What programs/applications to get on a new computer?

• Dec 20, 2018
• By George E. Rowe

What programs or applications will you install when you get a new PC? Windows users and Mac users will have different answers. If you get lost in finding the suitable software for your new computer, check out the list below to get some inspiration.

Software that are available on multiple platforms including Mac and Windows:

Category: network tools & utilities

Chrome or Firefox – if you are a windows user, the built-in Edge browser may not fit your daily browsing demands so you need an excellent, popular browser to customize the settings and enjoy rich features. If you are a Mac user, the built-in Safari browser is good, but you may still need an alternative browser for testing or comparation.

Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or iCloud – to transfer files between different devices wirelessly, you will need to use a file storage and synchronization service. The popular choices include the Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft’s OneDrive and Apple’s iCloud. Google Drive provides 5 GB of free storage, Dropbox offers 2 GB of free storage, OneDrive allows you to have 25 GB of free online storage, while iCloud users can get 5 GB of free storage. Larger storage plans are available to purchase.

Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader – it is essential to have a PDF viewer on anyone’s PC. Adobe Reader is the most widely used PDF reader that lets you print, comment and share documents easily. Foxit Reader is a small, fast, stable and functional alternative.

uTorrent, BitTorrent or Vuze – the former two are among the most popular free BitTorrent clients. All of them are free to use for downloading and sharing files.

WinZip – one of the most popular programs for compressing and decompressing files.

1Password – the popular password manager that encrypt and save your passwords.

Category: entertainment software

Spotify & Shazam – the foremer is to find, share and enjoy your favorite music online, and the later is to identify music, get song lyrics, and to discover the music.

VLC media player & Total Video Converter – for playing and converting videos.

Ummy Video Downloader – a YouTube downloader that allows you to save YouTube videos to your computer for offline access, feature with simplicity and ease of use.

Skype, WhatsApp, and Facebook’s Messenger – Skype is the most popular application on the market for making video calls, mobile calls, and sending instant messages and SMS. Besides, WhatsApp and Messenger are the popular instant messaging apps.

Steam – a platform for online games that lets you download the latest video games.

BlueStacks App Player or Nox APP Player – free tools to emulate Android system on your PC so that you can run your favorite Android apps on Windows/Mac computer.

Additionally, there are some popular desktop programs that are only available for Windows, like YTD Video Downloader, Instagram, and WinRAR (file compression program). Some of them have alternative apps on Mac but some are not.