Ace X Soft

Google has put together a bundle of free software - Google Pack - something of an essential kit. This does not mean that only these applications can be used on our systems, of course there are alternatives to all of them and in some cases better alternatives, but nevertheless this is the first kit of various freeware available to everyone online for no cost what so ever.

The programs included in the Google Pack are mixed and matched to serve different type of purposes, staring from advanced screensaver configuration, to reading PDF files, to viewing the globe through a satellite.

Four of the programs included in the pack were developed by Google these are: Google Talk, Google Desktop, Google Video Player and Google Screensaver.
Two more were recently purchased by Google and made available for free and these are: Picasa and Google Earth (former Keyhole 3D product).

There is also Mozilla Firefox web browser with Google Toolbar and a similar toolbar designed by Google for Internet Explorer. For security the pack offers Ad-Aware and Norton Antivirus 2005 Special Edition, not a freeware, but it comes with a six month subscription. And to top all of this off: RealPlayer as a media player and Adobe Acrobat Reader to display PDF files. Pardon, I almost forgot, a folder of free desktop images - GalleryPlayer HD Images.

Now, I would not call this entire collection “essential software”, neither would I say they are the best of their kind. However, the greatest benefit of the pack is that it has a single installation utility, which downloads, updates and installs all of this software all at once, providing an option for automatic updates or update notifications.

Also, some users may find it easier to start or uninstall these programs through Google Updater.
Going for all software all at once, might be most people choice, just trying new things out, if you’ve never tried them that is, or just not bothering to view the options and get the whole bunch of freeware.
I guess that not a bad choice, especially if you don’t mind having software on your computer that you never use and not quite sure of what it does other then taking up your recourses.

Paul Thurrott in his article, “Hands on with Google Pack”, says that after installing all of the applications shipped in the pack his computer looked like a “victim of a nasty spyware attack”. Even though I personally thing that he went a little too rough on Google in his article, he still does have a point. Not all software there is essential, and some of it is not needed to an average user, and others have way better alternatives.

Now if you still want to go ahead and get the whole back, the installation process is going to be a bit more difficult then just downloading and restarting. Some of the programs shipped in Google Pack are expired, therefore you need to run several updates to get your system all up to date and equipped with the latest versions of the new tools you’ve obtained. It should take a bit over an hour, depending on your connection speed that is, and that is not too bad for 13 applications. It would probably take you the same amount of time to find and download an essential kit of your own, depending on your speed of browsing the internet that is.

Overall I’m quite pleased with Google pack, and by quite I mean, half of the software in there is the zone of okay to solid good. There are some that I think were awful choices, and those you should exclude, and get elsewhere.

Let’s go over the good first. Google Earth and Picasa, both great applications, I mean it. You can spend hours looking down on things, finding all these places you visited or lived at before with Google Earth, which I’m quite happy that is free now, courtesy of Google and if you really get into it you can upgrade to a subscription plan to get higher resolution maps.

Picasa, also an excellent application that allows you to do, well, everything you might want to do with your pictures: manage, edit, print, send to blogger blog, order prints for pick up or receive them in the mail. Both of these software were purchased by Google and are available for free download and use in the links provided above.

Essential software is Adobe Acrobat 7, best of its kind, allows you to view PDF files. Also Mozilla Firefox, a much safer and better alternative to the traditional Internet Explorer, if you haven’t tried it yet, I you absolutely have to, it is better - bottom line. Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer is also included, which surely makes the whole IE experience a bit less painful, good choice as well for a pop-up blocker. Ad-Aware is perhaps the best free anti spamware application available on the net these days.

Now there is also a few applications that you can benefit from if you are a subscriber of their Google services: Google Talk, which is for invited users only to G-mail account and Google Video Player, which users of Google Video will benefit having, but as far as I know there is a player on every playback page of Google Video Store.

There are few which are on the border line, all up for the user to decide applications. Google Pack Screensaver, available only through Google Pack and Google Desktop. Do you use a screensaver? Try what Google has to offer, maybe you’ll be happy with this free application, you may also want to grab a folder of images along with that - the GalleryPlayer HD Images, which are also included in the pack, something to but on your screensaver or desktop. Google Desktop is meant to perform searches faster and deliver the information you need more quickly, this may have no relevance to you though, and in fact can be a pretty annoying application if you already have all you need organized, and accessible in just a few clicks. That wraps up the solid good and okay software.

And here are the two I just do not understand: RealPlayer, come on! and Norton’s Special from 2005?
I honestly do not know many people who use RealPlayer, it is a limited software if you do not buy and advanced version and on top of that Google ships and expired version which requires registration to update. I would go with Winamp or even stick with Microsoft’s Media Player, before even considering RealPlayer. And Norton here is not a free software at all, that is overlooking the fact that it is heavy, non practical, also expired and requires 3 updates followed by 3 reboots of you machine. Norton included is a complimentary version (only avalible through Google Pack). A way better, always free, alternative is AVG Anti-virus, safe, frequent security updates, lightweight, and very understanding towards your system’s recourses. Mainly, these two programs included in Google Pack, make Paul Thurrott’s statement true, they get into places you really don’t want them to go into, bringing no actual benefits along.

And this is what makes up Google Pack: a little bit of bad, some decent, and a few good applications. Is this the ultimate essential software kit? I don’t think so. Was it a good try? I’d defiantly say so. You can get Google pack here, just make sure to click on the “Add or remove software” link, located below Download Google Pack button.

Software mentioned:

• Google Earth
• Google Desktop
• Picasa
• Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
• GalleryPlayer
• RealPlayer
• Google Talk
• Ad-Aware
• Adobe Acrobat
• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Video