Hard facts of software

Once you are decided on the hardware configuration of your computer, it is time to decide what software you are going to have in it. This is a very tricky problem because the machine's software configuration will determine how well you can use its hardware resources. As you may have figured out by now, this is a very broad area of discussion, because a wide range of computer software is so freely available and most of them are equally good.

I do not mean to advocate software piracy and as Shazard Izzadeen pointed in Techno Page a few months ago, it is debatable whether we can implement any laws against it here in Sri Lanka. For example, the Microsoft Office suite alone would cost approximately $1000 (about Rs. 90,000) if you were to get it the legitimate way, but the chances are that the software in your computer was installed from a CD that was bought for Rs.100 or less! This is the reason why most computer dealers are willing to give you _any software of your choice for free_ at the time you buy the computer. 

This may not be the case if you are buying a branded machine from an authorized dealer, but then later on you could buy all the software your computer can hold for a few hundred rupees. Then again, anyone who is into a little bit of programming would know how hard it is even to make a simple program, and how unfair software piracy is.

Apart from the above, the Internet is a very rich source of both _commercial_ and _freeware_ software. The sheer quantity of software available on the Internet is appalling and the quality of some of those software sometimes throws me off my chair, literally. 

We build up preferences for the software we have used in the past over the software we haven't. For example, my friend the 'pilot' who is using Eudora to check his email thinks it is better than MS Outlook which I use, but it is all a matter of preference. 

Now for the software you need to have in your computer. Apple Macintosh machines have their own licensed software and it will be little more than meaningless to involve them in this discussion. Therefore we will stick to PC's and the beloved Windows because there won't be too many of us using 'Linux' or 'Bee OS' either, but we will be more than happy to feature anything you want to say about these platforms and other software that runs on them.

The first choice you need to make is about the Operating system(s) you are going to use. Personally I would go for Windows 2000 or Windows XP 2001 for my personal computer, and I will avoid 'Windows Me' at all costs. I made this choice because it is my personal experience that Windows 2000 & Windows XP are very stable (believe it or not, my computer has never crashed since I started using Windows 2000 and according to reliable software reviews I found on the Internet Windows XP seems to be better. The other main reason on which I based my choice is the fact that most of the software in the market is designed for Windows due to its dominance and wide-spread popularity. 

On the other hand, different Operating systems are designed with specific objectives in mind. For example the 'Bee OS' is a perfect platform for high graphics intensive work such as editing movies, and creating 3D graphics, while the 'Mac OS' has won a reputation for being ideal for both 2D and 3D graphics related tasks. 

While extending an open invitation to all of you out there to write in to the Techno Page with your personal opinions about different Operating Systems and Application Software, I will discuss what is ideal for home users as they form the majority of this readership.

If you are running a MS Windows operating system, the MS Office suite is a must for obvious reasons that I will not discuss at length. A few weeks back the Techno Page featured an article on the new Office XP suite.

Norton Utilities is the most comprehensive system maintenance software known to me. Corel Draw 10 is ideal for high-end picture editing and 2D graphics. Macromedia Flash, Director and Dreamweaver will let you redefine the concept of web-designing. MS Encarta and Encyclopedia Britannica both are very good reference suites that will add to the educational value of your machine. 

Among the useful software available for free on the Internet is Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) which is probably the best download manager available on the Internet (it is definitely better than the better known Go!Zilla), that helps you download files over the Internet up to 300% faster and the best thing is if the download is interrupted, you can carry on from where you left, the next time you login without having to go through the whole download all over again. Winamp is one of he best audio players I've come across and with a plug-in like iZotope Ozone, it is unbeatable. You can download the Winamp player from www.winamp.com. ACD See is a good image browser that is also capable of playing .mpeg files. 

The Adobe Acrobat reader and plug-ins like the Flash and Shockwave players are essential tools for surfing the net. The Adobe eBook Reader is a handy 9.75 Mb program available free on the Internet which lets you download e-Books and maintain a library in your computer. 

There are many free e-books available for downloading including popular novels like 'Jane Eyre' and children's novels like 'Alice in Wonderland', apart from the famous 'The art of war' by Sun Tzu which is considered to be one of the oldest military treatises in the world. It even reads them aloud although it falters when it encounters a relatively long word and spells it out. 

This is one of the most useful pieces of software I've come across in a long time. Then there is 'Readplease 2002', which reads any text you type in. It could be useful if you want your computer to read out your emails while you carry on with your work. Winzip and Winace are great for compressing files be it for portability, back-up or just to save disk space.

What I have given is my personal opinion and it was not my intention to review the software in detail. The forum is now open to our readers to carry the discussion forward.
The Techno Page wishes to acknowledge the many appreciations and letters of encouragement from its readership. Your feedback is very much appreciated. This column has always been dedicated to its readers and any constructive criticisms or suggestions for improvement are always welcome.

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