Picture 1 of 46
Picture 1 of 46
The best things in life are free, at least when it comes to Windows
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For many software developers and publishers, nothing is better than a paying customer. Money is always a great reward, and some of the most widely used software today was the end result of significant time and capital investment.
There are hundreds of software developers and publishers who willingly make their work available for free. Some of them are complements for paid products or services. Others are reincarnated free versions of formerly commercial software. In many cases, freeware providers just want to make a meaningful contribution, without any expectation of compensation or financial reward.
Here are 45 different free applications, programs, and utilities for Windows. We hope you find them as useful as we do! Take note: we'll be updating this space as we come across new and useful software, but you can also contribute by leaving your recommendations as comments below.
Not a bad list. Paint.net and Notepad++ (for anyone doing any programming) are especially useful. I think I'd add Irfanview for image editing as well (it has excellent batch processing abilities if you want to resize or rename a large number of pictures). Media Player Classic - Home Cinema is also rather nice for playing videos.
MPC-HC, coupled with ffdshow, can playback almost everything VLC can. However, VLC can also stream video, convert them, dump broadcasts to file and even rip DVDs and be driven through the command line (ideal for a batch convert).
I wonder though, why Paint .Net and not the Gimp?
How about Secunia PSI to keep all of these customized apps updated with all the latest bug fixes and security patches?
Hey Rico! you been peeking at my PC?
I like your list. Good job putting this together so we can share it with others.
That only one I might suggest adding is Windows Live Essentails 2011.
+1 for unlocker.
IZArc - 7zip does everything IZArc does, and it works in every OSes so no need for IZArc.
TreeSize Free - WinDirStat does the same as TreeSize Free but is completely free and not a free version of a shareware.
Defraggler - Sometimes does not defrag the hdd even though you want to defrag it cause it needs it. Furthermore there is no log options. So JKdefrag does a better job and has logging options. Also running it via command prompt gives more control than what defraggler can give you in command prompt.
Audacity - For years I've been using Goldwave instead of Audacity. Also it have loads of functionality that audacity misses completely.
Everything else is pretty much the best and they are NEEDED these days. You forgot CCCP as we all need every codecs for playback via VLC or any other software.
Don't know... maybe because Gimp has horrible interface and last time it took me 10 minutes to simply find where I need to change the resolution?
Probably just me, though.
P.S. K-Lite >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> VLC.
Launchy... I think I'll just stick with my built-in start menu. Pretty much everything I need, other than searching.
P.S. You don't have to click anyting to open the start menu... hit the Windows Key to open it and start typing (for Windows Vista and 7).
Got it, got it, got it, ooh something new to play with... :~) Seriously nice list tho
I'd recommend PotPlayer over VLC.
IrfanView is a good alternative to Picasa.
I haven't used Defraggler, but MyDefrag (former JKDefrag) does a very good job.
Notepad++ is the best text editor there is, though there are some things from SciTE that I miss.
I forgot about TortoiseSVN, developer's best friend.
As great as VLC is on older OSs I find that WMP is better than VLC on Win7 and Visa systems. It just causes so many noticeable problems with interlacing, even on progressive content. It use to be the best thing out there... but now it takes longer to load, longer to mount a file to play, is weird about subtitle and audio tracks, and generally does not play back as smooth as other players out there. When WMP does a better job then you know you are in troubble.
Very useful list
7-Zip is my extractor of choice, It's rare to recommend an application to supplement it, but for pure file extraction throw in ExtractNow http://www.extractnow.com/ for a great light-weight batch extractor.
No mention of Opera is sad, when you start packing on tabs it shines. Good research papers are by no means written with only one tab open for reference.
Can anyone recomend a free (or low cost) video editor? I would like to do some basic cut and splice of video clips i have films with my camera.
You forgot WinDirStat and Avira Free Antivirus.
MOZILLA FIREFOX 5.0... YES....I USE IT!
WinDirStat does the same as TreeSize Free but is completely free and not a free version of a shareware
Thanks for the tip there. TreeSize fell over when I tried scan a networked drive. But WinDirStat is busily scanning away.
Kind of concerned and unsure though of the media format patent issues with the media converters.
i find myself pirating less and less as better prgms come out free. It's amazing that free programs like vlc, 7zip, daemon tools (you only need the light version), img burn and notepad++ actually work better than paid programs.
Free AVs still need a lot of work though. Strangely, free AVs that only cover a portion of problems (MalwareBytes, SpyBot, etc) actually work quite well. Free avast/avg though... bleh.
Word processors and the like also need work. I tried switching to open office about a year ago and didn't survive an hour.