Look ma, no software!

One of the inherent problems of the Windows operating systems (and here Mac users can justifiably feel smug) is what is called the Registry. All software installed on the computer is controlled through the Registry, which is rather flaky and subject to things going wrong. If you are having persistent software problems, there's a strong chance the Registry is involved. When you uninstall software, often artifacts are left behind in the Registry which can't easily be removed, etc, etc. It is a no-go area for anyone except experts, because if you make the wrong changes, your whole system can crash.
So here comes the revelation: it is possible to run your computer with NO SOFTWARE installed except the operating system and whatever else Microsoft has loaded on, and do everything you would normally use a computer for. There are at least three ways you can do this.
1) Many open-source projects have been developing what they call Portable Applications. You can load them onto a memory stick/flash drive, and they will work without being installed on the computer. There's quite a list available now - here's one sample which includes such functions as web browser, email program, word processor, media player, spreadsheets.
2) Use web-based applications. These provide all the functionality of installed software, but you load nothing onto your computer. Probably the best-known is Google Docs, a package including a word processor and spreadsheet. But there are thousands of others which can perform just about every function you could wish for. The website Simple Spark has a very comprehensive list, and there are others.
3) Use a Linux disk. Many computer magazines include a disk loaded with one of the many variants of the Linux operating system. You don't actually load Linux on to your computer - simply pop the disk in the DVD drive and away you go. At the end of the session, you eject the disk and nothing is left on the computer except any documents you have saved (and which you can access again the same way at any future time). Most Linux distributions contain a big number of applications, covering all the things you would probably want to do.