In no particular order:

• Mozilla Firefox
• TrueCrypt
• Winamp
• CCleaner
• Notepad2
• VLC media player
• PuTTY
• ClamWin
• FileZilla
• VirtualDub

I'm always looking for new useful software, so I thought this would be a good way to see what everybody else likes.

Mozilla Thunderbird
OpenOffice
jEdit
PrimoPDF
WinSCP
Eclipse / Aptana
Skype
Trillian
ImgBurn
7-Zip

I couldn't come up with just 10, mainly because some of the freeware programs are complementary to each other. In other words, it would make no sense to use one without the other.

SECURITY
Adaware
AVG
ZoneAlarm
TrueCrypt
Eraser

BACKUP/DISASTER RECOVERY
DriveImageXML
xxClone

SYSTEM-INFO/DIAGNOSTICS/REPAIR
Ultimate Boot CD
SIW
SpeedFan
WhatsRunning
Sysinternals suite of tools (now Microsoft)
Knoppix
PartitionLogic
DeadDiskDoctor
CopyItAnyway

ALTERNATIVES TO MAJOR WINDOWS 'BUILT-INS'
OpenOffice (and TomahawkPDF+)
Firefox (+ multiple plug-ins)
Thunderbird
XYplorer
IRfanview + Paint.NET
KMplayer (Kang Mplayer)
7-zip

MULTIMEDIA
NeroExpress/CDburnerXP + NeroRecode
(note: CDburnerXP supports DVD .iso on WinXP, where Microsoft's isorecorder only supports CD burning on WinXP, and limits DVD burning support to Vista)
DVDshrink32
Audacity+LAME
Alcohol 52%

OTHER
FreeDownloadManager (download accelerator)
TrayIt!
Xpadder
CrossHair
TotalUninstaller
CCleaner
FoxIt
Zoom feature of Intellimouse software (easily configured/dynamically altered)

I also point you to several sources of info on even more good freeware alternatives. In no particular order
There are others, but these are my top recommendations.

HWA System Utilities Thread
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/68699/

The Top 50 Proprietary Programs that Drive You Crazy — and Their Open Source Alternatives
http://whdb.com/2008/the-top-50-proprietary-programs-that-driv...ernatives/

The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities (Gizmo/Ian Richards)
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

MajorGeeks
http://majorgeeks.com/ (the site owners really work at ensuring safe, accurately declared (freeware/triawarerl/adware/shareware/etc) software)

OpenDisc Project
A new effort is replacing the old OpenCD project. It appears to have better support and user participation. OpenDisc provides on one CD, a huge number of freeware/open-source programs suitable to set up just about any environment you want on a PC (office, graphics, video, etc) The latest download .iso is almost 600mb. If you prefer, you can buy a copy of the CD for under US$2. One of the stated main goals of OpenDisc is "To provide a free alternative to costly software, with equal or often better quality equivalents to proprietary, shareware or freeware software for Microsoft Windows."
http://theopendisc.com/programs/
http://www.theopendisc.com/forum/
http://theopendisc.com/latest-version/







edit to add--
OpenDisc project reference. I was going to recommend the OpenCD project, but found it no longer active. Then thanks to Ian Richards, I found OpenDisc had effectively superceded their work.

Here are a few of my favs.Im using a 90 trail version of norton right now instead of Avast but i will be going back to Avast as soon as my 90 day trail ends

Mihov image resizer
http://www.mihov.com/eng/ir.html
7zip
http://www.7-zip.org/
DVD43
http://www.dvd43.com/
ISO Recorder v 2
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm
Avast
http://www.avast.com/eng/free_virus_protectio.html

Vitaliy (Administrator) said:


McFly said:


Other then the well know software like FireFox, Winamp you think you guys could go into more detail about each software, and or if available a homepage link? Like jEdit, Eclips, ImgBurn, ClamWin for example I've never heard of those at all.

Soul1601 said:
Details, homepage links, download links, etc. you're looking for can for the most part be very easily found at download sites such as majorgeeks.com, download.com, etc.


While more details would involve less research work by the reader, I think it was very nice of the guys to take the time to think about and provide any list at all.

Also, by going on your own details treasure hunt (aka "research") you might find even more useful stuff you can use.

john albrich said:


An I understand fully what you mean when you say that. But when you get a description of a program from a user, you generally get a better idea of what the program is really good for. Like for example when you ask a user of firefox what they think of firefox, they generally will always mention Ad-ons/plug-ins for it. Usually by name. Like when I tell people about firefox I mention Adblock Plus an how great it is at blocking ads.

for example I just did a google search for jEdit, I now know its a Programmer text editor. Thats great, I want to know why I should use the software. the website tells me.....
"jEdit is a mature programmer's text editor with hundreds (counting the time developing plugins) of person-years of development behind it. To download, install, and set up jEdit as quickly and painlessly as possible, go to the Quick Start page."
Thats fine and dandy now I know jEdit is a evolving software that is easy to install... Great, but that doesn't tell me whats so good about it. Having someone give a quick sentence or two about the software will help give readers a better idea of what it is if they have never heard of it, and give them an idea of whats so good about it. (usually) Because when talking about software you like, in brief detail you dont talk about what you dislike about it.
Get what I mean?

I use many of the freeware applications that have already been listed in this thread, but here's a few I didn't see mentioned.

Audio: Amarok (Windows version in development):
http://amarok.kde.org/

HDD Benchmark/Info: HD Tune
http://www.hdtune.com/download.html

My top 10 are: *Looks at desktop screen*

1. Mozilla Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
2. Zone Alarm Free Edition http://tinyurl.com/296pwe Best free Firewall IMO
3. AVG anti-virus http://free.grisoft.com/
4. CCleaner http://www.ccleaner.com/
5. Auslogics Disk-Defrag http://tinyurl.com/2ukbdv Excellent free defragger
6. Riva Turner http://www.majorgeeks.com/download737.html Best gpu tool IMO
7. uTorrent http://www.utorrent.com/
8. RegScrub XP http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048
9. AVG anti-spyware http://free.grisoft.com/
10. K-Lite Codec Pack http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

I vote that this thread be made a sticky. You can round up the most mentioned apps and put them before the 1st post.



Mothow said:

Isn't Avg better?

BTW that DVD43 is great for people who like to do movie backup, for those who can't buy AnyDVD that's a damn good choice. Thanks for Mihov resizer too.

Soul1601 said:
I'm pretty sure I do. The difficulty is it then becomes more than a simple list and defeats the entire purpose of an easily read list of stuff.

Insisting on more detail from the posters can turn them away..."too much work" syndrome. And, without those postings, some obscure totally cool program might be forever unknown to us.

You talked about adding a homepage link, then it's a description, then it's a review, then it's feature comparison tables, then it's OS compatability flags, then it's "where's the best/safest/most-up-to-date source?", then people start arguing about whether it's better to use X v. Y: blah, blah, woof, woof.


All those things can typically be easily found on-line, and often provide way more detail than the typical user could ever require.

Some places, like the ones I already referenced, try to do just the sort of thing you're talking about. They group/categorize, provide descriptive titles and detailed summaries, check for safety/ad-malware, often review, etc. I think these are where you should be looking for such details.

However, you might consider adding it to the "How Do We Improve HWA?" Thread.
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/71041/
Perhaps it would take the form of having someone(s) categorize and group all the entries in
"HWA System Utilities Thread"
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/68699/
accept reviews and 'user experiences' from HWA members, and provide an easily readable formatted summary of all the info gathered?

Personally, it seems like a lot of minimal return, for redundant re-invention type work to me.



From my earlier post (All of them provide decent descriptions of each program, my personal favorite for program comparisons is "Gizmo's" site because he compares them within a group):




edit to add- a bit of detail to the "How Do We Improve HWA?" item I mentioned

My two cents? This thread is a place for simple lists.