Line of Two Hundred

Here’s a quick-pick of some of my favourite bits and pieces for Windows 7. They are all (in my opinion) useful, trustworthy, elegant and functional.

DoPDF. Lightweight free PDF creation. DoPDF is free, simple and effective. It lets you create PDF documents as easily as printing. Unlike some other free-PDF creation software, it does not require you to install GhostScript. Best of all it’s available in both 32- and 64-bit versions. Freeware, lightweight, no nagware. Highly recommended.  www.dopdf.com.

Allway Sync. Free file synchronisation, backup and data replication. Free for moderate personal use. This is ideal software to backup your important files easily to either a USB key or to an another hard drive. Highly recommended and works like a charm. allwaysync.com .

Any software from Mike Lin. Useful utilities that work. These include Startup Control Panel (often a godsend), Crosshair (great for large displays), and Startup Monitor. Highly recommended and trustworthy. www.mlin.net

Norton Antivirus 2011. Slim, fast efficient antivirus and realtime malware/threat protection. Well worth the annual fee. Very simple to use, and fast — both fast to install and fast to update. My personal opinion is that this software is all many people will need. Meets my exacting technical and fucntional requirements perfectly. Either go to www.symantec.com, or download a free 90-day version from the Norton website here.

The Verdict: Brilliant. A vast improvement over Windows XP and Vista. Then again, Microsoft had to succeed with this edition of Windows, after the horror that was Vista.

Basically: any system currently running Vista can run Windows 7, and many systems running XP can as well. I’d recommend (in general) the 64-bit editions of Windows 7 to take advantage of more memory (RAM) and the upcoming release of Office 2010.

See Software to use with Windows 7 for more information on some great tips and utilities.

Line of Two Hundred is a small consultancy and commentary in Sydney, Australia. Established more than ten years, the focus is on clear thinking and straightforward solutions for small to medium business.