Ninite bundles the best free and open source programs for you, and lets you install them all at once.  The only work you need to do is to select the software you want to install, then download the package.  There is no extra bundled in deals, no crapware to uninstall and no mess.  Some of the programs included are:

• FileZilla
• 7-Zip
• Launchy
• CCleaner
• Steam
• Dropbox
• Firefox
• Open Office
• Paint.net

and the list goes on and on.  All the programs on the page are categorized by type too, so you have all your web browsers, your messaging clients, your media players and more. 

Want to give it a shot? Head over to Ninite.com and create your own software bundle today.

Shadow Explorer

This program makes it a quick and easy job to browse through the shadow copies of your files created by the Windows Vista volume shadow copy service.  Without, it is kind of hard to hunt down an exact file backup, but with it – it gives you a familiar interface to find all your backed up files.  I would still recommend backing up using other means, but this is just one more nice Vista addition to have handy.

Logon Studio Vista

Tired of how your default Windows Vista logon screen looks?  This free download will allow you to change that background picture you see on the logon screen to whatever you desire.  They also have several you can download and use too.  Sure, this is just an eye candy improvement, but we all like for things to look nice, right?

Lifextender

This tool, used with Vista Media Center, is an application designed to remove any and all commercials from the video that you record.  I have used it a number of times for the various cable shows I watch and it has yet to let me down.  Might just set it up to work overnight, so it doesn’t get in the way of your day to day work.

For some more applications to make the Vista experience better, check out Ave’s Vista Stuff.  There are a handful of neat little application there that will add a few more perks to your shinny new OS.

You can also pick an icon to represent the web site or Prism application you are setting it up as.  By default it searches for the favicon, but you can edit it to go to any image.  That image will become the desktop icon for it.  The Fluid Flickr group had a lot of nice icon examples you could use too. (thanks to TwisterMc for that jewel)

To help with performance, each Prism app also runs in it’s own profile:

Prism now places each web app into its own process/profile so they don’t interfere with each other, which also makes it possible to install a web app twice and use it simultaneously with two different user accounts.

Personally Prism really excites me a lot and if this is still the beta form of the project, I can’t imagine the goodies waiting for me in the final release.

But thanks to some clever people over at the Wine project, that is soon to be a thing of the past.

Applications Galore! OK, let’s see what we have here:

Word Processing

• Windows: Word
• Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s Writer

Spreadsheet

• Windows: Excel
• Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s CalcPresentation

Presentations

• Windows: Powerpoint
• Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s Impress

Database

• Windows: Access
• Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s Base

Web Browser

• Windows: Internet Explorer or Firefox
• Ubuntu: Firefox

Email

• Windows: Outlook Express, Outlook or Thunderbird
• Ubuntu: Evolution or Thunderbird (Evolution is similar to Outlook)

Media Players

• Windows: Windows Media Player, iTunes, Winamp
• Ubuntu: Rhythmbox, Totem Movie Player, Banshee

Photo Editor

• Windows: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Fireworks
• Ubuntu: The GIMP

Instant Messaging

• Windows: AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, Gaim
• Ubuntu: Gaim (Gaim handles most all IM protocals all in one app)

Voice over IP

• Windows: Skype
• Ubuntu: Ekiga Softphone or Skype

There are many, many more apps that Ubuntu offers or is available for download that I didn’t cover here but I think you get the point. Also, there are many more apps out there that are available on Windows as well but here again, I wanted to cover some of the more popular ones.

My Take on Things

I’ve used The GIMP for some image editing and it’s similar to Photoshop albeit, you’ll have a bit of a learning curve to get used to some of the options especially if you’re used to Photoshop.

NVU is an excellant WYSIWYG web authoring app that is also similar to Dreamweaver. I’ve used both extensively and have had no issues whatsoever.

GAIM just rocks because you can run it in place of most all of the popular IM’ing clients out there today. Just add the client (such as AOL or ICQ), set it to auto logon and you’re set.

Email is also easy. Personally, I use both Gmail and Yahoo for personal and business emails but have used Thunderbird in place of Outlook Express. Thunderbird is a head on winner in my book. Evolution is Ubuntu’s version to replace Outlook and it does an admirable job.

Firefox has been my primary browser of choice ever since it’s inception so I wouldn’t have enough space here to go on about it.

For word processing duties, I use OpenOffice hands down. A document can be saved in the popular .doc format if need be for those that need to access it via M/S Word.

For entertainment purposes, I’m giving Banshee and Totem Movie Player a go. So far, I’m impressed.

To Sum It All Up

See, my point is this with all the coverage of Ubuntu here: You get a full-featured, fast and capable operating system for the cost of a little time invested. Not a bloated system that costs more than it’s worth! Many would argue with me but the sweet part of all of this is that it’s a personal choice. If you want to go through the hassles of upgrading your hardware (especially if you have an older system) and then pay several hundred dollars just for the system itself, then by all means…go ahead. It’s your money.

However, with Ubuntu you don’t have to pay an expensive price for a capable operating system. It’s absolutely free. Just some time invested to download it, burn the ISO to CD and then install and configure (set up your desktop). That’s it. Many of the apps I mentioned above are already installed or free to download either through the Package Manager or via Synaptic. What more could you ask for?

Now I’ve generalized a lot of information here for the sake of space but if I’ve worked up your interest enough, go ahead and check out Ubuntu Linux for yourself. I think you’ll be impressed!

Article by Scott Wilson – Scott has been involved with PC’s, operating systems and web development for around 6 years. Once he figured out how to turn a computer on he’s never been quite able to turn it back off again. He’s been continually adding to a weblog to help pass on information relating to the world wide web. You can find out more about Scott and his work at MerlinsMinute.com.

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Firefox covers my Web browsing and feed reading. NoteTab Pro covers all of my writing. The truth is, no matter how much I really don’t like all the Web 2.0 hype, I am doing a lot more things Online.