Good useful software suggestions!!

ButternutSquash

I got this new Dell Laptop with windows7. I haven't decided what softwares to install… also I'm not uptodate with all the new trends... can you guys give me some suggestions... I mostly use it for browsing, social networking like facebook & twitter, I like photo editing, graphics & stuffs, music, watching HD movies etc.

Sakonosolo

Browser: Firefox
Photo editing: GIMP for raster, Inkscape for vector
Music: foobar2000
Video: VLC or Windows Media Player Classic

MagneticMonkey

Does someone use Opera? I've read that it's very fast. Maybe you can give it a try?

Darkstorm

I'd say the extensions still make firefox the browser of choice(at least for me).

VLC is good for playing bizarre & broken video files, but generally you'd want to use the CCCP codec pack(which will autoinstall media player classic home cinema, my video player of choice).

Chrissie

@MagneticMonkey:

Does someone use Opera? I've read that it's very fast. Maybe you can give it a try?

I use Opera and Mozilla (at the same time usually xD). Opera is great for fast browsing and Mozilla is great for its extensions.

Dryish

I am appalled that nobody has posted any anti-virus or anti-malware tips yet. Protecting one's computer is the first thing you should think of, after installing a browser of some sort. The Internet is dangerous, and surfing without proper protection is as dangerous as walking around in Mid-West while burning a US flag.

Malwarebytes' for finding and destroying malware and spyware. You do probably want to get a good anti-virus software too, so I would recommend using Avira. It's a little over-sensitive, but overall, it's the best anti-virus software I've ever had.

IrishLuigi

winRAR

Just in case.

And CCleaner

Darkstorm

7 zip over winrar.

Sakonosolo

^This.

As for antiviruses, it's not really one unless you pay for it, but you can use it to scan for free and it's really good. SuperAntiSpyware.

ButternutSquash

hey, thanks guys for wonderful suggestions!

Flux

My suggestions would be

Web Browsing : Google Chrome.
Photo editing: Photoshop.
Music: VLC.
Video: VLC.
Protection : Spyware Terminator.