The average Windows user tends to be less than satisfied with Windows. And that's no surprise, either, given the rather woeful state of its default applications. Consider that both Wordpad and Notepad refuse to open larger files, the integrated audio recorder limits recordings to 60 seconds, and Paint, the integrated graphics program, offers only the most rudimentary of features. Worse still, Internet Explorer can neither be considered modern nor safe for browsing, while Outlook Express is known for its affinity for contracting any number of worms and viruses. In short, the out-of-the-box Windows configuration is usually outdated and problem laden.

The good news is that there's hope for improving your Windows experience. There are many alternatives to these and other default Windows apps - many of them open source and freeware - that can help you pep up your Windows installation and boost your productivity, making life with Windows more bearable.

Here is an alphabetical list of the programs we review in this article. Following the table, we'll describe each one, organized by category.