Chaim and Aidan showed you their favorite picks for Mac, but lets not let the popular Windows be neglected, so here are some of my favorite programs for Windows.

1. Firefox 3.

Aidan wrote about this in his post, and mentioned that it goes over to Windows as well. I have been using both versions 2 and 3 on my Vista computer, and love it. Far better than Internet Explorer (at least IE7 anyway), as well as Safari– albeit to a lesser extent– Firefox, in addition to its simplicity, speed, and low crashing rate, boasts an unbeatable feature: add-ons. Some change the browser’s skin (IE and Safari and fun choices) and others add features which enhance the standard Firefox, including my personal favorite, FoxyTunes. FoxyTunes lets you control your iTunes, Windows Media player, Real Player and other music players on your computer straight from Firefox.

You can get FoxyTunes here, and Firefox 3 here.

2. iTunes.

Yes I know it is an Apple program, but as Chaim put it, it is the easiest way for me to manage my iPod. It happens to also be a great music player and its iTunes Music Store is second to none for downloading music and videos. For those of you without iTunes, you can get it here.

3. Microsoft Office with OneNote

I shalt not dwell on the obvious benefits of Outlook and Word, the most popular products in their field. But since I take my laptop to school, the OneNote program is invaluable. Often an overlooked application, OneNote allows me to create virtual “notebooks” for all my subjects, and tabs on the side for each “page” of notes. When I need to look something up, I use the included search to search through all of my notes; no more searching through pages trying to find one small thing for a test, this is done quick and simple and works gr8

Just a note- in order to get Outlook, Word and OneNote together, you may need to buy the Ultimate package, the most costly version, but its the only one with both OneNote and Outlook.

Office is available at many retail–Bestbuy, Circuit City, Staples– or online–Amazon and Microsoft itself–store.

4. AIM

Everyone knows of Aol’s instant messaging service, and its the easiest way– in my opinion–to IM people with my AOL screen name.
The latest AIM is available here.

5. ObjectDock

I mentioned this in the “Making your PC look like a Mac” post, but it still is up there among my favorite programs, allowing me to open programs easily without going back to Desktop or the Start Menu (also makes my PC look like a Mac ).

It is free and available here.

6. PQ DVD to iPod Video Suite.

This is a $40 program that is gr8 at converting the DVDs you own to your iPod. It does all DVDs–bought and self-created (legally we hope)– and converts them to iPod format.

It’s simple and works for any iPod with video. You can buy your own copy here.

So those are my picks. What are yours? Doesn’t matter if their for Windows, Mac, Linux wtvr, let your voice be heard. If we get enough feedback we’ll make a new post with some of your top picks.