As a lifelong PC user, I've always a little jealous of Macs.
As a lifelong PC user, I've always a little jealous of Macs.
That being said, one nice thing is having lots of choices and, in that vein, I've begun to enjoy some of the nicities of being a PC user.
Like the VW Bug or Honda Civics, PCs are appealing because they are cheap, highly customizable and upgradable!
(Or perhaps a more pleasing analogy for Mac users might be that being a PC user is basically being a consumer of designer knockoffs. That's right; and I love it.)
Being a happy owner means knowing how to get rid of a lot of default settings, and finding programs to take the place of the pretty limited ones included with Windows.
So in the interest of being useful (for a change), I'd like to offer a few tips on "tricking out" your PC.
Software changes can't do everything. While I've never been too concerned with having the latest and greatest, some relatively small hardware investments will dramatically increase your performance, and more importantly, your pleasure and efficiency computing. This is one of them. Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade your RAM. And it's disturbingly cheap these days -- I got 512mb for my notebook for only $60 -- there's no reason not to.
If you do not heed my advice and continue to run 256MB RAM, most of the changes I'll outline will still be beneficial. More to the point, they will be necessary to eek out tolerable performance.
Go here. I don't trust myself to explain them. But they do work. Especially for those of you only running 256 mb, going to classic mode is a must.
Windows doesn't come pre-programmed with a lot of great software so you've got to find it yourself. Nevertheless, this software does exist and it is often free.
SEARCH
Copernic Desktop Search. While a lot has been made of OS X's Spotlight, it really isn't anything new. Indexed, keyword-searching programs have existed for some time. While probably not as stylish, Copernic Desktop Search is intuitive and does the job well. Best of all, it's free. Its highly customizable and is able to search multiple files formats, including Wordperfect not Word.
Agent Ransack. This is a no-nonsense non-indexed searcher with lots of advanced settings for any other search needs.
EXPLORER
Free Commander. I don't do much heavy-duty file management; I installed this program anyway and have come to use it more than I expected. It's been able to do anything I've need it to: splitting files, batch renaming, even getting folder sizes which, for some wierd reason, Explorer doesn't let you do.
INTERNET EXPLORER
Firefox. If you don't have it already, get it. Please. I beg you. Numerous articles have been written explaining why.
Greasemonkey Extensions. This is an extension for Firefox that allows you to install scripts that customize certain websites. Click here for a full explanation. Here's some I like, available here:
Google Images Re-Linker. "Rewrites links in Google Images to point straight to the image instead of the thumbnail in a frame."
Hotmail Single Window. "Remove the javascript wrapper around hotmail external links which spawn new windows."
IMDB Remove Ad column. As the title seems hint at, this removes IMDB's ad column.
WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER
Itunes & Media Player Classic. I use Itunes for music management, Media Player Classic for on-the-fly, quick, ad-free, non-memory-hogging play of most every movie and audio file format out there. This includes Quicktime and Real with downloadable extensions (and some caveats).
SOUND RECORDER
Goldwave. This is good for general, simple sound editing, recording (no multi-track or overdubbing), and some effects.
PAINT
Picassa. This is for general real-time, no-hassle photo-fixes of pics including cropping and lighting. For more detailed editing use .
Paint Shop Pro. This is free photoshop for those of you that haven't stolen a copy yet. It's shareware, but there's a time-limitation.
MICROSOFT FAX AND PICTURE VIEWER
To view your pictures, I like FastStone Image Viewer. You can also crop images, and a slew of other things. Freeware.
UTILITIES I LIKE
Spybot Search & Destroy, Microsoft AntiSpyware, Ad-Aware. These are three different program to defeat spyware which is a constant affront to windows as Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, linked their web browser to their file system (p.s. if you use a third party browser, you'll have less problems).
PDF Creator. This is good if you don't have a printer hooked up regularly, or do your internet away from it and need to print something out (for instance, web pages) and don't want the formatting to get screwed up.
JDisk lookup. This tool lets you see exactly what types of files are in your hard drive.
PC Wizard. This gives you a rundown of exactly what your system is running.
*Process Explorer. Identifies what processes you're running without the cryptic msconfig language.
PAY PROGRAMS
Not everything in life is free. Here are some programs worth buying:
Encyclopedia Britannica. For about 30 bucks you can get the entire, complete Encyclopedia Brittanica. That's right, the exact same as the print version. What's more, you can install it on your hard drive for ready access(taking about only about a gig of info). I find it a nice "internet alternative" information source.
WordPerfect 12. I hate Microsoft Word's paper clip thing almost as much as Windows' search dog. And while I can't say that WordPerfect totally outperforms Word (perhaps for the simple reason that current word processors don't require much improvement ... it's a fucking typewriter on a computer, you know), I do know it stays out of my way and is able to do pretty much everything I've wanted it to. (It also has the option of running in "Word mode" for those of you who are used to Word's menus). Copies on ebay range from $15-$20.
June 14, 2005
updated: August 23, 2005
*updated: August 26, 2005
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