Majorgeeks & Software

My first home PC will be online within a week (according to LMI), and I will be needing some software, some of it payware. If I buy an app listed here, will this site get any benefit?

 

The shareware fees for the Software listed as such go to the Authors. MG's has other monetizing channels.

 

I'm a big fan of the Top Freeware Downloads here on Major Geeks.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/top_freeware_picks.html

 

It depends entirely on what software you want and need. There has never been any need to pay for any security software. All the free versions - AV, Firewalls, Malware are exceptionally good. For Office tools there are many excellent free programs, No need to pay for mail programs - all the free ones are excellent.

 

Hello, about mail programs, I have purchased NewtonMail, and I do not think you can get something similar for all my devices(Windows, Android and IOS).

 

First of all we have to wait for the OP to say what software they need on their first ever home PC. They haven't yet mentioned if they need syncing of any software between two or more unique Operating Systems so your personal needs and circumstances might not even be relevant.

But Google's Gmail works on all three OSs flawlessly and is FREE.

 

OK,Thanks for your answers

 

Too bad this site doesn't get a cut of the action. So guess there's no difference from going through MG, or dealing direct with source. Does MG accept donations?

 

You haven't understood.
When you download a program that is hosted on MG servers there is a benefit to MG.
You also know that the download itself has been tested for safety and security.
The other question was freeware or paid subscriptions but you have not said what software you want and you need.
We have already explained that with very very few exceptions, you do not ever need to pay for software.
Hope that is clearer now.

 

Unlike most, I have no big preference for freeware, although I got nothing against a free ride either. A lot of the time so-called freeware just ain't (free that is). Too many freeware authors are bundling more crapware with their apps than CNET, and equally sneaky about it. Freeware is fine so long as the particular app is the best I can get, and so long as I do not have to deal with uninstalling various forms of malware. If the best I can get happens to be payware, I got no problem buying it. What I absolutely cannot stand is what I call 'tributeware', whereby I gotta pay year after dang year...that I will go to some effort to avoid!

 

The free or paid for is not a preference in terms of what the software actually does. It is not a free ride so you clearly have no understanding of how software comes about originally, the vast bulk of which was and is open source. The people who develop it make $£billions from businesses separately to home user use.
If you get your free software on MG you wont be uninstalling malware. Get it elsewhere and yes that's the risk you face.
Every paid subscription for example in security software includes adds and prompts for the user to buy more, and frequently includes bells and whistles that virtually no one actually needs but increases the pressure on your system resources.
But it's your system to pay for what ever you like even if you get no benefit.

 

Having researched Linux for quite awhile, I am aware of the open source vs closed source debate, Richard Stallman vs pretty-much-everyone controversy, and so on. Simply because I am aware of it does not mean I have any interest in it, and I certainly do not buy into the dogma that "in the terms of what the software actually does" open source is intrinsically superior to proprietary. I would admit that when it comes to security and privacy apps (that the TLAs are likely to target), open source is clearly better, more private, and more secure. I am quite aware that MG downloads are malware free, and one of the quickly dwindling number of software sources that have yet to embrace the CNET modus operandi. That said, I have seen some apps listed here as ad-supported, and if you look into the history of CNET, you will find that was their 'gateway drug'. They went from offering ad-supported apps to adware-infested apps, to now actively including any sort of malware...not only included in the app by the developer, but by the CNET Installer as well. Hopefully not the road MG will embrace. But I'm off topic. Frankly I see little difference between whether the ERUNT developer decides to charge me $100 for his app, or decides to continue to offer it for 'free', but surreptitiously packs it full of hidden malware that costs me $100 to have a Tech housecall to remove the nasties. Frankly I'd rather he just sold it for $100; at least then I would have the choice whether to spend the $100 or not. Freeware (as I use the term) is not always free. Some developers do not have the backbone to call their app payware, or even shareware. Instead they call it freeware then either:
1. Pack it full of adware, spyware, or other malware (so far as I'm concerned its all varying degrees of malware).
2. Wait til you download it, then slyly inform you that 'free' meant it was only free for x number of days, then you pay, which means you have to mess with uninstalling it.
As said, I got no big preference between an app that is free, available for donation, or sold at a set one-time price...but when it comes to being conned into buying an app (or stuck having to uninstall one) that gets my ire.
As for tributeware (what you call paid subscription) that I go out of my way to avoid. There are a few exceptions, but very few.

 

I don't need a lot. As regards email, I have six webmail accounts already. I need email client like an Inuit needs an icemaker. No syncing, as I keep XP Pro and the various Linux distros I fool with totally apart, on different HDDs. I need to watch/download TV shows, movies, and rarely Youtube junk, and burn to DVD. I plan to use free proxies and couple VPNs...maybe Proxomitron too. I plan on using XPLite Pro to cut the fat on XP Pro. My security plan at present includes Faronics Deep Freeze, 1 Click & Lock, NoVirus Thanks EXE Radar Pro, and a few others. I currently have Avira Free (with BGPKiller) and Agnitum Firewall. Avira got top marks by nearly everyone, but the Agnitum is not well reviewed, so I'll need to replace it. I am not sure just what all I will need. Firstly, being stuck using library computers for years has kept me fairly ignorant of this stuff. Secondly, a lot of bloatware is on the XPLite hit-list (like .NET), so right now I am going slow with downloads, until I know for sure what will work after XP Pro is trimmed down.

 

Okay, so what is the benefit(s) to MG when I download a program hosted on MG servers? It does not matter to me whether I 'download@authors site' or 'download @MajorGeeks'...but if I know this site is getting some benefit from the latter, then I'll make of point of doing that.

 

By all means mosey on over to CNET, and download five apps (any five you want), then report back how that "Custom Install" went...no fake downloads now while hiding behind Virtualbox, or whatever...and no fibbing about the results. I'd be interested to see if all these folks are just too dumb to use CNET:

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/CNET-CBS-Malware-Trojan-Nmap,news-13410.html
https://www.howtogeek.com/198622/heres-what-happens-when-you-install-the-top-10-download.com-apps/
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/avoid-computer-bloatware-from-cnet-download-com-crapware/

There are at least ten more links, but I think the message is clear. Downloading from this site is like running through a Cambodian minefield; you might make it to the other side in one piece...but many (if not most) do not.

 

I'm not going to answer any of those 4 long winded posts as it is more than sufficient to say the following:
1. It has never ever been necessary to pay for any efficient and effective security software, nor basic applications dealing with mail or messaging, and neither for office tools.
2. From years of experience I know, without any doubt, that there is not a single piece of software hosted on MG that allows any adware or additional options to install without the user being able to uncheck them, and without there being a very clear warning on the download page about programs that include those options.