Top Freeware Applications / Software (That’s Right — Entirely Free!)

I think free software is simply awesome. You get so much functionality and power out-of-the-box, and most of the time, these software developers are really passionate about what they do, and even release frequent updates. Here’s a list of my top freeware applications. There are some programs that I just have to pay for, so I’m not including them in this list.

• FileZilla is an open source FTP client with a full set of features. It rivals commercial-grade software in its functionality, and is user-friendly with an attractive UI.
• Audacity is a powerful audio editing software, great for recording music, tweaking sound files and also for podcasts.
• Winamp is a great music player for those looking for a alternative to the relatively bloated and slow “iTunes”. It’s the defacto audio player that supports almost all kinds of audio formats and is extensible through the use of plugins.
• Miranda is a fast and lightweight all-in-one messenger that uses very little resources. It is plugin-driven and you can enable support for MSN, AIM, ICQ, JABBER(G-Mail Chat), YAHOO, and even IRC out-of-the-box. Great piece of software, especially if you are using more than one messenger service.
• Paint.Net is a free image editing software that’s incredibly easy to use and powerful as well. For those of you who don’t have Photoshop and don’t want to use GIMP, this is the best you can get.
• UltraVNC is a remote desktop control software. It comes in 2 parts - a server and a client. You run the server on a computer that you want to control, and run the client anywhere else that you want to control the server computer from. With this freeware, you can remotely do anything with your computer - it’s just like you were there physically.
• TrueCrypt provides industry-standard encryption features that enables encryption of any drive. The cool thing is that you can create hidden volumes, and as you move files to that drive, the files encrypt automatically. TrueCrypt is great for keeping important information away from prying eyes.
• Skype is a voice over IP (VOIP) program. While pc-to-pc calls are usually free, and are supported by many other instant messenging services, Skype actually allows pc-to-landline or landline-to-pc calls at a cheap price.
• Antivir is a powerful anti-virus software that’s lightweight and uses very little resources. The Personal Edition is free, and comparison studies have shown Antivir to perform better than AVG and Avast! in terms of virus detection.
• ImgBurn is the answer to people who find Nero to be a little too overwhelming. Fast and lightweight, this is a great free program for burning CDs/DVDs.
• VLC Player is incredible because it can play almost any video formats that you throw at it, out-of-the-box! It supports subtitles and screenshotting, and also can play files with multiple sound streams.

If I’m looking for a software that doesn’t have a freeware version, I usually check out online software download sites that offer a list of commercial software.

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14 Mar 08 | Cool Stuff, Main, Reviews, Technology, The Big Net, Tips, Windows | Comments (0)