Antispam: Popfile Free, open-source email filtering program. Useful if your email program doesn't offer spam filtering. Works with Windows 98/ME/2000/XP.
Antispyware: Spybot Search & Destroy Free and popular antispyware tool for Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003. Older version 1.3 still available for Windows 95.
AntiSpyware: SuperAntiSpyware Free for personal use; paid version available. For Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 2003. Requires 400MHz CPU, 256MB RAM.
Antivirus: Avast Avast antivirus for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. Free for personal use.
Gibson Research Corporation Home of "Shields Up!" testing service for PC network vulnerabilities, and lots of information about securing your Windows PC.
Home PC Firewall Guide Superb resource for all kinds of security information, tools, and links to Windows software (anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, the works).
Returnil Virtual System Runs Windows from a RAM virtual disk, so if infected, the system will be restored at the next reboot. Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista 32-bit. Free for personal use.
Windows - Surviving the First Day A report (PDF format) describing the essential steps you must take before connecting your Vista computer to the Internet. Recommended. (The Windows XP version of this article seems to have disappeared.)
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applications: The software that lets you do things with your computer (word processor, Internet browser, email, etc.). The programs you see and use.
distribution: Also called "distro." An operating system (usu. Linux) combined with a selection of application programs, in a ready-to-install form. Different distributions are customized for different purposes, e.g., desktop computing, music editing, Internet server, and so on.
FOSS: "Free / Open Source Software," a catch-all term. Sometimes F/OSS or FLOSS.
free software: Refers to free as in freedom, not free as in free beer. Specifically, the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software.
howto: A short tutorial telling "how to" perform some task. See, for instance, the Linux HowTos.
Linux: Strictly, GNU/Linux. A free operating system, modeled on Unix, developed since 1991 by volunteers around the world.
open source: Refers to software whose source code can be examined, modified, and redistributed. Similar to but not exactly the same as "free software."
operating system: The software that manages your computer's hardware (disk drives, display, network connection, etc.). The stuff "under the hood" that makes your computer work.
repository: An on-line library of application programs for a particular distribution, in a ready-to-download-and-install format. In many distributions, programs can be installed from the repository with just a few mouse clicks.
Unix: A computer operating system originally released by Bell Labs in 1970. It is still widely used in several commercial variants, and in the open-source BSD Unix.
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