For the empowerment of humanity, I’ve compiled a listing of free and open source programs that I use frequently, or have found helpful. I’ve tried to keep the list fairly limited, so there’s a high probability that some of these may also work well for you.
System Utilities
Keep your system in good shape by running each of these once a month.
- Spybot Search & Destroy – Remove pesky spyware/adware/malware and other malicious web content.
- TrendMicro Housecall – A free online virus scanner (works best with IE).
- Avast Antivirus – Free ‘always on’ antivirus software. Perfect if your current antivirus license has expired.
- Disk Defragmenter – This comes with windows but a lot fo people don’t know it exists :) Run it frequently to keep your hard drive running efficiently.
- * For fantastic antivirus software reviews visit http://www.av-comparatives.org/
- * Other valuable advice on maintaining your computer http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=102215&rl=1.
Audio Editing and Management
- iTunes – I prefer the iTunes interface and appreciate how it sorts my music into folders by artist (makes it easy to backup).
- Audacity – Audio editor.
- Mp3myMp3 – Saves as an mp3 any audio coming from your computer.
Image Editing and Management
- Picasa – Google’s image editor and managment tool.
- Gimp – Photoshop minus filters and layer blending options.
- Screen Hunter HoverSnap – Copys whatever is displayed on your computer screen to an image file.
Internet Tools
- Firefox – The original fast, free, customizable, standards compliant web browser
- Aardvark – A firefox addition that lets you delete unwanted content (say an annoying banner add).
- Google Preview – A firefox plugin that gives a thumbnail version of each site in google’s search results.
- Forecast Fox – Adds weather firefox’s menu.
[UPDATE: apparently forecast fox has a fairly significant memory leak and I have thus removed it from firefox, suggestions for a replacement are warmly appreciated.]
- Thunderbird – An email manager developed by the same folks as firefox.
- Mozbackup – Backup your firefox and thunderbird settings (MUCH easier than backing up windows software)
- ZoneAlarm – Firewall utility (limits what programs are accessing your internet connection).
Web Development Tools
- Firefox – The web browser of choice.
- Web Developer – Tools useful for web development troubleshooting and testing.
- Html Validator – Checks if your xhtml is valid.
- MeasureIt – Measure screen dimensions.
- Colorzilla – Copy a color from the screen.
- Php Designer- XHTML, CSS, PHP editor.
- Filezilla – FTP program.
- Xenu – Test to see if you site has any broken links
- HTTtrack – Copy a complete website to your hardrive.
- TopStyle – CSS editor (lite version).
Office and Productivity Tools
- Open Office – Sun Microsystem’s free competitor to MS Office.
- PrimoPDF – Converts any document into a pdf, including webpages.
So that’s my list. Please be sure to leave a response if you have any other programs you think I should be aware of or if there is something in particular you don’t see but would find useful.
UPDATE: For more programs check out The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities
