Free Software

[Torin]

This list is for those of us that don't have lots of cash, or just prefer to use open source and freeware programs. They are what I have found along the way, and deemed to be worth my time. There are absolutely more programs than what is in my list, but I have kept it short intentionally. Many of these work just as well or better than commercial programs. Some of them have basic features or settings that are more than sufficient for typical use, with full or advanced features being unlocked if you choose to purchase the full version. Regardless of your reason for needing them, these programs can legally be had for free. I will be updating this list from time to time.

Leave a post to let us know what you think of this list. Please also leave a comment if you have any suggestions for programs that you think should be added, updated, replaced, or if you find a broken link. If you want to share this list with someone, you may use this link: http://bit.ly/jdPRdE.

• Games
  • MMO
    • EverQuest 2 Extended
      
    • Runes of Magic
      
    
    
• Internet
  • Browsers
    • Chromium variants (based on Google Chrome)
      • SRWare Iron
      • Comodo Dragon
      • RockMelt
      • ChromePlus
        
    • Firefox
    • Opera
    • SeaMonkey is an all-in-one Internet application suite.
      
    
    
• Multimedia
  • Audio
    • MediaMonkey
      
  • Image
    • Gimp
    • Inkscape
    • Paint.NET
      
  • Video
    • DVD Decrypter DVD Ripping and Backup. Does NOT compress video, it simply does a 1:1 backup.
    • DVDshrink DVD Ripping and Backup. Can "shrink" a dual layer DVD so that it fits onto a single layer DVD. (Official support forum is here. You can find guides here, here, and here.) Downloads can be found here, here, and here.
    • Media Player Classic
    • VideoLAN
      
    
    
• Office
  • LibreOffice is the free power-packed Open Source personal productivity suite for Windows, Macintosh and Linux, that gives you six feature-rich applications for all your document production and data processing needs: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base.
  • Lightning (Thunderbird plugin) Add calendaring functions to Thunderbird.
  • SumatraPDF is a slim, free, open-source PDF reader for Windows.
  • Thunderbird is an email and social messaging system.
  • WordWeb Dictionary & Thesaurus.
    
  
  
• Security
  • Antispyware
    • Ad-Aware
    • Spybot Search & Destroy
      
  • Antivirus
    • AVG (real-time protection)
    • BitDefender (on demand scanner)
    • ThreatFire (real-time protection) protects your system from core changes. Use this at the same time as your antivirus of choice.
      
  • Password
    • KeePass is a password vault.
    • LastPass (browser plugin)
      
  • Firewall
    • Comodo
    • PC Tools Firewall Plus
    • ZoneAlarm
      
    
    
• System
  • 7-zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio.
  • Allway Sync data synchronization and backup.
  • DiskLED is a flexible hard disk and general system activity indicator system tray applet.
    
  • Rescue Boot Disc
    • BitDefender Rescue CD is a graphical (GUI) based system that can be used after a virus attack to repair and clean up your computer from outside of its running environment (which allows for a more accurate repair). If the computer from which the repair disc is booting is connected to the Internet, then the repair CD can also update it's virus definition database before you start the repair process.
    • The Ultimate Boot CD uses a text based GUI/command line and consolidates as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD.
    • The Ultimate Boot CD for Windows uses a GUI, and contains software used for repairing, restoring, or diagnosing almost any computer problem.
    • Rescatux is a GUI system that helps you to repair your Master Boot Record (MBR) for both Linux Grub (1 & 2) and the Windows MBR. It can also scan and repair your file system. Use this on dual boot (Linux, Windows) systems to restore the Linux Grub boot menu when you had to reinstall/restore Windows and now your Linux is not showing up in the boot menu.