Because
They’re
Freaking
Awesome!
BY NORMAN CHAN, ALEX CASTLE, AND WILL SMITH
32 essential apps to empower
your rig and take your comput-
ing experience to new levels—
no PC should be without them!
You have to admit, Windows is a pretty bare-bones operating system as it ships. After a fresh install of XP or Vista, you’re faced with a barren Start Menu and an empty
desktop—beaming with limitless potential. It’s up to you
to hunt for and download all the applications you need
to enhance your day-to-day computing experience. And
chances are, it’s often difficult to find good software that’s
also free. That’s where this guide comes in.
We’ve put together a list of what we think are the most
essential PC apps for every Maximum PC reader. These
are all free programs (well, except one) that should be
immediately installed after a fresh build or reformat— 32
indispensable programs and utilities that we couldn’t
imagine computing without. From the best IM client to
the best FTP browser to a supercharged Notepad replacement, these essentials truly enhance the Windows experience (much more so than Microsoft’s own Windows Live
Essentials). We’re not saying you’d use all 32 entries on
our list on a daily basis, but if you are at all serious about
getting the most from your PC, these apps will help you
along your way.
And at the end of the feature, we’ll even show you
how to install these apps in one fell swoop. Because if it
were up to us, this is software that would be bundled with
every copy of Windows.
