For this article, I thought I’d go ahead and list ten programs that you should download right now. Everyone likes to download new software. It can be exciting to come across new and interesting programs. I have tried hundreds of different software programs. Some of them were amazing, some of them were horrible. However, over the years I have developed a list of some of my favorite shows and often recommend these shows to friends and family. However, I should point out that many article websites do not allow more than a couple of links in the main body of the article. Because of this, I am unable to include download links for each program. However, if you google them, you can find where to download them. Alternatively, you can visit my website where I uploaded this article and included links within the article to download each program. The web address appears in my author information.

Ok, now it’s time to list ten of these programs that I love so you can go ahead and try them yourself. As of this writing, they all have free versions and are in no particular order.

Agent Ransak
Agent Ransack is a great program. Agent Ransack basically allows you to search your computer for specific files. Some people may wonder why you should download Agent Ransack when you can use Windows file search. Well, Agent Ransack is much faster. I found that a quick file search with Agent Ransack can take only a few minutes. With Windows File Search, on the other hand, it took up to an hour. Just download Agent Ransack and you can easily find files on your computer.

AVG Antivirus
This is actually quite a popular piece of software, so you may already have it. AVG Anti-Virus is, you guessed it, an antivirus program. So why should you download AVG when you could go out and buy Norton or McAfee? Well, AVG Anti-Virus has a free version. That’s right, you don’t need to pay money to protect yourself from viruses! Just download the free version of AVG, update frequently and stop worrying about computer viruses.

manycam
Do you have a webcam? Do you like to video chat on MSN or Skype? Then you are going to love this program. ManyCam works with your webcam to create some really cool effects when you video chat with your friends. For example, you can choose between different hats and ManyCam will make the hat follow your head on the webcam. You can do various screen effects like warp, shrink, etc. You can even change the background and make it look like you’re talking from inside a fish tank. ManyCam is a great program and it is totally free.

MyHeritage Family Tree Generator
Genealogy is a very popular topic these days. With many ancestry websites and family tree programs, you can easily create your own family tree. Unfortunately, most family tree software will cost you money. Fortunately, MyFamilyTree has a free version. Even in the free version, MyFamilyTree has all the usual features that Family Tree Software programs have, and yes, you can import your GEDCom database. If you’ve wanted to build a family tree but cost was your excuse not to, now you have no excuse. Download Family Tree Builder and start creating that great family tree that you can later share with your family on Thanksgiving Day.

Open Office
Do you need a word processor? Do you need a spreadsheet program? Do you need a program to create presentations? If you answered yes to any of these questions but you don’t have the money to buy Microsoft Office (who does?), then you’ll love OpenOffice. OpenOffice is an open source office suite with all the usual office software. Write documents, create worksheets, draw sketches, design presentations, yes, it’s all here. Best of all, OpenOffice is absolutely free. Yes, you read that right. OpenOffice is free. What are you waiting for? Go see it.

real lives
Real Lives is a fun little game. Part geography, part Sims, Real Lives gives you the chance to live the life of someone in another country. You can’t see the character, but you can read how they progress from year to year and make the key decisions in their lives. Do you want to go to university? Do you want to work in the government? Do you want to ask for a raise? Do you want to get married? It’s all here. However, your life will vary depending on the country you choose to live in. Choosing political activism as one of your hobbies might sound good in a place like the United States, but it’s not fun when you read that your character was arrested and executed because he was protesting in a country like North Korea. 😉 Real Lives will really make you stop and think how different life can be from one country to another. If you have any interest in geography or the world in general, check out Real Lives.

seterra
If you have any interest in geography, you might want to download Seterra in addition to Real Lives. Seterra is an educational game full of geography tests. Do you think you know all the capitals of the countries in the world? And the state capitals? What about the various flags in the world? Now is your chance to prove it with the quizzes in Seterra. Also, there is a high score feature so you can compare your scores with your family and friends and finally decide who is really the king of geography.

spywareBlaster
It seems like spyware is everywhere these days. Even doing something as simple as visiting a website can infect your computer. So when people ask me how to avoid spyware, I answer with SpywareBlaster. SpywareBlaster basically has a long list of harmful ActiveX plugins that SpywareBlaster will block from installing on your system. You don’t even need to have SpywareBlaster running all the time. Just download SpywareBlaster, make sure it’s up to date, and click to enable protection. Thus, your computer is protected against thousands of different spyware programs. Very cool.

Trillian
So how many of you use MSN? What about Yahoo? How about A.I.M.? Well if you use any of these you will love Trillian. Trillian has the ability to connect to all the different IM networks. That means you can login to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, IRC, etc. and you only have to load a messenger! Seriously, do you realize how much memory it takes to keep multiple messengers running? Trillian requires less memory to run than a normal messenger uses. If you use multiple messengers, do your computer a favor and just download Trililan. It’s fast, simple, and of course there’s a free version.

world telescope
Finally, we come to the WorldWide Telescope. Worldwide Telescope has to be one of the best educational programs and it is created by Microsoft. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the WorldWide Telescope has not received as much attention as it deserves. Have you tried Google Earth before and looked at satellite images from around the world? WorldWide Telescope is like Google Earth, but for the night sky. With the Worldwide Telescope, you can see what the night sky looks like from your location and learn about all the different stars you normally see outside. Plus, you can zoom in on the sky and look closely at images of galaxies and other objects that were taken by the Hubble Telescope. If you have any interest in astronomy then you must try WorldWide Telescope.

Well, I hope you’ve found some shows you haven’t heard of before. Hopefully you are now in the process of downloading some of them. Trying out new software can be exciting, and all of the programs mentioned here are especially exciting. Have fun!