Microsoft Windows -- More than 90% of the market can't be all wrong, regardless of what less competent, less motivated, less clever competitors and diehard economic irrationalists babble on about. Cost: About $10 in Kuala Lumpur! Or price varies depending on mail-order firm.

SafeClean (www.ministars.com) -- One of the best for cleaning out all those megs and megs of Internet files that accumulate on your hard disk. Excellent! Cost: Not much, but I've forgotten!

CleanSweep (www.quarterdeck.com) -- The best there is for tracking software installations, subsequent un-installing software, and do all sorts of other neat stuff their website will discuss. Cost: About $10 in Kuala Lumpur! Or price varies depending on mail-order firm.

Norton Utilities/Norton System Doctor (www.symantec.com) -- The best for anti-virus failsafe protection; the best for fixing what ails your registry or whatever; the best for .... well, they will tell you at their website. And they are correct! Cost: About $10 in Kuala Lumpur! Or price varies depending on mail-order firm.

Microsoft Office Pro -- The best word processor (Word), best database (Access), and the best spreadsheet (Excel). Also, since most every serious computer user knows one or more of the programs, you can always get help when needed. Cost: About $10 in Kuala Lumpur! Or price varies depending on mail-order firm.

Textpad (www.textpad.com) -- The best ASCII/TEXT word processor. Great for HTML or most any coding. Inexpensive. Fast. Complete. Less than $30.

WordWeb (www.x-word.com) -- Want the best dictionary on the market? It sets on your desktop and a click gets it up and going. It is easily, quickly integrated as an icon on your Microsoft Word menu. You can add words and definitions. Cost: $18 to download. It IS the best!

Powerdesk (www.mijenix.com) -- The best alternative to the Windows Explorer desktop management system. Check out the website ... and then buy it toute suite.

Eudora Lite/Eudora Pro (www.qualcomm.com; www.eudora.com)-- The best email software, hands down. The Lite version is free. Cost: About $5 in Kuala Lumpur! Or price varies depending on mail-order firm.

Creatacard Plus (www.creatacard.com; www.micrografx.com) -- The best for cards, signs, certificates, announcements, stationary and so forth. Fun. Clever. Easy. The best! Cost: About $5 in Kuala Lumpur! Or price varies depending on mail-order firm.

HTML Font Colorizer (www.conquerware.dk/hfc.htm) -- The best for colorizing your text easily and quickly. Cost: Hmmm, I believe it is free.

RGB Color Box (home1.inet.tele.dk/theill/rcb.htm) -- The best for webbies wanting to easily color background, text, new links, visited links, active links. Cost: Free.

PaintShop Pro (www.jasc.com) -- One of the best for painting, editing, retouching gif, bmp, jpg (and many other formats) images. Cost: About $10 in Kuala Lumpur! Or price varies depending on mail-order firm.

Smartdraw (www.smartdraw.com) -- The best for flowcharting. Excellent. Cost: $50.

Homesite (www.allaire.com) -- The best assistant for those who like HTML web coding. Cost: About $10 in Kuala Lumpur! Or check the website, since I have forgotten!

Homepage (www.microsoft.com) -- The best web building assistant for those not having a clue about HTML web coding. Cost: About $10 in Kuala Lumpur! Or price varies depending on mail- order firm.

ACDSee (www.acdsystems.com) -- The best .gif, .jpg, .bmp (and etc!) file viewer around! Cost: $35.

Biblio-Refs (www.programsteppe.com) -- The best research catalog available anywhere. We even offer a financial challenge on this website for you to prove us wrong!

FACTS+ (www.programsteppe.com) -- The best curriculum for the learning handicapped, the elderly, and those learning English as a second language. Again, we even offer a financial challenge on this website for you to prove us wrong!