What is your favourite freeware?

[CoffeeCat]

I know there are quite a few legally free computer programs out there for a variety of things.... what are some of the more useful, interesting ones you've come across and use often? I am not looking for anything specific.... just wondering. I'd like to try a few new programs (applications, tools, whatever), but don't know exactly what's out there and available.

Sorry this is so vague -- I just wanted to leave it open-ended. :)

[SammeyDW]

These are ones I use on a regular bases.

Wavosaur (http://www.wavosaur.com/) (Portable)- Single track sound editor

Audacity Portable (http://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/audacity_portable)- Multi - track mixer

Note: I personally use a 'tag team' of Audacity and Wavosaur. Meaning that I will mix the sound in Audacity and then 'clean up' the final sound in Wavosaur.
But you don't have to use them like I do. They both work great as by themselves.
I just use them this way because of what I need , and what one excels in the other lacks.
But do what works the best for you.

Firefox Portable (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable)- Browser that is way more secure then ie (and way better in performance if you ask me.).

Openoffice Portable (http://portableapps.com/apps/office/openoffice_portable)- Office suite that basically measures up to m$ office 97 and more

GIMP Portable (http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/gimp_portable)- a good free alt to photoshop

BPBilble Portable (http://portableapps.com/apps/education/bpbible_portable) - A great small Bible program

7zip Portable (http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/7-zip_portable) - It can uncompress zips, tars, rars, and much more.

E-sword (http://www.e-sword.net/) - Not portable but is a free and very good Bible program.


With the exception of E-sword all of the programs can be installed on to a computer's Hard Drive, USB stick / thumb drive, or whatever.
E-sword is the only one that can only be installed on a computer's Hard Drive.

[th1bill]

The Ubuntu operating system. It is point and click, just like Windows but it runs about four times faster on the same machine and when Windows is loaded inside Ubuntu, Windows runs three times faster. Another good point about Ubuntu is that it is safe to run on the internet without a firewall and without anti-virus software. Then when you add the fact that it comes with a complete, professional quality, office system that is Windows Systems compatible it really is worth mentioning that there are over four thousand packages available for no more expense than a point and click to install that do anything any Windows Apps will do. It also comes with Gimp installed and Gimp is the equivalent of the $700 dollar Photo-Shop. If you never download another package you have saved over a thousand dollars by just installing Ubuntu.

[tango]

e-sword is great.

Another free package I like is TrueCrypt. It lets you create a virtual disk volume inside a file, and the file is encrypted. You can call the file anything you want to help it blend in so it's not immediately obvious. It also lets you do things like encrypt your entire boot volume, but I haven't experimented with that just yet. It's great because it means if your hard drive dies and has to be sent away, nobody can recover your files.

[ƒσяєяυииєя]

I do use a few of them:

Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/intl/en/): lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and even explore galaxies in the Sky. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places and share with others.

CCleaner: (http://www.ccleaner.com/) is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)

Paltalk: (http://www.paltalk.com/) Instant Messaging, Group Video Calls & Chat Rooms — All in One. In my case i use it not that often to practice english and learn:hmm:

Any Video Converter: (http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/)To get videos from Youtube and put them in some format that fits in a DVD, i have not used it in a while.

And some more for security as Spybot Search and Destroy etc

Have a nice time:D

[tom4jesus]

The Ubuntu operating system. It is point and click, just like Windows but it runs about four times faster on the same machine and when Windows is loaded inside Ubuntu, Windows runs three times faster. ...

Linux is great, but there are more then 300 verities of Linux, not just Ubuntu.
see distrowatch.com

Puppylinux is my favorite, and it runs a lot faster then Ubuntu, and runs on older hardware too.

Additionally, To clarify, you can use a program called "wine" that does allow you to run "some" windows programs in Linux, but it does not always work that well and there is a lot of setting up you have to do to get it to work. What it basically does is run windows programs in a virtual folder, and not always that well.
I had e-sword running in Ubuntu (I have tried many versions of Linux) but only after a difficult installation that included my having to get missing .dll files directly from Microsoft to put in the e-sword directory. I got the info on how to do it from the Ubuntu forums, and I enjoy doing things like that, but that is not always for the average user.
You would be very disappointed if you think you can use all your windows software on Linux, you can't.
I don't want people to have the wrong impression that you can just pop a windows program into a computer running Linux, It does not work that way.
I am all for promoting Linux, but please be honest with people.

However, Linux does have plenty of it's own software that is great.
I don't use any windows programs myself, and am very happy not too. ;-)

[bdh]

I'm a big Windoze fan myself. I used it to download Linux!

[HisLeast]

Freemind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) (link to download)

This is a "mind mapping" tool that really changed the way I work. It helps you organically organize your thoughts. Its part notepad, part planner, part project manager, ALL AWESOME.

I use it every day, and has become my default application for taking notes and minutes or for helping me flesh out ideas and projects.

EDIT: I made about an hour of free video tutorials for the application as well, so if you're interested, PM me.

[possumliving]

I'm a freeware junkie! LOL

So here are some of my favorites:

Quick Bible Amplified

Editpad

Wordfinder

Spybot S&D

Highjack This

AVG

Ebookwriter that's an oldie

I wish, I still had half the freeware that I used to have but I don't because of old viruses/trojans I downloaded about a decade ago.

I used to have some really awesome games and stuff that I just can't find anymore.

As for anything Linux related, BARF! I've installed some of it and I still like my Photoshop and Illustrator just fine thank you very much. And the operating system..I got it and didn't install it. I figured after testing out the photoshop replacement, it wasn't worth my time to even install it.

Steph

[Paul_born_again]

Many of my favorites are already mentioned in the posts above, so I won't repeat.

The only one I will add to the list is VLC Player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/). It's a great free alternative to windows media player, and I have never had any codec issues or error messages when trying to play videos with it.

[WonderWoman4Jesus]

Spybot Search and Destroy- Really great, I love it

Firefox

Open Office

AVG (Computer guys put this on my laptop and PC)

[bdh]

7zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) is something everyone needs. It does zip, rar, ace, tar, gzip and more.

Putty (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/%7Esgtatham/putty/download.html) is something I use every day but I guess it's not something most would use. It also has a really cool buddy (http://puttycm.free.fr/) to run multiple instances in a single window.

Almost forgot Foxit (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader_2/reader-interstitial.html) PDF reader. It's only about 2MB small and is not a resource hog like Adobe that installs a whole bunch of other useless resource-hungry junk you don't need.