WSU Trumpet

When you first install Windows, what do you get? Admittedly, it's a pretty naked system. There's not much in the way of usable applications on a new Windows installation. Sure, we have Notepad as a text editor, Word Pad as a word processor (pu-leez) and we have a calculator. There are a couple of other applications, but the bulk of any work to be done is going to have to be done with what's there. Oh, we can't forget Internet Explorer. Now, that's not a web browser; it's just a portal to download Windows updates. That's it. Period.

So, what good is a new Windows installation? I guess it's a pretty cool place to install other software, such as Microsoft Word (a real word processor to replace Word Pad) and Firefox (a real web browser.) Of course, many people install a variety of specialized software for certain applications they use the computer for. For those folks, a new Windows installation is often a clean slate on which to draw. However, on the surface, Windows in and of itself just isn't that useful.

I noticed this gleaming deficiency in Windows over the last few years and decided to do something about it. I set up a website where users can go and download useful Windows applications to approximate the functionality of, say, a Linux system.

To answer this problem, I have created a website containing links to download very useful utilites. These utilities include WinVI, TightVNC, the DivX and XviD codecs, among many others. To visit this site, click here. Hopefully, this will help Windows users get some usefulness out of their systems. I know it certainly has helped me.

Enjoy!