NetWorx actually has more features than Bandwidth Monitor Pro, but most important to me is it’s simple and straightforward graph. I almost always keep this graph up because it helps me avoid getting frustrated over browsing and downloading slowdowns or videos buffering. This way, if I see no obvious drops in the visual graph of my connection, I get to more accurately place the blame on YouTube’s slow servers or slow torrent seeders.

Screenshots below of how I like my graph and of one of the settings tabs.

If you’ve ever stared at your browser for more than 10 seconds waiting for a PDF on the web to open, or wondering if your browser is crashing, then Foxit Reader is a must-have download. However, I still have Acrobat installed for the rare times when a PDF document might have heavy graphics or more advanced features that Foxit can’t handle.

A few other alternatives are, although Foxit Reader is the down right most popular:

• Cool PDF Reader
• PDF-XChange Viewer
• Sumatra PDF
• Perfect PDF Reader

I knew it had been available for quite a while, although not too heavily marketed by Microsoft, but this was the first time I would personally try it. And I’m going to stick with it for now. It integrates nicely and seamlessly into Windows 7 and since I would like to think of myself as pretty safe and vigilant against threats in the first place, I feel safe enough.

Microsoft Security Essentials has also become  my default choice of security software to install on my friends’ and families’ computers. Previously, I would have installed the free version of AVG (still highly recommended) and while some may argue it provides better security because of virus detection rates, I would rather have a computer illiterate person use a piece of Microsoft software that they’ll automatically feel comfortable with. I bet that some of my friends might not even recognize AVG a day after I install it and accidentally disable.

However, just before my recent switch to Microsoft Security Essentials, I had been using the free version of Avira AntiVir. I switched to it in late 2008 after AVG’s free version started getting a bit too bloated and resource intensive. AntiVir turned out to be better because of it’s tiny footprint and much better real-time virus detection (it was great at detecting potential threats from torrents, even if it meant a few false positives). There was an annoying daily pop-up advertising the premium version, but that could easily be disabled.

So in summary, my top 3 picks for free anti-virus software on the PC:

• Microsoft Security Essentials – Combines virus, spyware and malware protection. Seamless and foolproof integration and automation into Windows.
• AVG – Can’t really go wrong with this popular free choice. Virus detection might be better than Microsoft’s app, as long as the computer user lets it run it’s routine scans and updates.
• Avira AntiVir – Recommended if you have little memory because of its tiny resource footprint or for those doing a lot of file sharing and/or downloading lot of torrents, cracks, warez, etc.