There are three pieces of software that you’ll find on many Windows PCs.  They are AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), QuickTime and RealPlayer . 

AIM is an ad-supported software client that’s been around for over 10 years and is by far the most popular program and protocol for instant messaging.

QuickTime is video playback software from Apple that plays many popular formats including the proprietary QuickTime Movie (.mov) format.  If you have an Apple iPod and use iTunes, you had no choice but to also install QuickTime.

RealPlayer is far less popular than AIM and QuickTime but is on many PCs nevertheless.  RealPlayer is also used for playback of many popular video formats and proprietary RealVideo and RealAudio with and without DRM.

I don’t like AIM because it pops ads on the screen and I don’t like QuickTime and RealPlayer because they run background processes on PC startup.

Recently I’ve come across three less known alternatives to abovementioned trio.  They eliminate some annoyances associated with using the originals.  They are:

1. AIM Ad Hack software is a hack of the official AIM client that removes advertising from it.  If you need to use the AOL Instant Messaging network, there are many 3rd party alternative clients you can use.  If, for whatever reason, you want to use AIM, this version at least removes the ads.

2. QuickTime Alternative, recently renamed QT-Lite but apparently still in existence with its original name gets its codecs from Apple’s QuickTime and is a workable substitute for it.

3. Real Alternative as the name implies replaces RealPlayer.  You no longer need to fill-out and send forms and like QuickTime Alternative, no background processes.

Editor’s Note: I am not clear on the legality of these three alternatives since they use parts of or based on hacks of the originals.

Having an up-to-date Anti-virus, Anti-spyware and Firewall software installed and properly configured on a Windows PC is a basic security necessity. I won’t recommend connecting your Windows PC to a local network or the Internet without at least a Firewall and an active Anti-virus scanner.

Even with all this security software installed, you’ll notice that your PC is slowing down over time. Does this mean your security software is leaking?

One of the most common causes of PC slowdowns is the number of drivers, Windows services, Explorer and Internet Explorer Add-ons, and especially applications. Many software applications and utilities when installed, register themselves to automatically run when your PC starts up. While this is a necessity for some software like Anti-virus and Firewall, it is not the case for other software.

Your security software protects your PC from viruses and malware, but it does not warn you about these programs. Some current firewalls now alert you when a program is trying to register itself to run at startup and give you the option to deny it but if you don’t have this functionality, you can get it with StartupMonitor.

Like a Firewall, StartupMonitor runs silently in the background and pops up a warning when a program tries to register itself to load at startup giving you the option to allow or deny it. Along with your other security software, StartupMonitor should be one of the first programs loaded on your new PC.

The developer of StartupMonitor, Mike Lin, offers it for free and also offers a complimentary utility named Startup Control Panel that later gives you control over items that startup with Windows.

Startup Control Panel is a Portable Software. It consists of a single executable that does not require installation.

For a more comprehensive utility that lists everything that is starting automatically on your PC, get Sysinternal’s AutoRuns. This too is a Portable Software utility that only requires unzipping to run.

Remember how easy it was to manage applications in DOS?  Every software application was located in its own directory (folder).  Want to move an app to another folder or a drive?  No problem, just do it.  The only additional thing you had to do is update the batch file that called it or your DOS menu program. You could even put your favorite apps on a floppy for portability and use them on any PC.

With the introduction of Microsoft Windows in the fall of 1985, all that changed.  For software applications there was now Windows and System directories, DLL Hell, and later the Windows Registry.  “Progress” did not stop there.  There are now more software components and stacks like JVM and the .NET Framework installed on your Windows PC that are relied upon when running software applications. It’s even more complicated because there are multiple versions of these stacks that need to exist on the PC to support the various software applications.

This makes managing software application a much tougher task.  Moving applications to another folder or drive now requires uninstall followed by reinstall followed by cross your fingers and hope it works.   If you’re lucky enough and the software still works, chances are your settings are gone.

Setting up a new PC requires, once again, installation and configuration of your favorite software.  And forgetting about licensing issues for a moment, if you use multiple PCs you need to install and configure your favorite software on each of them.

Well, there is a better way.

By now most people are familiar with the term Portable Applications.  Portable applications and especially GPL and freeware ones bring back the ease of managing applications.  Once again you can put your favorite software on a floppy or a new range of portable devices to use in any PC.

Whenever possible, I try to use freeware portable applications over non-portable and commercial ones.  Even if I lose some functionality by going with a freeware portable app, it is still a huge productivity boost for me since I don’t have to maintain apps and their configurations on multiple machines.

Commercial software applications don’t want to be portable mainly because the vendors want a license for every installation.  I’m not arguing this basic need and I think it is totally reasonable and fair.  But guess what, this limits the usefulness of the software. 

Some will argue that if portable apps are more useful than non-portable ones then Web-based applications are even more useful than portable applications.  To an extent, I do agree. For example, Eudora and Thunderbird are fantastic freeware pop3 mail clients.  At some point in the past I used them for my personal email. I even used a portable version of Thunderbird.  But before long I realized that webmail is even more convenient. It’s always the same from any PC and requires no installation, local storage or file maintenance.  These reasons are enough for me to overlook webmail feature limitations and security risks.  Of course you can have the best of both worlds and use a pop3 client and webmail at the same time.

Bottom line is that for each application, I have to take into account features I need, security, usability and convenience. This determines whether the chosen app is web-based, portable or standard.  For me, most apps fall into the portable freeware ones.

For dual screens, you’ll need two video cards in your PC or a video card with dual output support. Dual-head video cards from Matrox are what I’ve been using for years but other graphics cards vendors have them too.

You can have more than two monitors attached to your desktop. I read that Bill Gates has three screens attached to his desktop. Also checkout the picture of Al Gore’s 3 monitors on lifehacker.com.

Multiple monitors are not a unique feature of Windows OS. Mac and Linux distros support multiple monitors too. You can even run dual screen on many laptops. If your laptop does not support dual monitors, look for solutions from companies like Matrox.

To make your multi-monitor desktop even more useful, download and install Oscar’s Multi-monitor Taskbar. This is a great Freeware desktop enhancer that supports 2-3 monitors and adds functionality for manipulating open windows, adding taskbars to the additional monitors and even throws in a handy Windows Clipboard history manager.

Who can benefit from 2 or more monitors?

• Developers: They are the top candidates for using a dual screen setup on a PC or Mac. When you’re running time consuming tasks like compiling and building software, FTP-ing and downloading files, you can monitor the progress on one screen while being productive doing something else on the other screen. When you’re using your favorite text editor or IDE, you can have your email client or your document editor, a help file. PDF document or a web browser in the other screen.
• Administrators: How often do you run time consuming scripts for files or users maintenance? You can monitor the script on one screen while doing something else on the other. Of course you can let the script run in the background but having it visible on a second screen is far more useful and efficient. When you don’t have multiple PCs, a dual screen setup can be productivity booster. Use the dual screen to have more desktop space for displaying monitoring software screens.
• Helpdesk and Support Personnel: Have your ticketing system open on one screen and use the other screen for researching using knowledge bases or a web browser.
• Directors and Managers: One screen should always be dedicated to your email client. Use the other for everything else.
• Everyone else: I think you can see the benefits and get the point.

Read More:

• For Windows XP users, read Microsoft’s Expand your workspace with multiple monitors