Win7News Editors… What I use and Why (Mike Halsey)

At Windows7News.com our editorial team is frequently scrutinised for the software we run and why we choose to run it.  We’re an eclectic bunch here that includes people who run all types of software on our PCs.  I thought I’d kick off a series on what software we choose to run, and why we have chosen it.

Browser – Internet Explorer 8

The browser is the most important piece of software on our PCs today and it’s the one place in which we tend to live our online lives the most, thus, for many it’s the most important software choice to make, and the one we put the most thought into.

Every browser for me offers something useful, I love Firefox and Chrome’s speed, Safari and Opera’s interfaces and sometimes it can be very difficult to select which browser to run.

In the end I stick with Internet Explorer 8 for two very good reasons.  First is the special sandbox mode that it runs in under my 64 bit version of Windows 7.  No other browser has access to this useful Windows feature, and it’s certainly a major security help.  It can be argued I know that there are plenty of other things that make IE8 a security risk and for an inexperienced user I may recommend Firefox, but as someone who writes about Internet security threats I’m happy with IE 8 as it provides all the power features I need without requiring plug-ins.

This is another important aspect of the browser, and it’s one that has a great bearing on my own software choices.  I don’t like plug-ins, and I avoid them at every opportunity unless they’re completely necessary.  The difference a plug-in, theme or toolbar can make to the speed of a browser is huge.  So I keep things as lean as possible.

The other reason for choosing IE8 is software bloat.  In the same way that plug-ins and toolbars can slow your browser, having too much software bloat can slow Windows itself.  This is my other reason for sticking with IE.  As it’s already a part of Windows, using it helps keep my copy of Windows 7 lean and fast.

Email – Windows Live Mail

Now regards the software bloat I’ve just mentioned, it could be argued that I really ought to be accessing my email in a browser.  But email is such a big part of my life that I have just never been able to bring myself to use web-based mail for very long.

Windows Live Mail suits me brilliantly because I have a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone from HTC that also has Windows Live installed, and a Live email account.  The synching between these two software platforms and the cloud is second to none, frankly I love it.

The Outlook Connector software just doesn’t have the flair and ease of use that Windows Live Mail does.  If you can’t do your email in the cloud and want a lightweight package, I think this is it.

The other reason for choosing this is that, being Microsoft software, you can guarantee that it will work merrily with Windows 7 without a single problem, and without causing too much bloat.  The latter is because Microsoft have an advantage (whatever your personal views on this might be) that they have unfettered access to APIs and other code in Windows they can use in packages like this, and the former is because I’ve seen too many instances in the past of even big software companies, such as Adobe, producing sloppy code.  With packages like Windows Live, Microsoft simply don’t do this.

Anti-Virus – Microsoft Security Essentials / Norton Anti-Virus 2010

As a security writer I occasionally get sent anti-virus packages to try.  Kaspersky I hated, I found it intrusive and it completely blocked access to my network drives, cunningly following this up by hiding the controls to unblock access somewhere where I couldn’t find them.  Ordinarily my choice would be the lovely little lightweight Microsoft Security Essentials, this is firstly because I’m comfortable that I know what I’m doing online so don’t need an extra firewall, but also because of a lovely little feature that means it only performs intensive scans when you’re not busy doing something else.

At the moment though I’m using Norton Anti-Virus 2010, it was free to me and on that score I’d recommend it, but it wouldn’t be my first choice otherwise to power users.  Why for instance do I need to be told that it’s performing a task “in the background”?  For more inexperienced users however the Norton 360 product could be exactly what you’re looking for, and it’s scanning engine is one of the best on the market.  Long gone now are the days when Norton was the joke of the PC security industry.  I would also recommend AVG.

Media Player – Zune

Okay so I’m breaking my rule here.  Why would I install any software that replicates a feature that already exists within Windows?  Simply put, I think Windows Media Player is horrible and hasn’t really moved on much since it first appeared in the mid 1990’s.  The Zune software on the other hand with it’s unique metro interface is a breath of fresh air.  Okay, so it may not be as flexible or as easy to use in some respects as WMP or iTunes, but it’s WAY prettier than both.

CD/DVD Burning – Nero / Windows 7 / Zune

Until recently I’ve been using Nero for all my disc burning needs, I even still have it installed now.  I can assure you though that’s it’s going, and going soon.

Why do I need it when 99% of the discs I burn I can either burn through the Zune software or through Windows 7 itself?  Indeed when Windows 7 introduced native ISO disc-image burning I should have switched away there and then.

With the exception of mixed-mode CDs that I might burn now and again, I simply have no need for Nero with all it’s hugely excessive bloat.

Image Viewing – Windows Live Photo Gallery

The Windows Image Viewer is another example of a piece of software that, like Windows Media Player, should be stripped out of the OS completely.  I use the Windows Live Photo Gallery software instead.  It’s essentially the same software, and no doubt shares a huge amount of code with the Windows 7 native app, but it’s miles ahead in terms of both usability and features.

But, as with the Zune software and Windows Live Mail, I’m sticking with Microsoft software to avoid software bloat.

Office Suite – Microsoft Office 2010 beta

There is in my view one reason and one reason alone to shell out the cost of a copy of Microsoft Office, it’s simply the best office suite on the planet!  It may be expensive, especially if you require the Professional version as I do and extra software such as Visio, but boy is it worth it!

I was not someone who was resistant to the ribbon either.  Okay so I still find it frustrating at times, but no more than I was frustrated at accidentally disabling toolbars in Office 2003 and not knowing how to get them back again.

I don’t install everything, I’ll leave out Outlook, Access and OneNote can be terribly annoying for start-up items and background running processes, but this is the only office suite for me.

Other Software

Shark007 Codec Pack – I’ve used this ever since I first heard about it.  It’s boast that it provides the “only codecs you will ever need” is almost completely accurate.  I can think of only one other occasion that I needed a third-party codec, but that was to view some specialist HD video.

CCleaner – This is an excellent utility for keeping Windows clean and spangly.  Okay so it’s got a habit of deleting my cookies when I’ve told it not to, but otherwise it’s a fantastic little lightweight package that does exactly what it says on the tin.  What’s more it’s free!

Glary Utilities – Another great little free PC optimisation pack that does an excellent job while maintaining a tiny footprint.