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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