The Clean PC Installation 2010: Top Free Programs You Can’t Live Without – Part II

See Part Ifor programs 1-5.

6. Email – Thunderbird.  But only Thunderbird 2.  Not Thunderbird 3. I’ve used Thunderbird for a long time, but on a recent install of Thunderbird 3, I found the interface for setting up accounts very annoying.  While this isn’t a full blown review of Thunderbird 3, I immediately had difficulty configuring an IMAP account.  Because it takes all of 30 seconds to configure an IMAP account in Thunderbird 2, I went back to Thunderbird 2. I figure that if I can’t figure it out in 30 seconds, then I don’t want to see what else is going to be difficult to configure in the program.

7. Image Management - Picasa 3.  Hands down.  I’ve used quite  a few image organizers, and Picasa keeps getting better and better.  Version 3 lets you easily tag people by face; it has facial recognition built-in, so that after teaching the program a bit about who the faces are, you can easily and quickly tag your photos (see my computer New Year’s resolution #1)

8.   Backup and Synchronization:  Syncback is a fantastic program for keeping all of your files consistent. You can choose to backup, synchronize, or a combination of the two.  The program allows multiple profiles for different backup or sync operations, and allows you to easily review any file changes before they become permanent. There is a freeware version, as well as a paid version that has more features such as real-time updating.

So that’s my list.  I’d be interested to see if you have any additions (or subtractions).