In Part 4 of this recipe we downloaded several packages from around the Internet and saved them either to our Desktop or other easy to find location. Two of these packages, gVim and 7-zip, were labeled as optional.

I strongly recommend that you install these packages now and use them instead of the text editing and compression tools built into MS-Windows.

You will install these packages by finding them and double clicking on their icons. Follow the instructions presented to you by their install programs and accept their default settings.

These programs will make life much easier for you even if the programs themselves seem a bit odd at first. After installing these programs play with them a bit.

gVim: Create a new file, save it, open it again, change it and save it again. Try opening the file by dropping the file you created on the gVim icon that was created on the Desktop.

7-zip: Find an existing zip filed (a.k.a compressed folder) right click on it and choose 7-zip –> Extract files… Rename the new folder that appears after the compression and choose 7-zip –> Add to archive.

I am recommending these tools because they are the best tools I know of for cleanly editing simple text files and managing compressed folders. The functionality built into Windows is OK but not great. If you know of some better utilities which supply a better solution for performing these tasks please share your recommendation as a comment!