1. Dropbox

Dropbox is the best service for syncing files between computers as well as sharing directories for other users.  You can even access your files from your smart phone. I would be lost without Dropbox.

2. Evernote

Evernote is the best note taking application on the web. You can access it from the web, your smart phone and even your tablet. It also has a desktop client. I use Evernote for taking notes, storing a spare copy of my presentation in or even writing blog posts in.

3. Yousendit

Yousend it is a file sending service. I use Yousendit when I am sharing files with other people who do not have Dropbox accounts. The service is free for the basic version and works really well. It is quick and fast. You can send a large file for free.

4. Google Docs

I now use Google Docs for all my spreadsheet needs, writing and presentation needs. It is free which works really well. You can even share your documents with other Google users. The reality is most users do not need the versatility of Microsoft Office. Google Docs works just fine. I can access Google Docs from any computer on the internet. I even keep my todo list in a Google Docs spreadsheet.

5. Gmail

I keep all my email in the cloud. Gmail is just the best email client today. It has a large number of rules and filters that you can set up. Once these rules and filters are setup you can unlesh the true power of Gmail. I actually forward 5 email accounts to my Gmail account and it is by far the best option for me.

6. Lastpass

I use a cloud based password manager which I really like. Last pass is the best and most secure password manager on the internet. It will interface with any of the main web browsers on any number of computers. Another service I would strongly recommend using.

7. Freshbooks

Freshbooks is the application I use as a freelancer to bill my clients, keep track of expenses and even send out estimates. This is the one service for my business that I will not do without.

These are are 7 services in the cloud which I use every day. They make my home and business life much easier. Which services do you like? Please leave a comment and share below.

Office Suite

My favorite free office suite is OpenOffice . Open Office has a spreadsheet,word processor, database and presentation package all built it. It will read many formats of other office suites to make your life much easier.

PDF Reader

There are two really good PDF file readers on the market. One is Adobe’s Acrobat Reader and the other is Foxit.

Virus Scanner

If you do not want to pay for a virus scanner I would strongly recommend that you use one of these two free choices. One is Microsoft Security Essentials and the other is AVG.

Malware Scanner

For Malware scanning I really like Malwarebytes  . They have a free version and it works really well.

PDF Creation Tool

For creating basic PDF files, I really like a program called Cute PDF

Photo Editing Tools

My Favorite photo editing tool is a great package called Paint.net

Conclusion

I hope these free tools help you on getting started on using your computer. These are some really easy to use tools on the Microsoft platform which should help you along the way.

In Windows there are many end users who do not run proper virus checkers nor do they run proper malware checkers. In this day and age you must do at least that and keep proper backups. I personally fixed two of them on the same day including the one belonging to my best friend. Ironic considering she called me concerning her friends that same morning.

Be careful and please do not fall for the fake virus scam.

In terms of new software, one thing I always suggest is leave your self time to learn it properly. Take the time and use it on non production work to learn and get to know your software package well. All software packages have changes in how they do things. Depending on the package the learning curve can be small or it can be large.

Take Headway 3.x for example. The Visual Editor is more powerful then 2.x . It has be rewritten and changed. One reason it was done is because the community asked for more power. The minute you make a software package more powerful, the learning curve is higher. This is something to keep in mind. The more bells and whistles the higher the learning curve.

Every new package has it’s issues. I do not know of one version of Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office that has zero bugs.  They key is to identify the bugs and learn to deal with them. All products are not 100% perfect.

Now many of us will go to a training class to figure out the new software package. When choosing a trainer I would suggest using one that has worked with the new package for a large amount of time. 10 hours just does not cut it. 10 hours on a new involved product does not make you an expert or a trainer. It makes you a user who has spent 10 hours learning a product. Choose your trainer wisely and carefully.

Now give yourself the time to learn the product. Do not get caught using a new version of any product when you have a tight deadline on your schedule. Learn it when your schedule is not so packed and you can learn it properly.

If you take this advice your experience with a new software product will be much better. Please share in the comment box below how you learn a new software product.

Reasons I Upgrade Software

1. New feature you need.
2. For security reasons.
3. For continued support.
4. That your operating system requires the software upgrade.

Headway 3.0 finally came out today. Check this video out:

Headway 3.0 from Headway Themes on Vimeo.

Please run the beta on a test site. Remember Beta releases are not yet available for prime time.

The key features are as follows:

1. Built in Twitter support.
2. More HTML 5 support.
3. Improved Css support.
4. More security built in.
5. Some stability issues have been fixed.

If you have looked at the websites of major newspapers, tv stations or other media outlets in the last while you will realize that these sites are very simple in nature. They are designed for information flow not to have all kids of graphics scrolling and moving on the screen. The color scheme is also very simple but easy to read. This is designed on purpose.

One thing a lot of web designers do is they have all kids of things happening at once on the screen. There are a couple of reasons you do not want to do this. The first is it makes the screen way too busy and hard to read. The 2nd thing is web site load times. If I go to a web site that takes too long to load I am usually gone. I figure why waste my time when there are faster sites.

The danger designers get into is we all have these tools available to us that will jazz up web sites and make items dance on the screen. What I always think about is will these methods enhance the users experience. That is the key – do the enhancements change the information flow. The usual answer is no.

The keys is to think long and hard when doing a design. On your next one keep it simple. You will be surprised at the results.