List of Useful Softwares

Here are some of the useful softwares for the common categories/usage of everyday human lives.



I hope these programs would help!





Business Software
1. Microsoft Visio
- To create data flow diagrams, flowcharts and a lot more mainly for presentations.


2. Microsoft Powerpoint
- To do a presentation using slideshow.


3. QuickBooks
- A POS software used mainly for accounting and tracking recorded data. Very good program.


4. Microsoft Dynamic NAV
- An enterprise resource planning program to assist with finance, manufacturing, supply chains, e-commerce, customer relationships and more. I saw this being used in IKEA.


5. Microsoft Excel
- Yup, you know it, used for accounting as well.


6. Microsoft Access
- Used as a database to store records. Microsoft Access can be worked with a Visual Basic, a programming language to develop a Database Management System (DBMS). Very good if you're working in the Business Computing field. VB is the easiest programming language, shouldn't be a problem.







Programming IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
1. PyScripter
- For Python programmers, and if you don't know Python, learn it, it's one of the best designed languages out there. Free, open-source.


2. NetBeans
- For Java programmers, but also supports Ruby. Free, open-source, very good IDE.


3. Microsoft Visual Studio
- IDE for Visual Basic, VB .NET, C++, C# and J# and is a very good tool. Work VB with this, it's all in GUI. Easiest language to learn of all due to GUI.


4. Eclipse
- Probably one of the best free IDEs out there that supports PHP, Perl, Java, C and even Python as well with the use of plugins.







Media Editing Softwares
1. Audacity
- Free and open source software to edit music or sound files. Can trim, cut, zoom, loop and do various things to alter waveforms, tempo, pitch, frequency, bitrate and so much more.


2. Fruity Loops
- It is capable of creating different sounds, drumbeats and so much more. It's a program that creates music in anyhow you like, with many kinds of instruments in it, even the electronic ones. Most Techno and Trance DJs use this to create their own music.


3. GuitarPro
- Is a software capable of converting MIDI files into actual guitar tablatures or even piano scores. Is also able to simulate music playing by inputting your own scores or tablatures. You can make compositions using this, and learn songs through this program if you download GP files from the net.


4. Windows Movie Maker
- One of the classic video editing programs and is still in good use. Can add various effects, wordings, credits, trimming of videos, transition effects and the audio contained in the video. Freely available in most Windows computers.


5. FreeStudio
- Is a good program that converts video and audio file formats into other video and audio file formats. Can convert youtube videos into a viewable format, as well as music. Free as well.







Game Engines
1. Unity
A very powerful game engine and currently using it. Is able to import various kinds of 3D Models from different modelling softwares like 3DS Max, Maya, Blender and so on. Very easy to use compared to other game engines, and has built in functions to add Terrain, build shapes, configure animations, etc. one of the best! Has a free Indy version.


2. Torque
A lot of people recommend this, and this is a game engine that's widely used as well. Have not tried this before, but is also good at creating various types of gameplay. To be on the safe side, get Unity because it supports plenty of assets. Free, open source.


3. Unreal
- I disliked this due to the complicated controls, however, is a very good game engine and is capable of producing astounding graphics. High capability of performing various kinds of actions. Not free...

Other game engines you probably don't wanna hear about it due to their price.







3D Modelling & Animation
1. Maya
- One of the best modelling programs for humanoids and character animations, has a lot of preset controls to create a good rigged model. Is the main program used in The One Academy to make their digital animations.


2. 3DS Max
- Same as Maya, but is more suited to business presentation and architecture. Can also animate and provide a clear presentation when you want to build a city, a house or basically anything. Can also do character animations, but Maya is more preferred.


3. Poser
- Is also another character developing program, main focus is on characters. Is very good and can be side to side when paired up with Maya.


4. QUIDAM
- Less popular program for the lazy and clueless people on how to make human characters. This basically makes all human characters for you, and you just have to change the hairstyles and clothing and create your own animations. Not recommended...







Multimedia 2D Animation & Texture Designs
1. Adobe Photoshop
- One of the more popular 2D image editing program. Is NOT a vector image program. Can be used to make various kinds of 2D effects, and is used widely in multimedia design, you can even see works from this program all over the place in all those TV advertisements, which are then animated with Flash.


2. Adobe Illustrator
- A vector image program. To put it in a way, vector is basically geometrical lines and shapes, where you can resize and change resolution without affecting the quality of the image. In bitmap, if you do so, you will see pixels, and quality will be downgraded. You will never see that in vector images.


3. Adobe Flash
- All of these are now under Adobe huh? Anyways, Flash is a 2D animation program to create interactive web design and everything else. Even YouTube players are developed with Flash. Now, Flash is commonly used with a programming language, ActionScript to program the animation instead.


4. FilterForge
- I didn't want to include this as it is a Photoshop plugin, but this is an amazing 2D Texture creator that creates various kinds of textures (mainly for games) such as bamboo, tiles, marble, stones, rocks, grass, soil, and anything you can think of. It also creates Bumpmaps to make 2D textures look 3D.


5. Adobe InDesign
- Main program used for Advertising Design in The One Academy. InDesign features more on magazine covers, leaflets and the sort.







Web Developing Applications
1. Adobe Dreamweaver
- I personally didn't like this, but is a good program that supports various web technologies and frameworks. Covers ActionScript, ASP, PHP, HTML, XML, XHTML, JavaScript, CSS, yeah and basically most of the languages for web applications.


2. Microsoft FrontPage or Publisher
- Classic! Not a very good web developing program but I used FrontPage since I was in Primary. Dreamweaver wasn't too famous yet. Enables you to write mostly HTML codes. Javascript, PHP and others has no syntax highlighting.


3. Notepad
- If you're just lazy to get these programs...you can always use this to write HTML, Javascript, PHP, CSS...and so on. Biggest classic.







Penetration Testing
1. BurpSuite
- One of the best programs to use to attack web applications. Capable of taking control of most web applications and even the server or system behind it. Has spiders, decoders, scanners, you name it. Requires Java.


2. Cain and Abel
- A big package of cracking tools, most popularly the brute force features. Highly recommended, has other packages for use such as for wardriving, password cracking as well.


3. Kismet
- Highly recommended wireless packet sniffer (802.11). Can detect packets transferred through wireless signals and can even decode it like that. As expected, this is probably the most common tool used for wardriving.


4. Nmap
- Nmap is a portscanner or portsweeper and can be used to attack over the net. If you notice, The Matrix and many other movies even Die Hard 4.0 had this program running while they're hacking into something. That's something true and can happen if a hacker is skilled, not some made-up movie jumbo shit.







Anti-virus & Firewall
1. Avast!
- Is one of the best and is quite useful. It can detect most viruses, even in your mail and the websites you are surfing to. Whenever you download a file, it is automatically scanned and whatever viruses found in it will prevent you from downloading the file. There is a free edition for this and is quite useful.


2. AVG
- AVG isn't that bad at all and is quite good in detecting viruses as well. However, it takes a longer time to scan, but hogs up less memory. AVG is a useful tool and is comparable to Avast. Available for free.


3. AntiVir
- A lot of people prefer this due to its high virus detection capabilities, fast scanning and overall ease of usage. You can take this as it is generally better than AVG and Avast. The frustrating thing about this program is that when it updates, its very slow. Available for free.


4. Kaspersky
- People claim that this is the best antivirus software. Not free. But its very good I guess. Is better in detecting viruses compared to McAfee, Norton and BitDefender and also hogs up less memory. Good deal, not free.






I know I did not include other useful programs such as Blender, Cheetah3D, Avira and so on but you can always introduce whatever program you deem useful and excellent at the chatbox. I just can't list everything here. Hope this post lets you know more about the softwares available for use to complete your tasks!




Love,
Nicholas.