Whether you’ve just set up a new business and are looking for the right software, or have bought a new laptop and want to install the most useful software, here’s our pick of the best  (and most essential) software tools.

Iolo Privacy Guardian

This software helps your system protect your security and privacy when browsing on the internet. Iolo Privacy Guardian does that by allowing you to browse the Internet anonymously, so your IP cannot be tracked (not even by your ISP). A great software tool to have, given just how common hacking and phishing have become recently.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home

This is a dictation program that converts voice to text. What sets it apart from the rest of the voice recognition software that’s out there is that this tool has one of the best natural language voice recognition abilities. It also should be noted that this tool has 99% accuracy!. What’s more, the more recent versions of this software allow you to search the web completely hands-free.

Treesize

Your drive space is limited, and once you start using it, it can get filled up relatively quickly. Before you know it, a critical application will fail to be installed on your system because all the space has been hogged up. TreeSize Free is a great free-to-use software that lets you find out exactly what application or program is taking how much space. It also highlights unnecessary, dormant files that can be deleted to save space.

LibreOffice Writer

Like the functionality of Microsoft Word, but don’t want to pay to use it? LibreOffice is a great choice, in that case. This application has functionalities that are quite similar to Microsoft Word, and it’s also free!

Audacity

If you enjoy creating audio, or are hoping to become an audio/podcast creator, Audacity is a great pick for you. The audio editor has a lot of editing and recording tools and has a lot of plug-ins. It is also free. The software also supports 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit audio.

In addition to these software options, make sure to also have good antivirus software to keep your system protected.