THE WEB BROWSERS

A web browser allows you to consult Internet pages as well as to view videos, listen to music and run games.

The Chrome browser, developed by Google, is the most used today with around 65% of market share. It is considered fast and well secured.
Firefox from the Mozilla Foundation and Microsoft Edge are also browsers that will allow you to surf the web serenely. Both browsers use recent technology: a large part of the Firefox source code has just been rewritten and Edge appeared in 2015. Note that future versions of Edge will be based on the "open source" version of Chrome called Chromium.



   Chrome               Firefox               Edge

THE MESSAGERIES

Messaging software is a tool used to communicate by email, instant messages or even by video conference.

Thunderbird from the Mozilla Foundation is the benchmark for email software. It is simple, user-friendly and very secure. It allows you to centralize the management of all your email addresses.
Thunderbird has the classic functionality of email management software, such as a spam filter, calendar, instant messaging and the ability to install external plugins to further expand its capabilities.



   Thunderbird

LIBRE OFFICE  -  TEXT PROCESSING AND WORKSHEET

The Libre Office office suite is today very widely used and acclaimed around the world. It incorporates the concepts used by the famous Microsoft Office suite, so you will not be in unknown territory.

Libre Office is composed of a word processor, a spreadsheet, presentation software, a database management system as well as tools for creating graphs, diagrams and mathematical formulas. ..
Libre Office uses a file format called OpenDocument which is standardized, free and which has quickly become a standard, especially in administrations. File extensions for the ODF format are .odt for text and ods for spreadsheets. The suite is also capable of handling Office file formats .doc and .docx, as well as PDF format.


   Libre Office

SCRIBUS  -  COMPUTER-AIDED PUBLICATION

Scribus is desktop publishing software like Microsoft Publisher. It allows for more sophisticated layouts than a traditional word processor which seeks productivity more.
It can produce all types of documents with a complex composition such as for example books, newspapers, brochures, advertisements, magazines ...
This desktop publishing software is open source and can produce files in PDF format.


   Scribus

GIMP  -  IMAGE HANDLING

Image editing software will be useful for cropping an image, reducing its size or changing its contrast, for example. Gimp will do its job brilliantly. Gimp is a powerful application rather intended for experienced graphic designers.
A large number of pages on learning Gimp are available on the internet.




   Gimp

PHOTO FILTRE  -  IMAGE HANDLING

If you are looking for an image manipulation program that is easier to master, but nevertheless efficient, Photo Filter 7 will be the ideal candidate. It has all the useful functions to touch up your photos but no more.
Photo Filter is also available in a paid version with additional features.




   Photo Filtre

KRITA  -  DIGITAL PAINTING

Although photo editing software offers some basic drawing tools like brushes and an eraser, to practice drawing as you would on a sheet of paper, you will need Krita and know how to draw.
Krita is an open source and very powerful drawing software which reproduces the tools of the designer such as brushes, pencils, chalk ...
It is essential to use a graphic tablet to practice digital art, the mouse is not precise enough. A tablet allows you to modulate the line according to the inclination and the pressure that the artist exerts on his stylus.


   Krita

INKSCAPE  -  THE VECTOR DRAWING

Another way to express your creativity is to adopt vector drawing software like Inkscape. Inkscape is intended for professional graphic designers, but it remains fairly easy to master. You create surfaces by positioning points that form curves, you choose a color to fill your shape and a style for its outline.
This type of illustration is used to produce technical drawings, logos, "cartoon" type drawings, geographic maps ...
Inkscape uses the popular SVG file format, which can be displayed directly in a web browser.


   InkScape

BLENDER  -  3D SYNTHESIS IMAGES

Blender is a very complete software capable of taking on the entire chain of creation of a 3-dimensional universe: modeling, texturing, skeletonization, animation and final rendering.
Blender is a very dynamic community project that involves hundreds of people who are striving to perfect it. The software today offers performance equivalent to those paying competitors like 3DS Max, but it is little taught in graphic design schools and is therefore less used by professional animation studios.
Because of its richness and versatility, Blender can seem intimidating for someone starting out in computer graphics. Its handling will nevertheless be fairly quick if you learn how it works in an "academic" way, ie by studying its documentation, rather than by "groping".


   Blender

KASPERSKY FREE  -  ANTI-VIRUS

The Windows 10 security system is considered reliable and therefore eliminates the need to install an anti virus, previous versions of Windows remain very vulnerable. If you are not a network specialist, a basic firewall will be more effective than a sophisticated, poorly configured system. Remember again that you only need to activate one firewall and one anti-virus at the same time, otherwise you will create a conflict.

The Russian Kaspersky anti-virus is recognized as the most reliable on the market. It has become free since 2018. The anti-virus offers effective protection against various threats without impacting the performance of your computer.
As its competitors Kaspersky is not infallible, you must therefore remain cautious and wary during your activities on the Internet.



   Kaspersky Free

KEYSCRAMBLER PERSONAL  -  ANTI-KEYLOGGER

KeyScrambler Personal is a tool that protects you from "keyloggers", malware that intercepts all keystrokes you make on your keyboard. The data retrieved by the spy program is then sent over your Internet connection to criminals in search of passwords and bank information.
KeyScrambler Personal will encrypt your keystrokes in the pilot who manages the keyboard and then decrypts them for the browser. KeyScrambler starts when the PC starts and works with all common browsers.



   KeyScrambler

CCLEANER  -  PC MAINTENANCE

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a very popular software specialized in cleaning the Windows operating system. Many files are copied to the hard drive every day, mostly while browsing websites. These files end up occupying a considerable space and slow down the computer. CCleaner is able to determine which ones are useless and is responsible for deleting them.
CCleaner is very easy to use, making it accessible to everyone. It also allows you to clean the Windows Registry, uninstall programs and manage software that starts automatically when the PC starts.



   CCleaner