You bought a new PC, connected up all the wires, switched it on, and now you're staring at the desktop, asking "Now what?"

I mean, a computer in itself is not worth much — you need to have programs installed to do the things you want to do. But unless you're willing to fork out thousands of rands, finding the right software can be quite a mission.

Fortunately, it's actually possible to fit out your entire computer with great software — without having to spend a cent.

Assuming you're running Windows, here are a few suggestions:

Internet browser: Firefox
Seeing as all these programs need to be downloaded from the internet, your first stop is an internet browser. Gone are the days when Internet Explorer was the obvious choice — Firefox 3 is every bit as good and the free plug-ins available for it makes it even better in a lot of ways.

Anti-virus: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
Seeing as you're going to spend so much time on the internet, it's vital to get virus protection. Although the purchased versions are arguably better, you can get quite decent protection from free versions, such as AVG.

Email: Thunderbird
Having an email client is almost compulsory. Thunderbird is the email version of Firefox and is definitely a good option.

Antispyware: Ad-Aware
You don't want companies spying on you, do you? This bad boy will protect you from all sorts of online mischief, such as fraud, identity theft, etc.

Office: OpenOffice.org
Once you've sorted out protection for yourself, it's time to get to work. To do so, you need a proper office package that includes a word processor, spreadsheet, and maybe presentation software. OpenOffice.org is the best open-source office package available at the moment — and it's totally free. You can also save your documents as Microsoft Office files, so you will be able to open your documents somewhere else, say at work, and vice versa.

Music player: MediaMonkey
While you work, you might want to listen to some music. MediaMonkey is my personal favourite music player because it's easy-to-use, yet extremely powerful - and it will sync with your iPod.

Video player: Windows Media Player
WMP is a good video player that supports most of the file formats. You can also listen music through it, but I find MediaMonkey better suited to that purpose. (When you visit the link above, just make sure you pick the right option for your version of Windows.)

» More suggested software on page 2

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