Must have Windows Vista apps?

[Fallinangel]

I haven't used Windows at home for about 5 years now, so what are the must have, third-party applications (e.g. antivirus, burning/ripping, firewall, games, etc.)?

If anybody is wondering why I'm installing Vista now, it's because I finally switched from PPC to Intel and I want to play some Windows only games.

Thanks for your recommendations.

 

[Muncher]

I haven't used Windows at home for about 5 years now, so what are the must have, third-party applications (e.g. antivirus, burning/ripping, firewall, games, etc.)?

If anybody is wondering why I'm installing Vista now, it's because I finally switched from PPC to Intel and I want to play some Windows only games.

Thanks for your recommendations.

In order of importance :

Games: Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Crysis, too name a few
Firewall/Antivirus (I'm not sure which one AVG is): AVG Free
Browser: Firefox 3 (and IE7 for any non-compatible websites)

Pick up AVG first thing, mac users tend to forget just how good fresh windows installs are at picking up viruses.

 

[MacsRgr8]

so what are the must have, <snip>

Most important:
- Boot Camp control panel, to let you set your startup disk back to your Mac HD

Then:
- Latest Windows drivers, especially for your grfx card

And of course:
- Crysis

 

[pensfan]

Pick up AVG first thing, mac users tend to forget just how good fresh windows installs are at picking up viruses.

Not saying it's still not a decent idea, but that statement doesn't really apply to Vista.


Notepad++

 

[aki]

yes

bootcamp
avg free
firefox 3

this is my basic start in vista32

i dont upgrade video driver because im too stupid to do it but u can if u want

my personal best games to start......mass effect...bioshock

is assassins creed good??i saw a video review meh

 

[Fallinangel]

is assassins creed good??i saw a video review meh

I have the PS3 version and wasn't very impressed!
Sure, the graphics were impressive at that time and the historical cities and medieval peoples (crowd gameplay) are well done, but the gameplay is very repetitive and you never get used to some stuff.
Furthermore, I didn't like the story at all!
There simply isn't enough suspense and action in the game.

I give it a total score of 5/10!
I was very disappointed.
It didn't score many good reviews at IGN, or Ars Technica either!

Have you already tried Crysis?
It seems to be a great game, if you are into ego-shooters.
I think that you'd like it because of your favorites (Bioshock, Mass Effect) are similar in many ways!

 

[xpipe]

If you're looking for free stuff, I'd go with Zone Alarm or Comodo for the firewall (I switched to Comodo when I got 64 bit Vista, no 64 bit Zone Alarm).

For antivirus, I'm using Avast!. The new AVG 8.0 offended my sensibilities with this silly feature (though it can be disabled):http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/13/avg_scanner_skews_web_traffic_numbers/
So I switched.


Also, Spywareblaster or Spybot S&D.

CCleaner for general maintenance.

My burning/ripping needs have usually been met by Windows Media Player.

That's all I can think of offhand.