Downloadable Winners

Preston Gralla over at PC World put together a great list of useful files to download here. I use several of the programs regularly, including IrfanView and CCleaner. If you want to run Launchy, note that the domain name has a typo: the name is really SourceForge.net.

Let me specify who should download these tools: network managers and administrators. I sometimes hesitate to recommend many of the file download lists because users can't always judge what's a safe site to download from, so they download from everywhere. Here's what I consider a safe site: name brand media spots like PCWorld, Download.com, and Tucows.com. I've never had a problem with files from those locations, because these sites protect their users. That's more than most users do for themselves.

One of the great advantages of setting up Linux PCs for users? They can't download all the garbage they find inside spam e-mails and banner ads. No screensavers, no animated cursors, no widgets get downloaded without your knowledge to a user's PC to then infect them and spread to other systems across your network. That one advantage alone may be worth testing some Linux PCs for certain users who can't help themselves from “improving” their computing experience.