your 'for-free-Software' recommendations

[efoolution]

They are out there somewhere. Great software free of charge. Quite a lot actually, and (for me) it´s getting quite hard keeping up with all that new Stuff.

I´ve come along quite a lot of free Software I would recommend to anyone, and I wanted to ask you to tell me what you think are great Programs you could recommend that cost nothing more than ... nothing.

This includes Freeware, Shareware, free Software (yes, that´s different from Freeware or Open Source - apparently), GPL ... simply put: Stuff you don´t have to pay for in the first place.

I´ll start this ...

• Paint.net
  It´s not meant as a substitue for Photoshop like the Gimp, it´s more a basic editing tool for pictures and what it does, it does it well. IMO, it´s all a amateur-user will ever need.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.net
  
  
• Audacity
  Very good Audio-Editor that wouldn´t embarass a pro (IMO).
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audacity
  
  
• 7zip
  The only "packer" you´ll ever need (at this point of time ... can´t see into the future).
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7zip

[Solberg]

VLC media player

This is the best media player ever. It can play just about any format and even fix corrupted files. This means you can watch a video that is still being downloaded. By the way, it can also play subs.

Get it here:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

[geeman]

Inkscape
Vector based drawing
http://inkscape.org/

[bry789123]

Microsoft PowerToys
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx

very good stuff here, like virtual desktops and a graphing calculator

[Buba]

Mp3tag
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html

Can do anything you might want with Tags, also stuff like reading the filename and writing tags of it, multiple albumcovers support, ....

[the Interceptor]

XnView
excellent free picture viewer, basically ACDsee for free

Media Player Classic
an extemely versatile media player, much better than VLC!

Winamp 2.95
older, but definitely the best version of the free audio player

[cvrefugee]

AVG Free Edition

Ashampoo Burning Studio Free

VirtualDub

uTorrent

CCleaner

ImgBurn

DVD43

Firefox

Seagate Discwizard

[Karoug]

MoTeC i2 pro to GTR2, a little nerdy but fun!

[chaos386]

• Pidgin instant messaging client
  If you're like me, your friends are spread out among a bunch of different messaging protocols, and it'd be a hassle to keep AIM, MSN, YIM and Google Talk open all the time, so the smart thing is to keep them all in one application. You also don't have to deal with ads this way.
  http://www.pidgin.im/
  
  
• Avidemux
  A video converter similar to VirtualDubMod, but with a nicer interface and is available for more platforms. You can rip audio from video files, remux streams, reencode videos (with presets for PSP and iPod), apply audio and video filters, and even do batch processing.
  http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/
  
  
• FFMPEG
  If you've ever used VLC, Mplayer, Mencoder, or the FFDshow codec pack, you've been benefiting from FFMPEG code. FFMPEG itself is an incredibly powerful command-line converter tool. Compile it from source with the right flags and with the necessary libraries installed, and you can read and decode everything from AMR and AAC audio to FLV and Dirac video. I use FFMPEG with netpbm and gifsicle to generate animated GIFs from video.
  Homepage - http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/
  Windows binaries - http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/ffmpeg/
  
  
• Truecrypt
  Truecrypt is a tool for creating and using encrypted volumes. The volume can either be a file or a partition on a disk (in either case, a mounted volume will appear as a disk drive to the OS). Data is encrypted/unencrypted on the fly, so you don't have to worry about it accidentally being left "unlocked" in case of a power outage or removing an external drive too soon. The latest version can even encrypt your entire system partition for extra security.
  http://www.truecrypt.org/
  
  
• The Gnome desktop environment
  The DE of choice for many popular Linux and BSD distributions. Some may prefer KDE's more Windows-like appearance and better file dialogs, but I want interfaces to get out of the way and let me do stuff, so I prefer Gnome and its simpler approach to UI design.
  http://www.gnome.org/

[73GMCSprint]

Spyware Blaster - Helps keep spyware, etc. from getting on your PC in the first place http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Comodo Personal Firewall - I think I actually prefer ZoneAlarm (Pro, of course), but this works well once you get it configured the way you want it, and is free. http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/index.html

I also use Spybot and AdAware.

Exact Audio Copy - The best Cd ripper. Period. http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Razorlame - GUI for use with the LAME mp3 encoder. You'll also need to download the LAME files; you'll have to search around to download the pre-compiled codec, or PM me and I can send you a zip. (use it after you've ripped with EAC above ) http://www.dors.de/razorlame/

MP3Tag was already recommended or I'd put it here too

FileZilla - Great FTP client. Free FTP server also available from their site. http://filezilla-project.org/

The GIMP - Free, powerful Photoshop substitute. Much more complicated than Paint.NET, but much more powerful. http://www.gimp.org/

Scorched 3d - Just for fun http://www.scorched3d.co.uk/

[jeffy777]

GB-PVR: nice & free media center PVR software. Even allows you to stream your TV over the internet for when you're on the road:
http://www.gbpvr.com/

[MadCow809]

Originally Posted by Solberg

VLC media player

This is the best media player ever. It can play just about any format and even fix corrupted files. This means you can watch a video that is still being downloaded. By the way, it can also play subs.

Get it here:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

does it play RMVB and RM files?

[TechZ]

IrfanView - IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista.

[swek]

Foxit reader - A small and capable alternative to the bloat ware Acrobat Reader has become.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

[jeffy777]

Originally Posted by MadCow809

does it play RMVB and RM files?

I use Real Alternative for that:
http://codecguide.com/about_real.htm

Although personally, I haven't had to play a RealMedia file in a looooooooong time. Most sites have realized by now how lame RealMedia is.

[the Interceptor]

And there's Quicktime alternative, too:

http://www.codecguide.com/about_qt.htm

They're both based on the Media Player Classic I recommended earlier by the way.

[jayhawk]

Hijack This:
This helped me to track down the most stubborn virus I have received to date.

Spybot Search And Destroy.
Name implies all.

Trillian.
Trillian, like Pidgin IM client, is stupidly simple to use. I like it a lot.

[Lilleput]

Phun beta 3.0
It's a free 2D physics sandbox which is constantly being updated with new stuff, it's incredibly versatile and will eat many hours if you let it.

+ YouTube Video

[Solberg]

That is awesome!

Thanks for posting.

+ rep for you

[American TG Man]

ReBirth RB-338 - It used to be retail software, but the disk image has been made freeware. It's a software synthesizer which simulates the Roland TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines, and the TB-303 synthesizer (in fact, you get two in the software). Takes a bit of practice (the drum machines are the easiest), and has a rather complicated installation procedure (you need to find CD authoring software that lets you burn .iso files), but it's a fun little program, especially if you are into electronic music.

Pivot - A simple stick figure animating program, it lets you animate .gifs of stick figures. Plus, you can use it to create your own videos, just compile those .gifs together in movie maker, add sound effects, and there you go. There is an official 2.2.5 version, but I prefer using the 3.1 beta, as it allows the use of sprites, and I've found my animations come out better with the beta.