howto: make your fresh Windows XP install usable
my roommate just got a new laptop for his trip to Cambodia, and we were talking about what he needed to do to make windows xp usable. a few quick downloads and he's well on his way.
most of these things apply to vista as well. some of 'em even have mac and linux versions....
uninstall all of the packaged software.
you don't need it, honest.
get firefox. internet explorer is a terrible browser.
remove the internet explorer icon from the desktop and the start menu. you can do this from the "add/remove programs" section of the control panel, but windows won't let you remove i.e. completely. make firefox the default web browser.
customize firefox.
get some plugins (check out a few of my favorite firefox plugins), customize the look of firefox. make it your own.
install some security software.
windows isn't secure. add a couple of third party apps to give it a hand. get Spybot: Search and Destroy, AdAware, and AVG Anti-Virus.
get a few essential [free] apps.
word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, etc: don't send any more money microsoft's way. there's an open source office suite called OpenOffice.org which will do anything office 2007 will, but it's free-ninety-nine.
instant messaging: whether you use AIM, Y!, MSN Messenger, GTalk, Bonjour, ICQ, IRC or Jabber, there's a couple of free multi-protocol instant messaging clients that'll do the job for you. i recommend Pidgin, which will work with more instant messaging protocols than i even knew existed. another great product is called Trillian. while it's not free-as-in-freedom, it has a great free-as-in-beer version.
widgets, gadgets, etc: i can't live without Launchy, the keyboard shortcut launcher. between launchy and RocketDock, i never even use the start menu anymore...
watchmycell: LifeHacker posted a freeware system tray app called WatchMyCell back in february, and i've been using it ever since. download it and set it up with your account info and it will keep tabs on the number of minutes you have left, and even send you a text message to let you know when you're almost out. unfortunately it won't let you know if you're out of text messages. you'll have to take care of that one yourself...
ditch luna (the default windows xp visual style).
face it, windows xp is not attractive. there are a ton of third party themes and utilities available to help you make it look like a mac, or like the interface on the starship enterprise, but my two favorite visual styles come directly from microsoft. Royale and its darker incarnation the Zune theme both do a great job of updating the look and feel of xp to something you can actually stand.
some assorted and sundry multimedia apps.
VLC for videos, WinAmp for music (and mp3 players), CD Art Display because it's hot, CDBurnerXP Pro for DVD/CD burning, and Joost for internet TV.
Comments
Ahhh ... I remember the days of windows. Do a fresh install and the first 30 programs I installed were all security or stuff to get windows to work the way I wanted. I used to have a CD I'd keep with my Windows CD full of all that stuff - and that was before I even got to applications. Good list though - I dig.
My car was keeping track of my spending habits, and all of the controls periodically froze up, so I just did a clean reinstall of the engine and it's all good again.
That seems to be the trick with car trouble, just remove the engine and put in a fresh one.
Good times.
Also, it helps to clean the porn out of the trunk once in a while
you should look into upgrading your car. you know, the newer, higher capacity cars can take almost twice the abuse before they lock up.
of course, due to the limitations you mentioned, they cost twice as much and can't do much more. but they don't need to have their engine reinstalled quite as often.
i LOVE launchy. that's all. oh! and i may have to del.icio.us this 'cause i <3 your software recommendations.
fyi: the link to the zune theme isn't working. :(
all better now :)
sweet. thanks.
AppSnap helps to quickly install many of the above mentioned apps and worth checking out.