio / Image editing, software for Mac is better, including Adobe's CS.
I like to have Thunderbird and Firefox... Or Google Chrome, it's your choice. ABP is almost a must here.
MS Office is useful software, but if you can handle and want an alternative, Google Docs is a good option.
I like to keep Spybot (any other anti-spyware should do), but it is usually in it's geek mode, so you might not like it.
Antivirus is a must, choose from Avast, Avira etc as free AV.
I've also heard that Microsoft Security Essentials is good.
WinRAR / 7-Zip are also a must.
Notepad++ if you're into editing files, working with HTML, writing code etc.
Google Picasa is also good. if you're into managing photos and images, but then again, why would you use Windows for it.
You might want to downgrade Paint to the Vista version, since at least I, absolutely hate the new one.

Well that's pretty much it, at least as far as I can remember.

 

[tjwilliams24]

MSE - Microsoft Security Essentials - Free AV from Microsoft. Works great, very low false-positive.

CCleaner - clean out your system

Advanced SystemCare and/or TuneUp Utilities - system optimizer

 

[Captain Fabio]

Not so great really, considering how Jobs is trying to ditch flash since Apple can't make a working OS that can handle flash.

Well, ignoring Flash, Dreamweaver and those, they are useless really, on a Mac.
Things like Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects and graphical heavy programs.

CCleaner is a good call tjwilliams. I use that.

 

[Silver]

Not so great really, considering how Jobs is trying to ditch flash since Apple can't make a working OS that can handle flash.

Despite jobs inane hatred of flash. Adobe products run very well on Mac OSX.
Secondly, Mac OSX is perfectly capable of running flash. Jobs again, just has some vendetta against it, which is why he refuses to put in in iOS.

 

[twocows]

Firefox + ABP for browsing, Microsoft Security Essentials for AV, and 7-zip for archive handling should cover you well enough. Anything else is really situational, it depends on what you want to use Windows for.