Windows Freeware Picks

Programs will be updated over the next few days (5.27.08)

Audio

• Audacity - sound editor
• dBpowerAMP Music Converter - convert between mp3, mp4, Windows Media Audio (wma), Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC and many others
• Real Alternative - play Real Audio/Video files & streams without the hassle of downloading and registering the official Real Player
• QuickTime Alternative - allows you to play QuickTime files (.mov, .qt, .3gp and other extensions) without having to install the official QuickTime Player. It also supports QuickTime content that is embedded in webpages.
• VLC - the swiss-army knife of audio players

Backup

• Mozy - 2GB online backup for free
• Cobian Backup - see my full review

CD/DVD Utilities

• CDBurner XP Pro - CD/DVD burning program
• ISO Recorder - disk image burning that integrates with Windows explorer

Communication

• Crossloop - remote assistance
• Pidgin - ad free instant messenging client compatible with AOL, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN
• Google Talk - great voice chat; text chat too, also chat within GMail!

Core Programs

• AVG Antivirus - free anti-virus protection
• Foxit Reader - lightweight pdf viewer
• GIMP - image editor/creator
• Java Runtime- necessary to run the many Java applets you will encounter on the internet (choose the Runtime edition)
• Mozilla Firefox - quality web browser
• Mozilla Thunderbird- great Outlook alternative
• Notepad++- text editor with syntax highlighting and more
• OpenOffice- compatible with Microsoft Office file formats
• PDFCreator- createPDF files from any application from which you can print (choose the first version: GPLGhostscript) [note: not Vista compatible]
• Weather Watcher - get your local forecast in the system tray

Disk Utilities

• Partimage - disk imaging utility

File Management

• 7zip - file archiver supporting most popular file formats
• GMail drive extension - this nifty tool allows you to store files on your 2GB gmail account
• MyUninstaller - allows you to uninstall an application, delete an uninstall entry, etc.

Power Toys

• Windows XP Powertoys - ClearType Tuner, Alt-Tab Replacement, Tweak UI

System Info Utilities

• Belarc Advisor - builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware
• Motherboard Monitor - keep track of your PC’s internal temperature, voltage, & fan speed
• Nero InfoTool - get info about your CD drives & CDs
• System Information - standalone utility
• WCPUID - displays CPU information: frequency, multiplier, chipset info, etc.

Web Development/Programming

• FileZilla- FTP client
• Eclipse - popular IDE for Java
• PSPad - code editor with built in FTP Client
• xampp - an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl plus utilities like phpmyadmin to manage the setup
• WinSCP - Free SFTP and FTP client for Windows
• TortoiseSVN - integrates with Windows explorer