It’s no secret and no surprise that computers are now central to the business world, central to health care, central to the finance world and central to everyday life. It’s staggering to think where we would be without computers and the programs that we use every single day. But what are the programs that we use most, and why?
Microsoft Windows
While not strictly a computer program (it’s what is known as an operating system), Windows is likely to be the face that greets you every day as you turn on your PC. Without it, many wouldn’t be able to access all of the programs that we need – so it is worthy of a place on our list.
Google Chrome
Chrome gained its reputation with its easy-to-use interface design, as well as by being promoted on the most-visited site on the Web, the google.com search engine.These features have helped Chrome to leave most of the competition behind, especially leading to the huge decline in use of Internet Explorer. It’s only been around for just over 8 years, but it has done well to have squared up to IE and Firefox and beaten them both in user numbers in the last few years.
Microsoft Office and Outlook
Word, Excel, PowerPoint and even Publisher; how would we get anything done without them? Add Outlook on top of that and you have the complete Microsoft Office Suite. While you may not produce many documents or spreadsheets at home, in education and especially in the workplace, these programs are essential.
Anti-Virus Software
To keep your computer safe from rogue viruses that abound on the internet, you need an antivirus on your PC. The one that we use on our own training room workstations is called ESET NOD32, which operates in the background – so you use it every day without even knowing it. Now, ESET does prove to be worth the cost of around €40 to us, as a training centre, but the regular home user may find it easier and cheaper to opt for a free anti-virus package, such as Avast or AVG, which both prove to be just as good as a paid anti-virus program to most regular home users.
Adobe PDF
The PDF is the one thing that can bring all of these programs together. Adobe’s PDF is viewable on all computers. PDFs are also easily distributed across the internet. Since 2007 it has been possible to create PDFs from Microsoft Office. The PDF remains the most popular way to distribute files via email and Adobe has recently announced two security updates which make PDFs the friend of the virus checker. It goes without saying that here at Mohill Computer Training we are great fans of many computer programs but that we especially love the PDF.