Software & Free Downloads!

Antivirus

If you’ve read the news in the past couple of years, you’re probably paranoid by now, and fear there’s people out to get you and your secrets, so the first thing you should do with your new computer is find a way to keep your privacy intact. Anti-Malware is the way to go. It used to be that Anti-Viruses and Anti-Adware/Malware were two different things but nowadays they’re mostly integrated into complete protection packages.

If you’re looking for the best in the business, then don’t look any further than Rocky Bytes. We have amazing Anti-Viruses for free download. We have some of the best: Avast, completely free and still remarkably powerful, protecting not only your computer but also your network; AVG Free, a household name and award winning, with enough features on its free versions to give even some paid services a run for their money; McAfee, one of the biggest and oldest in the business and for good reason. Powerful and trustworthy, you can try it out for a month before having to subscribe, which isn’t bad when starting up a new PC.

Office Tools

If you need a word processor, spreadsheet, etc. combo, you have two major options: Microsoft Word and OpenOffice. But while Open Office is certainly capable, and it does its stuff, the way to go is definitely MS Office. It’s the big daddy of the business and the best testament to its fantastic design, power and accessibility is that it’s escaped the boundaries of Windows and can now be found even on Mac. It’s not a free software and depending on the versions the prices can get pretty steep, but on Rocky Bytes we’re committed to telling you which software downloads are the best and Microsoft Office is the one to go for Office Suites.

Browsers

Now it’s time to replace the built-in Web Browser for your OS, especially if you’re running Windows. Internet Explorer is many things, but a good browser isn’t one of them. You will probably have seen jokes about it online, and they’re for a reason.

There have been many out there and there are hundreds of implementations and variations of them, but the following are the top of the line, the ones you should probably go for: Firefox, Mozilla’s powerhouse, tried and certified by international standards and supported thanks to millions of volunteers worldwide and with plugins for pretty much every need; Chrome, Google’s own implementation of the open source Chromium browser, its power coming in its total integration with every Google application ever made; Opera, with its amazing Speed Dial function, letting you build a catalogue of your favourites, always available on a new tab.

Fun Stuff & Utilities

Now you have everything to make your computer life easier it’s time to go free software hunting, looking for the little bits and pieces that’ll make your PC life a much more fun experience:

- Audio/Video Players: You want to sit back and listen to some tunes, or watch a movie you’ve gotten your hands on. Here are some of the best picks, and all of them are free software: Audio—Winamp, one of the best and oldest out there; iTunes, perfect to manage and sync-up with your iPod or iPad; AIMP, another fine media player, easy to use and compatible with plugins made for other players. Video—VLC Media Player, completely free and supports plenty of formats; Media Player Classic, a spin on Windows’ Media Player, it has support for every codec known to man; Zoom Player Free, its installation includes downloads for every codec on the planet and has a built-in DVD mode.

- Adobe: You won’t make it very far without Adobe software: Flash and Adobe Reader in particular.

- Torrent: Bittorrent is an essential P2P protocol to have nowadays and there are hundreds to choose from but here are some of the most popular: Bittorrent (original client), Vuze, µTorrent, etc.

- Winrar: Compressing files is an essential cleanup tool and extremely useful when you want to send sensitive information and protect its contents from prying eyes. With Winrar you can create RAR files, one of the best compression formats, and you can open up any other format in the world.

- Gaming: While we’ll get into our own selection of games further down this guide, it would be irresponsible of us not to mention some of the biggest PC game platform available: Steam, Valve’s giant games platform, with millions of titles and year-round special offers; GoG, previously Good Old Games, bringing you classics and new releases DRM-free; and Origin, EA’s proprietary service and the place to go for all their titles.

- IM: You’re almost set, but you still need software to call and chat with your friends, family and business associates, and the best there is (right now) is Skype, perfect not only for Instant Messaging but also for single and conference video calls. While Google has since discontinued support for the product, you can still find Google Chat for download, a desktop app.

- Storage: In this day, it’s important to keep your important files somewhere safe, on the cloud if possible, and Storage Software helps in that. While there are many, we recommend Dropbox, which you’ve probably heard of and Copy.com.

- VPN: Let’s hope it’s not the case, but if you live in a country with heavy censorship on internet, then we recommend Hotspot Shield, Psiphon, TOR and other such free software downloads to help you with that. You can also use them to bypass regional pricing on some stores.

Design & Development

- Visual Studio 2013 Community Edition: Released in late 2014, this is a free version of Microsoft’s powerhouse IDE (Integrated Development Environment), for all your .NET software development needs. As long as you’re not selling your products, you can use this without issue.

-Eclipse is thethe go-to IDE for Java development, more specifically Android development. Its plugin library makes it highly configurable.

- Adobe Creative Suite:Not free, not by a longshot, but still the best tools in the market for processing and creating Images, Videos and much more. We mentioned Adobe earlier, but this part of their products is suited more for content creators than viewers and readers. Still you can find free downloads to the trial versions.

Games

You’re all set with your brand new computer. You have your Anti-Viruses, browsers, office suite and all the utilities you need to make sure things run smoothly. Now it’s time to have fun, and for some of us here at Rocky Bytes that means Gaming, and quite specifically, free games.

Much like with software, we offer hundreds of free games, from full titles to demos of some of the biggest franchises in the world. There is no fuss if you want one of them, all of the games downloads are completely free and with no strings attached, no lengthy registration processes nor monthly payments.

Our catalogue is vast, and we have titles from every genre out there. Here are some examples of the titles you can find available on the site:

- Shooters: Call of Duty, Halo, Hitman 1 & 2, etc.

- Driving games: Need for Speed Carbon, Underground 2, Colin McRae, Midnight Club and more.

- RPG: Path of Exile, Diablo III and the Minecraft-inspired Block Story, to name a few.

- Building: You can find the ever popular Minecraft here, as well as Minecraft server, plus dozens of addons and Minecraft Mods. We’ve also done plenty of articles on some of the most interesting things to do in the game.

- Casual: Happy Wheels, The Sims, Surgeon Simulator, Eurotruck Simulator.

We hope this small guide helps you in running your computer just as you’ve always dreamed and shows you just how much you can find for free download here on Rocky Bytes. Be sure to come back often as we’re always expanding our catalogue with everything you want and need.