Software

Recommended Software

Your home computer should be protected with a good anti-virus software, spy-ware management software and a firewall that you can control.  You'll also need a good browser and may optionally want to install a local email software (downloads your email to your local computer, instead of or in addition to, using webmail).

Anti-virus:

• AVG AntiVirus - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition.  Provides protection for personal computers.
• Avast AntiVirus - Avast! Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users.
• Norton AntiVirus - Basic anti-virus, anti-spyware protection for a minimal cost.
• McAfee - you may need to turn the firewall off on occasion but this is also a reputable company for providing quality security products.

Firewall:

Software firewalls can be good a stopping attackers to your system, often though, they also stop you from accessing what you need to on the internet.  Our recommendation is to install a hardware firewall router, either wireless or hard-wired, like a LynkSys or D-Link router available at any computer store.

Spyware:

• Ad-Adware - Lavasoft's anti-spyware blocks ad's and other malware from attaching to your computer.  The free version allows you to manually scan whenever you want.  A nominal fee runs Ad-Aware in the background giving you 24/7 protection.
• Spybot Search & Destroy - Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware.
• Windows Defender - features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected and minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive.

Browsers:

• Internet Explorer 7.0 - Microsoft's newest browser fixes issues that IE 6.0 had with displaying web pages. It has it's own little quirks but for the most part, works great. 
• Firefox 3.0 - Free Internet browser download from Mozilla for PC or MAC

Email Software:

• Outlook - This email client comes with most versions of MS Office.  It is usually installed at the same time that MS Word, MS Excel and other MS Office software packages are installed.
• Outlook Express - This email client is a free download component of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Download IE 7.0 and it will automatically install Outlook Express.
• Thunderbird - Firefox's email client - also a free download.

Utilities:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader - Adobe Acrobat Reader is free software that will allow you to read and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
• Apple QuickTime - QuickTime player is a free media player to view video, audio, VR and graphics files.
• Windows Media Player - Windows Media Player has everything you need to experience music and movies.
• Fox-it – A free PDF viewer. 
• PrimoPDF – A free PDF creator that will convert almost any file you can print to PDF format. (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint...)

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Communication:

• MSN Messenger - A popular Microsoft product.  Through Messenger you can page a contact's mobile phone, view a typing indicator, file transfer, voice chat, and use graphic emoticons.  This is advertised to download in three minutes with a 56K modem connection.  If you already have a hotmail e-mail account then you should be able to follow a link from your inbox.
• Skype - you can chat away with free Skype-to-Skype calls and never worry about cost, time or distance.