The BEST (Recommended) Programs

Over the years, Logan has found and uses several programs that he recommends to people again and again. This is free, independent advice that he provides for all his clients. Some of the programs are free and open source, which means the software coding is available online – and programmers worldwide improve on it every day. Some programs do cost money, but knowing which program to buy can save you hundreds of dollars that you would spend on trial and error.

Best Web Browser - Firefox

This should be an easy decision. While Internet Explorer comes free with Windows and is still the dominant web browser, it is also known to be very insecure. Microsoft has solved a number of the problems with Internet Explorer 6 with the new version, Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). However, IE7 has also brought with it a number of new problems and issues as well. A number of vendors, including Intuit, makers of the common small business accounting package, Quickbooks, advised everyone running Quickbooks 2006 or older (January 2007) NOT to upgrade to IE7 until they had released some patches.

Suddenly, it’s not always a good thing to integrate everything so tightly that when one thing fails, it cascades to affect others. Recommendation: Use Firefox! It’s free, fast, open source, and pretty tight on security. You can download Firefox at www.firefox.com or www.mozilla.com.

 

Best Web Browser Add-On / Time Saver - Roboform

Logan’s #1 time saver is Roboform. Roboform is a little program on your computer that fills in forms for you quickly AND saves all your passwords securely. This is much better and more safe than letting your browser store this information. Think of all your passwords – banks, credit cards, online stores, rewards programs, surveys, web-based e-mail programs… and Roboform saves so much time keeping it all for you.

Best Anti-Virus Program - AVG

Symantec’s Norton Anti-Virus is pretty much useless. In the past year, Logan has repaired dozens of systems clearly infected with viruses, scumware and spyware, and Norton is up-to-date and humming along proclaiming the system to be safe. After installing AVG, he typically finds ten or more viruses invisible to Norton. Again, like the browser, hackers target Norton because it is the most commonly used program. Why not use something better that is updated to catch more viruses? AVG is also cheaper at $38 for two years, while Norton costs that much for one year and isn’t catching everything. AVG is clearly the right software to use. www.grisoft.com

Office Outlook Sharing - WorkGroupShare

IntenseTech focuses on small businesses. They don’t want to spend thousands of dollars for an exchange server when all they want to do is share their calendars or contacts. WorkGroupShare is a great program that solves this problem. We have installed it at many small businesses and it works beautifully without the hassle and cost of extra servers. If you choose to purchase this product, we can install and configure it for you.

Remote Access – WinConnect Server XP

We used to recommend PC Anywhere to most of my clients, (and still do if they need integrated file sending and receiving), but Logan is very impressed with WinConnect Server XP from ThinSoft Inc. You can create up to 21 remote terminal server connections to one XP Pro box. It’s like turning your little XP Pro system into a multi terminal server - which previously you could only do if you paid a bunch of money for Win 2003 server. Printer sharing is integrated as well. Highly recommended.

Instant Messaging - Trillian

Forget Instant Messaging with AOL, Microsoft MSN, or even Yahoo. Create your accounts with any of them, and USE THEM ALL with Trillian. This is a free download, and the service allows you to talk with anyone on one of the four major IM providers.

Group Collaboration - Basecamp

Basecamp has definitely changed and organized Logan’s way of doing business. Chances are that if you are a client, you are using Basecamp with IntenseTech. You can follow projects, assign tasks, create to-do lists, and track hours. It is a great way to keep in touch with remote clients and employees as well as keep projects on time.

Synchronization / Remote Backup – Syncback SE

SYNCBACK SE is a very cool utility we often use to backup client server files remotely to their home systems. It works wonderfully and fit a need we had been looking for. The interface is nice and easy to use as well.
Click the link below to buy it, or if you just want more info click here: SyncBack Info