Most useful Windows programs of 2008

By Seth Rosenblatt on 30 December 2008, 11:09am

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The line between traditional software downloads and Web applications blurred significantly in 2008. It's safe to say that the browser has become, for some people, the only program they need. But there were many useful and important stand-alone applications released last year, and here we've rounded up six of the best. They range from browser hybrids to communication tools and utilities that will help you work faster and help maintain your system. Here's the first one:

Google Chrome
No list of the best apps of 2008 would be complete without this. Google Chrome unexpectedly redefined the highly competitive browser market. While the summer months saw major updates to Firefox and Opera, Google showed in September that Steve Jobs isn't the only guy who knows how to surprise everyone with a product announcement.

The capability to rip off tabs from the main window and drag them to your desktop to save as discrete Web applications goes a long way to blurring that line between Web applications and traditional software. There's also the fact that Chrome is arguably the fastest browser on the market. If it's not, it's certainly tied with the second Firefox 3.1 beta.

Chrome's speed at starting up, at loading Web pages and at returning URL bar search results have helped push the focus of browser development back onto performance. We still use Firefox as our default browser, because what we lose in performance, we gain in add-on tools that are essential for work. But if you haven't yet checked out Chrome, you're missing out.

Click 'Continue' to see the rest of our list.