If you are a regular viewer of GEEK! you’ll know that I often refer to a lot of websites. And even if you aren’t, you might find this page quite useful if you are interested with computer technology and other relevant topics.
Here I will post some of the best and most useful sites and programs on the internet. Some of them are from posts on the blog, and others are unmentioned sites I regularly use. Feel free to use any of the links and I’ll regularly update this page with new sites I find.
All links open in new windows/tabs.
If you’ve got a useful link you think would deserve to be added to the list, post a comment and I’ll add it if it’s appropriate.
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Web Browsers
- Internet Explorer 8 – Microsoft’s commonly used web browser included in Windows.
- Mozilla Firefox – Probably one of the most popular browsers around at the moment.
- Apple Safari – Now available for Windows and Mac. Was a great browser until Chrome came in.
- Google Chrome – A brand new excellent browser from Google which may lead to beat Firefox, but we’ll see.
- Opera – I’ve never used Opera in my life and don’t intend to
but have the link for resource purposes.
Home/Office Publishing Software
- Microsoft Office [Not free software, no download available on GEEK!] – The homepage to the one and only Microsoft Office. You can get a free trial there but you’ll end up buying it eventually. If you are a student, RM will provide major discount prices on Office 2007 if you go to their site.
- OpenOffice – Probably one of the best and most popular free office software packages ever. If you don’t want to pay for an office suite like Microsoft Office, this is your best option.
Operating Systems
- Microsoft Windows – Yes, how could I forget it? Bare in mind, if you are a student and you want to upgrade to vista, RM (Research Machines – many schools affliate with them) provide upgrade disks for massive discount prices. Head over to their site for more information and to buy.
- Ubuntu Linux – Of all the Linux’s around, this has to be my favourite along with Freespire (shown below). As with Freespire, it’s totally free to download and use and 8.10 is covered for years to come.
- KUbuntu – A variant of Ubuntu that’s supposed to me slightly more user friendly.
- Freespire Linux – Another of my favourites, very simular to Ubuntu.
- Red Hat Linux – Not free (beware) but a good Linux. I would recommend you use Ubuntu or Freespire though.
- SUSE – Another popular Linux which is not free.
- OpenSUSE – Another free linux that is relatively popular. Many people prefer this to Ubuntu.
- Fedora – A further free Linux.
- Debian – Yet another free linux.
Instant Messaging/Internet Calls
- Windows Live Messenger – Made by Microsoft, a very good IM software.
- Yahoo! Messenger -Yahoo!’s attempt at IM.
- AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) – Probably good if you use AOL but I don’t, and haven’t ever tested it.
- Skype – An excellent piece of software for making free computer to computer worldwide calls, and cheap landline and mobile calls accross the planet.
Online Television (Warning: Many, if not most of these, will only work in the UK)
- TVCatchup – The free, legal online service that allows you to watch most Freeview channels over the internet.
- BBC iPlayer – The BBC’s service for watching programmes up to 7 days after they are broadcast on TV.
- ITV Catch Up – ITV’s service for watching programmes up to 30 days after they are broadcast on TV.
- 4 Watch Online – Channel 4’s service for watching programmes up to 30 days after they are broadcast on TV.
- Demand Five – Five’s service for watching programmes for after they are broadcast online. Programmes are available for many months. Not all programmes are free.
- 4oD – Channel 4’s premium service for purchasing programmes (to rent or buy) and watch on your computer.
- Sky Anytime – If you have Sky or Sky+ this service is useful as you can watch many programmes broadcast on Sky, depending on what packages you are allowed to view on your TV.
- Joost – Recommended by viewers. Hosts good videos and a couple of TV shows. Doesn’t cost anything so worth a go.
Screen Capture
- Gamecam – Great for capturing videos of your favourite games.
- Window Clippings – Excellent screenshot software.
- Fraps – Another screenshot/video capture software, which is free to download and use, however there is a paid version that enables watermark-free screenshots and extra features.
Lyrics and Music
- LyricWiki – Handy wiki for song lyrics.
- Last.fm – A great site for any music lover which enables users to monitor what they listen to and get stats etc. More information here…
- Pandora – A service very similar to last.fm, but unfortunately it is not available in the UK at this time.
Customize Windows
- LogonStudio – An excellent free program for Windows XP and Vista, enabling users to edit the Logon screens.
System Maintenance
- CCleaner – I’ve used it for a long time. It’s a very good program that clears out all the unnecessary rubbish on your computer without affecting any important system files.
- Top100Files – A free application which helps you to determine the 100 biggest files on your hard drive. Really useful for freeing up wasted space on your hard drive.
Websites and Hosting Software
- Filezilla - A fantastic FTP solution for websites. Most hosting companies support FTP now, and Filezilla makes fantastic use of this. Ideal for file uploads and website housekeeping.
- FireFTP [Please download from Firefox plugin center to prevent confusion with other browsers] – A very useful plugin for Mozilla Firefox that enables FTP management from within the browser itself.
Blog Hosting Websites and Software
- Wordpress – An amazing solution to hosting blogs online. Either host your blog on a subdomain on wordpress.com or install the software on your own hosting.
- Blogger – Another blogging platform used by many. Either use a blogspot.com subdomain or use your own hosting.
- Alphainventions – One of the best blog traffic boosters around. Completely free to use and boosts your traffic hugely!
- Windows Live Writer – A great free piece of software that allows you to manage your blog and organize your posts with ease.
hello i mr brice i write comment he is below
i was using you’re list of web-sites, and i want lyrics, so i go to labsae and what?? he not load any? so i have rercommendation
please remove bad website from list and replace with site lyrikwiki what has proper lyrics
i thank you for you’re time, and apology for bad english
Sorry about that. Yes, it looks like Alan Edwardes has removed that system. I’ll replace it with Lyricwiki now.
Thanks for letting me know.
Yeah good idea. I’ll add it, but as far as I know I think it USA only. Sadly they don’t run it in the UK at the moment.
Thanks for the recommendation anyway, it will be added to the list.
Great list! You need to add Pandora (www.pandora.com) to the list. I’ve heard that it does the same as Last.fm, but I have never used Last.fm since Pandora does a pretty good job finding out what kind of music I like based on my preferences.