My Own Must-Have Downloads For Windows

Just because I do not live in a Windows world anymore myself does not mean that I am not staying hip to the must have downloads for pretty much any Windows release. Today, I see that Lifehacker posted its top list, so I figured I might post my own to see how it might compare.

1. Firefox - When setting up a PC for one of my Windows-using family members, this is one of the first things I do. Despite some serious improvements with IE, I just trust Firefox not to get creative with its security settings. That said, I still disable Java by default though.
2. Trillian - While I tend to lean with Pidgin on Ubuntu, I prefer using Trillian on a Windows box. And after showing other current Windows users just how powerful this application is, they tend to agree with me pretty quickly.
3. OpenOffice - While still using ThinkFree Office on my Linux desktop, I find that in most cases OpenOffice does a great job for most of my office needs.
4. AVG - Again, on a Windows box, with the possible exception of using avast! in some cases, I have found that for the casual user, AVG cannot be beat.
5. Jungle Disk - Mozy is great for some folks, but I have never had any reason to not use Jungle Disk as it does everything I need and lots more with regard to off-site backups. This is what I use on my mom’s PC and I know each day that her data is backed up without one single exception since the app’s installation.
6. ZoneAlarm - The Windows firewall leaves me pissed off about half the time. And because I have no access to IPTables on Windows, I find that using ZoneAlarm is the next best thing.
7. musikCube - I wanted to say SongBird, but it is so full of errors half the time, I have a tough time with that. It works well with most MP3 players, although I have not tested it with the iPod. Still, any self-mounting MP3 player should work though.
8. GIMPShop - I prefer GIMP myself as it is what I know best. But for folks that are simply used to a proper Photoshop layout, GIMPShop makes a lot of sense.
9. KompoZer - I just do not require a ton from my HTML editors. So for me, KompoZer is the perfect editor to get the job done in my house. It’s based on Nvu.
10. Skype - As much as I hate it some days, it is a cross-platform standard that binds us all together. I’ve really tried using other apps, but for VoIP I always come back to this application. I use it both on Windows and Ubuntu 9.04 (<- running skype-static via the medibuntu repositories).

And that is it. These are the apps I would install today if I was using Windows on a full time basis again. Each one of them has been a solid performer for what I need.