Included Programs
Programs Included With a New Computer
Are they good enough to stand on their own?
The Windows operating systems already comes with a useful collection of pre-installed programs and even some games .
But one of the first things that people do is download a butt-load of new programs as soon as a brand new system is plugged in the wall and connected to the Internet .
This article looks at some of the programs that are included with most new systems and then asks the reader to consider if they're sufficient.
NotePad and WordPad .
All Windows systems include the two text editors, NotePad, and WordPad .
Notepad is a plain text editor while WordPad is a rich text editor .
Both files are capable of opening plain text, however WordPad can open Windows Write files (an earlier version of WordPad) as well as rich text files .
WordPad can also save documents as plain text, rich text, and MS Word documents .
So with WordPad having the ability to read and create rich text; embed objects (sound, pictures, and video); and manipulate fonts, we have to wonder if other word processors, which do the same thing, are really necessary .
Although WordPad is certainly no match for Microsoft Word's internal spell and grammar checker or Word's Internet linking capabilities, we believe it's a great introduction to word processing in general for computer novices.
Address Book .
There are hoards of advanced contact database programs floating around the Internet and on store shelves, but Windows provides a completely competent contact database of its own simply known as Address Book .
This small compact utility allows users to organize contacts by name, location, group, or number and it give users ample space to fully describe each .
Compared to Microsoft's Access database program, its user-friendly Address Book is a Godsend to new computer users.
Calculator .
Calculator has been a Windows accessory even from its first debut in Windows 1.0 .
For the life of us, we can't figure out why anyone other than a rocket scientist would want to install a different version than this free one that comes pre-installed .
Windows calculator has two interfaces: an easy one, and a scientific one .
So perhaps a rocket scientist could fare well with Windows Calculator after all!
Paint .
Windows' Paint program allows users to make changes to existing graphics, or create brand new ones at no additional cost .
Interestingly, we can count at least ten different graphics packages that are more popular and widely used than this free one .
While it doesn't offer as many editing tools, it does provide the essentials and it can open/save graphics in .bmp, .gif, and.jpg format (the latter two being the most commonly format used for Internet eye candy).
Media Player .
Real Player and QuickTime are the first programs we think of when we think about multimedia .
But Windows Media Player, also free and pre-installed, does a fine job at transmitting Internet-bound sound and video .
With this application, you can easily listen to .wav files, .midi files, and even tune into a little Internet radio if you like .
System Tools .
Although there are too many to list here, Windows provides more than a handful of useful utilities that will monitor system resources, organize files, repair damaged disks, and more .
Yet and still, you can easily find similar tools for sale at computer outlets and download libraries .
What's going on here?
The truth of the matter is that the programs pre-installed are great tools for the beginning computer user .
At some point down the road, usage will dictate a need for more powerful applications .
We may need a word processor that can convert a document into an HTML page or PDF document .
We may need a calculator that solves geometric problems .
Or we may need a multimedia tool that lets us create our own videos as well as watch them .
These capabilities aren't included with new systems, but there's no reason why we can't exploit the tools that we're given to their fullest.
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