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Skype
by ruthosborne1
I use skype nearly all day everyday not only to chat with freinds but also to work with as they do fantastic conferance video calling to clients and work colleagues.
Skype is an online free messnger where you can type to people, web cam one another and join conferances so group calls basically with up to 4 people in tow. It ... is free to use however if yu want to make phone calls from skype to a mobile or landline then you have to add credit, but syaing this the credit is incredibly cheap and skype to skype calls are free.
It is the cheapest way to contact people and therefore if people are skype to skype then you can have the cheapest lines of communication outside of bt and other main leading telephone companies.
There are skype handsets which can be bought, as a proper phone or simply as a head set, I prefer to theadsets when havgin conferances on skype as it allows you to have your hands free to continue to type when needed.
Regarding webcam I have not found a messenger which produces such as clear a picture as skype and the picture can be made full screen also which is always a bonus.
You can find people who are on skype by simply typing in their name, email address or skype name and then instantly add them as frends, when you see your freind list the ones who are online will show up with either a green lit status to say they are able to chat or a yellow one to state they are away.
It is a quirky and very clear way of communication on the web and certainly better than the majority of chat providers online as well as much cheaper overall.
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VLC Media Player
by scuzzle
If like me you are fed up with Windows Media Player playing up and either rejecting or not recognising codecs for video formats then VLC is exactly what you need.
This free softwate is easily found online, takes seconds to download and get up and running and will play just about everything you throw at it with minimum fuss. There ... is no pressure to upgrade to a fully functional paid version either, the free program does the lot.
There is a version for whatever operating platform or system you are using and I'm amazed how this tiny program manages to handle what it does without the need for constant downloads or updates, there will be occasions when you will need to update the software but these moments are few and far between and you are taken through the entire process swiftly and easily.
There is nothing much in the way of instructions but you don't really need them as everything is pretty easy to pick up and understand, a right click of the mouse or the top toolbar is used to access Media playback preferances like picture full screen toggle, aspect ratio, chapter navigation, audio channel selection, subtitles etc.
Everything you need is here and easy to pick up so the lack of operating instructions is no biggie and won't set you back any.
The real beauty of this application is it's ability to play all the popular audio and video formats and a few not so popular ones as well, it can even have a go at repairing corrupt media files to play them as best it can rather than just flat out rejecting them.
I would thoroughly recommend everyone has this installed on their PC as it really is much more hassle free than Windows Media Player and I'm crtain this will soon be your default program of choice for all your Media applications. If you download it and try it and if for some strange reason you don't like it you can uninstall it and it will disappear giving you no trouble as well.
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Advanced SystemCare
by MustangV10
Advanced System Care is a great utility by Iobit (free) that allows you to clean up your PC with ease, it doesn't require much effort and is very helpful to keep your computer clean and tidy, it also detects spyware or scans your PC's security. When you click the "Care!" button, it has 2 catagories to run through which are ... "Maintain Windows" and "Diagnose System". As well as cleaning and securing your PC better, it has other useful tools such as "Turbo Boost" which basically stops unnecessary services to save RAM, hensefourth making your PC faster. For just browsing the web, you don't really need to use it, it's best for use with Gaming as that uses a lot more power than just browsing the web. other utilites include Disk Cleaning, File Shredding, Internet Boosting, Defragmenting, Registry defragging, the list goes on. Under the utilites section there are 3 tabs, Tuneup, Security and Admin Tools, all very good.
Anyway, this software is free, however you can buy a professional edition which gives you more features, however for the average user, the free edition is good enough. The design is very nice, it's easy to use, attractive, and you don't look at it thinking "this will take me a while to learn", it's just something that anyone can instantly pickup.
Whilst I did mention it removes spyware and helps with security, I wouldn't by any means say "Don't use Anti Virus/Spyware software", as this software doesn't detect security threats as soon as they appear, unlike other software.
Overall, a great piece of easy-to-use, free software that I highly recommend.
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