Download these now.

My neighbor Chad picked up a shiny new PC on Friday and asked me to hook him up with some good programs.

I sat down to make a list of my must-have PC software that some of you should check out. Not to mention they are all free! They will work with both Windows XP and Windows Vista, I have tested them all extensively on both operating systems. As to OS X, not to certain there. But if someone wants to send me a free Mac, I'll try them out!

• Mozilla Firefox. Because Internet Explorer was shit back in XP Service Pack 1 and I have been loyal ever since. Be sure to click the "Tools" menu and go to "Add-ons" to customize your browser as you see fit, this is what make Mozilla the better choice in my opinion. They have add-ons for everything! My personal favorites are; Adblock Plus like it says block ads, AnyColor lets you make your browser look exactly the way you want to, AVG Safe Search integrates with search engines to protect you from clicking evil links, and Ghostery tells you what websites are tracking your movements.


• AVG Anti-Virus Free. I relied on this software for years and it has always performed. I have it on 3 of my current PC's (My main use Dell, my media PC and the one I plan on modding) and my parents new laptop. You can set auto-updates and auto-scanning for no hassle virus protection.


• CCleaner. This tiny little program is one of my new favorites! It helps to clear out of all the shit and clutter in you PC. It removes old and unused files and clears away traces of your online history.


• iTunes. I used to be a big fan of Winamp, and gave B-Rad shit for using iTunes, but the program is so damn good. Plus if you have an iPod, you have to use it anyway. It makes burning CDs a snap, keeps my music organized and the streaming radio pumped through my media PC onto my home theater sounds amazing.


• VLC Media Player. This tiny little guy will play pretty much any audio or video file format known to man. If Microsoft did not make the Vista Media Player so much better, I would still be religiously using this. I do on occasion find a file that Media Player can't handle, so VLC is still on deck.

Now if you have a brand new PC out of the box, also be sure to get any trial or demo software or crap you plan on never using off there as soon as you can. It's just wasting your precious space.