New academic year, new computer, at least for some students. If you are like me, unless it is a Mac or a Linux laptop, I immediately nuke a Windows computer to rid it of all the bloatware manufacturers load on the computer (and install Linux if I have a choice), so it is best to do this as well. Re-install Windows, apply all updates before installing third-party software. Use a strong password for security - and if there is a biometric sensor (fingerprint or face recognition), enable it for convenience. Once you have done this, start installing third-party software. Here's a couple of must install software, in no particular order:

Password Manager
Install ProtonPass and Bitwarden, both of which have free versions. It is always a good idea to use two different password managers, with one serving as a backup. Having two might introduce some complexity when adding new entries or editing existing ones, especially when you have multi-factor authentication, but it is always better to have a backup. One can argue that backing-up the database is enough. It is your choice. Mine is having two different password managers.

Firewall
Install Lulu or LittleSnitch for Macs or Glasswire for Windows. Preventing inbound network traffic is important, but equally important is knowing the traffic that originates from the computer. You'd be surprised how much data is being transferred by third-party applications!

Encrypted Storage
There is a high probability that students are using Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive (or both) provided by the school. It is best practice to not mix school and personal files. However, in some instances, you need to store personal files on the cloud, for convenience. Use rclone or Cryptomator to protect your personal files from being used to train Google's or Microsoft's machine learning models. *wink* With rclone and cryptomator, you are not limited to Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive as it supports other cloud storage providers.

Web Browser
Your operating system comes with a default web browser, either Safari or Edge. Personally, I am happy with Safari. If not Safari, I do recommend installing Firefox with UBlock Origin and Privacy Badger plug-ins. Stay away from Chrome, it is a surveillance tool for Google (it now blocks Ublock Origin).

Anti-virus
You cannot go wrong with Bitdefender, Malwarebytes or Sophos anti-virus software. Better be safe, right?

VPN
There are times when you are out and about and need to use the public WiFi - the rule of thumb is to always use a VPN. Whilst most sites use HTTPS, which means the data is encrypted, there are other network traffic that can still be sniffed by whoever operates the public wifi. I personally use ProtonVPN and Windscribe.

Messaging
Don't be tempted to use Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or Viber, on your computer; instead use Signal, the gold standard for cross-platform, full end-to-end encrypted messaging service. You will need to create your account on your smartphone first, and link it to your computer. As a plus, you can use Signal for video calls, too.

There you have it, some must-have software to install on your new computer. If you want better security and privacy, grab a pair of Yubikeys and replace your multi-factor authentication with a hardware-based one (or setup passkeys), and never use an SMS-based one. 

Let me know if I missed anything. Enjoy!