Firefox & Thunderbird

So what are these things? Probably some of the best, free, open source software out there right now.

They are replacements for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, respectively.
What makes them so good? Well, about 90% of my home clients, and some 40% of my businesses have been "infected" with spyware (covered on this page) - Using Firefox as your web browser prevents these things exploiting the security holes in Internet Explorer.
It's fast, extendible, and you can change it's appearance. It also supports tabbed browsing - click here for an explanation of the handiness of that feature. And hey, it even imports all your Favorites! All operating systems supported.

Thunderbird blocks remote images in emails that spammers use to verify your email address - just looking at it in the preview window is enough for them. It also has a nifty learning spam filter, that gets better as you work with it. Like it's brother application, Thunderbird is extendible and modifiable. Don't like the way it works or how it does something? You can change it. All operating systems supported.

How do the people that make this software make a living? Not by advertising in the software - there's no spyware. It's a non profit consortium of volunteers and engineers on loan from companies like Netscape, and donations from folks like you and me.

So are you convinced? Download it already! You'll find Thunderbird there well.

This just in: Dell is shipping Firefox preinstalled on their machines in the U.K. - is the US next?