Overwhelmed by the choice of software out there? Let Google Pack make the job easier.

There is so much software in the world today that it can be really hard to decide what you need and what you don't. Google Pack is a software package that aims to take some of the decisions out of your hand by pre-selecting essential programs for any user - Google Chrome, Google Apps, Google Earth, Google Toolbar for IE, Norton Security Scan, Spyware Doctor, Google Desktop, Picasa, Google Photos Screensaver, Adobe Reader and Firefox with Google Toolbar, to be precise.

The pack pretty much installs itself and uses an attractive interface to manage installation and subsequent updates. There aren't many configuration options, but, then again, this is only an installation and update tool - you can make any necessary changes to the programs it contains from within the programs themselves. The Google Updater window - the tool left once you have installed all the programs in the pack - allows you to configure various update options, summarize past updates and view recent activity.

There is no doubt that many of the programs included in Google Pack are essential basics that will help many, especially new users who might not already have applications for preventing spyware or reading PDFs, for example. You can also select what to download before installing, as well as individually de-installing programs if you later decide you don't want them. On the downside, Google Pack takes a while to install and does not allow you to configure the installations, which means you get desktop icons and toolbars whether you want them or not. In Google's defense, you can modify this once the programs in question have been installed.

Google Pack - a low-fuss program pack that's perfect for beginners.