# Where can I get cool programs for my netbook? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979 "2010-08-11T21:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/1 "2010-08-11T21:10:20Z")
I recently got a netbook (Acer) , but i don’t really have any Windows programs for it (other than the browser and anti-virus stuff I downloaded). I’ve had only Macs for the last 8 years; where is a good place to download games and other “apps” for it, preferably for free (although I’ll pay for useful or fun stuff)? What are some “must-have” netbook/basic PC programs? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/2 "2010-08-11T21:29:43Z")
If you are looking for games, [Microsoft has a bunch of games that are available](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/resultsForCategory.aspx?nr=50&sortOrder=Ascending&sortCriteria=Popularity&categoryId=1&stype=ss_pd&sterm=Games), mostly for free. You can also look in start-\>applications-\>games/entertainment. Here’s a list of [cool free utilities](http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=99546&enterthread=y), if you are interested in performance. If you are looking for junk like iFart, they don’t exist for the PC, and hopefully they never will. Shareware is also another source. I use [www.tucows.com](http://www.tucows.com) myself. If you aren’t interested in buying productivity software, the gold standard right now is [OpenOffice](http://www.openoffice.org/). It does everything MS Office can do, and file formats are compatible. However, imho, it’s slower than Office (because it’s Java based) and it looks like something from 1995. Another source is web-based games, like Yahoo games. The reason the app market was so popular for Apple products is that they couldn’t run basic web-based games without some sort of shell (or app.) With a pc, you can play them directly. I used Yahoo games for years, but now it’s really hard to find the fun, free ones. [Shockwave.com](http://Shockwave.com) also has tons of great games. I’m really surprised how many people prefer to play games through an app. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/3 "2010-08-12T00:43:27Z")
I suppose it’s really a matter of what you use your PC for. My netbook has MSN, Yahoo Messenger, Google Chrome, along with a collection of NES roms and Age of Empires II: Age of Kings (I found a “no-CD” crack so it works on here). I second the sentiment on Open Office, though I have never found it especially slow…I find MS Office 2010 at my university runs slower, frankly, but that may have something to do with the computer being used. What do you want to do with your computer? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/4 "2010-08-12T02:50:58Z")
I’m mostly looking for time-wasters, but not super dumb ones. Trivia would be good, as would ports of old (like early 1980s) video games. Open Office also sounds good to have. ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/5 "2010-08-12T03:25:18Z")
[Machinarium](http://machinarium.net/demo/) is a fun, old school adventure game that I play on my netbook. Check it out! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/6 "2010-08-12T03:43:18Z")
Double or quadruple or (I don’t know how far it goes) your screen real-estate with [VirtuaWin](http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/). So helpful to have more space in the task bar and to organize different projects. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/7 "2010-08-12T04:10:23Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > I’m mostly looking for time-wasters, but not super dumb ones. Trivia would be good, as would ports of old (like early 1980s) video games. Open Office also sounds good to have. Yeah, I’d say NES roms fits the bill. That or Arcade emulators, or just about any of the games at the discount bin at Radio Shack, provided you at least have the CD-Rom to run 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/8 "2010-08-12T04:33:03Z")
[Good Old Games](http://www.gog.com/en/about_us/) has a bunch of older (but good) games re-released and made to work with modern systems (including netbooks, often) at very reasonable prices. As for programs and utilities, don’t download anything you don’t need. That’s just an invitation for spyware, viruses, and other junk. If you need something specific for a specific purpose, ask. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/9 "2010-08-12T04:40:08Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Double or quadruple or (I don’t know how far it goes) your screen real-estate with [VirtuaWin](http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/). So helpful to have more space in the task bar and to organize different projects. If I understand what that program does, can’t I just oversize the display? On my Toshiba Netbook, if I set my display to something ridiculously high (1280x640 or something), the desktop automatically scrolls around for me when my cursor reaches the edges. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/10 "2010-08-12T04:58:27Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > > [@mnemosyne](#): > > > > Double or quadruple or (I don’t know how far it goes) your screen real-estate with [VirtuaWin](http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/). So helpful to have more space in the task bar and to organize different projects. > > If I understand what that program does, can’t I just oversize the display? On my Toshiba Netbook, if I set my display to something ridiculously high (1280x640 or something), the desktop automatically scrolls around for me when my cursor reaches the edges. Depends on your video card and driver. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/11 "2010-08-12T13:18:23Z")
You can download Kindle for PC from Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/12 "2010-08-12T14:02:59Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > > [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > > > I’m mostly looking for time-wasters, but not super dumb ones. Trivia would be good, as would ports of old (like early 1980s) video games. Open Office also sounds good to have. > > Yeah, I’d say NES roms fits the bill. That or Arcade emulators, or just about any of the games at the discount bin at Radio Shack, provided you at least have the CD-Rom to run 'em. No CD on the netbook. I might look for a cheap external drive, though. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/13 "2010-08-12T15:09:13Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > > [@antonio107](#): > > > > Yeah, I’d say NES roms fits the bill. That or Arcade emulators, or just about any of the games at the discount bin at Radio Shack, provided you at least have the CD-Rom to run 'em. > > No CD on the netbook. I might look for a cheap external drive, though. USB powered drives start at $80, last I checked. I was going to buy a netbook, but an external keyboard, mouse, and CD-ROM put the price point squarely at a low end notebook, which is what I got. I returned it to Walmart and got my Toshiba from office depot. Is it too late to return? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/14 "2010-08-12T15:21:25Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > > [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > > > No CD on the netbook. I might look for a cheap external drive, though. > > USB powered drives start at $80, last I checked. > > I was going to buy a netbook, but an external keyboard, mouse, and CD-ROM put the price point squarely at a low end notebook, which is what I got. I returned it to Walmart and got my Toshiba from office depot. > > Is it too late to return? You got a netbook, returned it, got a Toshiba laptop, and now want to switch it back for a netbook? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/15 "2010-08-12T16:45:08Z")
Beyond the typical business suite apps and gaming apps most “cool” apps these days are net based. A netbook is just a small, easy to tote, inexpensive PC notebook for all practical purposes there’s really nothing “special” for it. The weak video horsepower of a netbook will not run the latest games all that well. Most stuff is browser centric these days, so the net based “apps” that were available for your Mac will also (in most cases) be accessible by the netbook. The main utility of a netbook (and why I use mine) is simply that it’s so portable. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/16 "2010-08-12T16:50:13Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > > [@Superhal](#): > > > > USB powered drives start at $80, last I checked. > > > > I was going to buy a netbook, but an external keyboard, mouse, and CD-ROM put the price point squarely at a low end notebook, which is what I got. I returned it to Walmart and got my Toshiba from office depot. > > > > Is it too late to return? > > You got a netbook, returned it, got a Toshiba laptop, and now want to switch it back for a netbook? Oh, I didn’t mention that I did buy a netbook, but bringing it up to laptop functionality would cost the same as a laptop, so I returned the netbook and bought a laptop. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/17 "2010-08-13T00:04:42Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > > [@mnemosyne](#): > > > > Double or quadruple or (I don’t know how far it goes) your screen real-estate with [VirtuaWin](http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/). So helpful to have more space in the task bar and to organize different projects. > > If I understand what that program does, can’t I just oversize the display? On my Toshiba Netbook, if I set my display to something ridiculously high (1280x640 or something), the desktop automatically scrolls around for me when my cursor reaches the edges. I’ve never done what you suggest, so I can’t really compare, but VirtuaWin doesn’t work the way you seem to have described. What it does is kind of create separate areas as if you had different monitors, and even different computers. If you have, for example, Firefox and Word open on screen 1, if you move to screen 2, you won’t see them in the task bar, because those applications are associated with screen 1. You could open up another instance of Firefox in screen 2 and have a completely different set of tabs open in it, and they won’t show up in 1. I use it to separate school work: documents and web searches for one class can be clustered in one screen while stuff for another class is all together in another screen. It’s also great for transcribing/using one file or group of files as a reference for something else. Alt-Tab is useful but annoying if you have several applications open. With virtuaWin you can type in one screen then slide over to another to look at your reference files and alt-tab _only through them_ and then slide back to your word document. Really, these multiple desktops are one of the best things I’ve ever installed on a computer! I wish I was allowed to install it on my work computer. It’s also really funny to watch someone who doesn’t know how it works grab your computer to do something and accidentally slide to another screen and wonder where the hell Firefox just went! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/18 "2010-08-15T07:09:50Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > > [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > > > I’m mostly looking for time-wasters, but not super dumb ones. Trivia would be good, as would ports of old (like early 1980s) video games. Open Office also sounds good to have. > > Yeah, I’d say NES roms fits the bill. That or Arcade emulators, or just about any of the games at the discount bin at Radio Shack, provided you at least have the CD-Rom to run 'em. If you’re going to go that route, and you want to stay legal, try [Console Clasix](http://www.consoleclassix.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/19 "2010-08-15T16:33:35Z")
How much RAM do you have? I have only 1g on my Dell Mini (Win 7 starter) and it is good for surfing the web and watching movies or TV shows I’ve ripped to it, but it’s too slow to function as a substitute for my laptop which at 64bit 4ram Win7 home does well. But as one poster said, the netbook is nice and easy to carry around, especially if all you want to do is surf the web and watch TV (it has a digital tuner) or watch TV or movies you’ve ripped. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979/20 "2010-08-17T17:31:17Z")
I too bought the Acer back when Target had a good deal on it - the first thing I did was upgrade the memory to 2G. I also upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium (which really probably wasn’t all that necessary, now that I think about it, so I probably wouldn’t do the same thing again). And it runs email and web surfing without a hitch, so far. (That said, I don’t ask very much of it, either.) I might add MS Office, or use Open Office for word processing. That’s pretty much all I want from it, and I think it’ll do that just fine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-get-cool-programs-for-my-netbook/549979.md?page=2)