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 Open Source Software - Shareware - Freeware Sites | ||
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| PCMag's Shareware Library | Searchable, categories of shareware and freeware. | |
| TUCOWS Home | The Ultimate Collection of Windows & Internet Software (fast downloads, updated daily, rated, includes Mac shareware) | |
| MS's Free Downloads | Free software, mostly Internet-related software & add-ons to MS-Office products - if you use MS Office, you will probably find several desirable items here. | |
| download.com for the PC | Searchable, categories. | |
| PCWorld's downloads | Searchable, categories. | |
| DIRfile.com | Home of 6200+ FREEWARE Software. Searchable, categories. | |
| WinPlanet | Windows software downloads and reviews | |
| Softpedia.com | Program descriptions, rated, searchable. A new competitor in the freeware/shareware repository domain. | |
| Fileforum | Searchable, categories. | |
| Simtel.Net | A worldwide distribution network for Shareware, Freeware, and Public Domain software. | |
| Sourceforge.net | "The world's largest Open Source software development website, with the largest repository of Open Source code and applications available on the Internet." | |
| filehippo.com | Free software downloads | |
| Jumbo's Shareware Collection | Nicely classified, with program descriptions | |
| IT Pro Downloads | Shareware/freeware site, includes Mac | |
| SnapFiles | Formerly WebAttack, no longer limited to Internet related software | |
| Nonags Freeware/Shareware | "A collection of Windows software that has no nags, no time limits, no disabled features or any other tricks" | |
| Pass The Shareware | New shareware | |
| SoftwareOutlet | Not shareware, but very good prices on commerical software. | |
| FreeSoftwareMagazine | Free Software Magazine is the free online magazine about free software. It is free to subscribe, free to download and free to read online. | |
| Internet Browsers | ||
| Find Browsers | Links to commonly used browsers, sorted by version and OS | |
| Firefox Browser 3.6 | New features: and much more... | |
| Chrome 5.0 from Google | Google's very own browser. Has a lot of features to like, including improved handling of Javascript-heavy sites, like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Google Docs. No need for the Google toolbar - it's built-in! Just type search terms in the address box and press enter! Now the fastest browser, also the safest. | |
| Internet Explorer 8 | Promises better ease of use (lots has changed in the interface), including tabbed browsing, "better security," add-ins (Firefox-type extensions). | |
| File Formats/File Compression | ||
| jZip | "Create, extract and manipulate Zip, RAR, TAR, GZip, 7-Zip and other file archives, absolutely FREE for everybody, home and enterprise users, easy to use and fast archiving software." | |
| Wotsit's Format | "File format information on hundreds of different file types and all sorts of other useful programming information; algorithms, source code, specifications, etc." | |
| Graphics File Formats | Definitions, links to articles, software on graphics file formats - excellent! | |
| A Manual to Graphic File Formats | Short guide to the most common graphics file formats | |
| The File Extension Source | "A detailed database of file extensions and programs that use them" | |
| "Every File Format in the World" | "This is a list of file name extension or suffixes that indicate the format or usage of a file and a brief description of that format." | |
| Audio/Video Players & Files | ||
| VideoLAN | "A free cross-platform media player, supports a large number of multimedia formats, without the need for additional codecs. It can also be used as a streaming server, with extended features (video on demand, on the fly transcoding, ...)" Highly recommended - much simpler and easier to use than Windows Media Player - with a much smaller system resource footprint. | |
| Windows Media Player | MS's media players. | |
| Winamp | One of the best MP3 audio player on the 'net -- and it's free! | |
| MusicMatch Jukebox | "You get all you need to take a song from a CD or digital file, encode it to MP3 and play it... in one easy to use package!" | |
| RealNetworks | Home of RealPlayer streaming multimedia | |
| Shockwave Players | Plug-in for viewing streamed multimedia content | |
| Flash Players | Plug-in for viewing streamed multimedia content | |
| QuickTime | QuickTime for Windows Home Page | |
| free-codecs.com | Great source for Codecs | |
| WindowsMedia.com | MS media content | |
| Juice Receiver | "Want to listen to internet audio programs but can't when they are scheduled? This program lets you create your own custom online audio anytime, anywhere. Really." | |
| mp3Trim | Freeware - "This software cleans up and removes unwanted parts of your MP3s." | |
| Anti-virus Software - Virus References/FAQs | ||
| Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition | Sets a new technological standard for virus/spyware/malware protection. See the PC Mag review. I now recommend Cloud over all other anti-virus products. Requires free and easy email registration. | |
| Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware | "Can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect." Highly recommended - a fast and powerful anti-malware application. | |
| Avast Home Edition | "The product combines first-class detection rates and ease of use with a top performance that protects your computer safely and hardly burdens older PCs." | |
| AVG Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware Free Edition Version 9 | "Get your free copy of the AVG Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware System - AVG Free Edition and you will be able to use it without any limitations for life of the product. You can download free updates to get the latest program virus/spyware databases." | |
| Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition | "The product combines first-class detection rates and ease of use with a top performance that protects your computer safely and hardly burdens older PCs." | |
| SUPERAntiSpyware FREE Edition | "Can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect." | |
| Spyware Terminator | Fast spyware scanning 100%, real-time protection, HIPS protection, Antivirus protection. All in one free package! Does excellent analysis of running and installed programs to show you potential threats. Highly recommended. | |
| ClamWin | "ClamWin is a Free Antivirus for Microsoft Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003. It provides a graphical user interface to the Clam AntiVirus engine." Works on W2K3 server. Much slower than commercial products, but you can't argue with the price! | |
| Spybot - Search & Destroy | "Can detect and remove a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer." Donationware. | |
| McAfee | Virus info. | |
| VirusPortal | "A free portal dedicated completely to the phenomenon of computer viruses. It contains information and solutions that can prevent these malicious programs from attacking. VirusPortal is a Global Virus Observatory that allows you to monitor, in real-time, the virus status worldwide." | |
| Anti-Virus Course | Free "two-hour basic course, through which you will acquire a basic knowledge on viruses and on how to be protected against them." Part of Panda's Anti-Virus Encyclopedia. | |
| Virustotal | "A free service of suspicious file scanning, using several antivirus engines." | |
| Symantec Virus Encyclopedia | Symantec's AntiVirus Research Center's Online Encyclopedia offers the most up-to-date information on recent threats, detailed in their threat list. You may search their encyclopedia for a comprehensive description of viruses. Also you may consult their info on Virus Hoaxes. | |
| HouseCall | Trend Micro's free on-line virus scanner | |
| Virus Encyclopaedia | "Written by the famous virus researcher, contains detailed info about more than 30,000 known viruses, along with virus classification, and common methods of virus detection and disinfection." | |
| Of interest to MS Office users | ||
| MS Office Tools on the Web | From MS - Office updates, "how-to" articles, and tips | |
| MS Office Templates | From MS - Office templates - for Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access | |
| Design Gallery Live | From MS - clipart & photos for use in Office | |
| vitalnews.com | Home of WordTips and ExcelTips | |
| MS Office 2003 Service Pack 2 | "Office 2003 Service Pack 2 contains significant security enhancements, in addition to stability and performance improvements." | |
| PowerPoint 2003 Add-in: Microsoft Producer | Free add-in for PowerPoint users. "Producer 2003 provides users with many powerful new features that make it easier to synchronize audio, video, slides, and images to create engaging and effective rich-media presentations." | |
| MS Office File Converters and Viewers | "Converters allow you to open files created by people using different versions of your Office programs. Viewers provide a means for people who don't have Office programs to see your work. You can provide them with the appropriate viewer along with your Office files." | |
| Some useful Windows shareware/freeware | ||
| Advanced SystemCare Free | "Advanced SystemCare Free has a one-click approach to helping protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC. With over 20,000,000 downloads since 2006, this fantastic, award-winning, free program is a "must-have" tool for your computer, 100% safe and clean with no adware, spyware, or viruses." Wow!!! What a terrific product! Free and highly recommended. The best utility of its type I have ever seen. | |
| Glary Utilities | "Offers numerous powerful and easy-to-use system tools and utilities to fix, speed up, maintain and protect your PC. It allows you to clean common system junk files, as well as invalid registry entries and Internet traces. You can manage and delete browser add-ons, analyze disk space usage and find duplicate files. You can also view and manage installed shell extensions, encrypt your files from unauthorized access and use, split large files into smaller manageable files and then rejoin them. Furthermore, Glary Utilities includes the options to optimize memory, find, fix, or remove broken Windows shortcuts, manage the programs that start at Windows startup and uninstall software. Other features include secure file deletion, an Empty Folder finder and more." Now superceded in my estimation by Advanced SystemCare. | |
| OpenOffice 3.1 | "OpenOffice.org was designed from the start as a single piece of software - not bolted together from separate software packages. This makes it very consistent and easy to use - what you learn in one application is immediately usable in another. The context-sensitive help works across all applications, unobtrusively providing the precise help you need. You can even open any type of document from any application - OpenOffice.org 3 is really one piece of software. It also runs on all major computing platforms - Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, Sun Solaris, Apple Mac." Free and highly recommended. | |
| PortableApps.com | "Now you can carry [on your flash drive many useful] computer programs along with all of your bookmarks, settings, email and more. Use them on any Windows computer. All without leaving any personal data behind." Includes portable Firefox and Thunderbird, OpenOffice, and much more. Free and highly recommended. | |
| Java VM for Windows | Java Runtime Environment to support Java in IE, etc. | |
| Picasa from Google | Yet another breakthrough web-software application from Google. You download a small program that allows you to organize and manipulate (simply, powerfully) your images and then publish them ALL AT ONCE to a web albumn for others. Terrific idea! Beats Yahoo photos (where you must upload images one by one) hands down. Highly recommended. | |
| uTorrent | "uTorrent was written with efficiency in mind. Unlike many torrent clients, it does not hog valuable system resources - typically using less than 6MB of memory, allowing you to use the computer as if it weren't there at all. Additionally, the program itself is contained within a single executable less than 170 KB in size." | |
| Unlocker | Allows you to "unlock" and delete files or folders that Windows will not allow you to delete because they are "in use." Very handy. Free and highly recommended. | |
| CamStudio | "CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs)." Free! | |
| IsoBuster | "Rescue lost files from a bad or trashed CD or DVD!" | |
| Thunderbird | Thunderbird gives you a faster, safer, and more productive email experience... designed to prevent viruses and to stop junk mail so you can get back to reading your mail. From Mozilla.org - complements Firefox. Highly recommended. | |
| MozBackup | "MozBackup is a simple utility for creating backups of Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite and Netscape profiles. It allows you to backup and restore bookmarks, mail, contacts, history, extensions, cache etc." | |
| Acrobat/PDF/Flash | ||
| Adobe Acrobat Reader 10 | Update for popular plug-in/ActiveX control viewer for displaying inline PDF files. This is a link to the Adobe FTP server which lets you get the stand-alone installer (without installing/using Adobe's Download Manager). | |
| FlashPaper | New FlashPaper app can create both Flash documents that load quickly and PDF files. Recommended. | |
| PlanetPDF | All about Adobe Acrobat and PDF files, tips, tricks, other add-in conversion software. | |
| PDF to HTML conversion | "With access.adobe.com PDF to HTML conversion by form, all you have to do is type in a URL to an Adobe PDF document into an electronic form and select the Get This Adobe PDF Document As HTML button. The Adobe PDF document will be converted on-the-fly to HTML, and will be returned to you immediately in your browser application." | |
| Kinati 2PDF Converter | "This web-based file conversion service allows you to submit your document and retrieve the converted file back as a PDF document." | |
| AcroTips | 50+ tips on using Adobe Acrobat and PDF files. | |
| pdf995 | Free download - create PDFs from any application. "The free versions of pdf995 products will display a sponsor page in your web browser each time you run the software." | |
| PDF Research Companion | "A designer's guide to the Portable Document Format" | |
| Optimizing PDF Files | "Here are nine rules for optimizing your files." | |
| Software for Web Page Development | ||
| Paint.NET | "Free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins." I now use it in preference to my old favorite Paint Shop Pro - great for simple tasks like cropping/resizing/optimizing - highly recommended. | |
| Gimp.org | "The GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages." | |
| HTML Kit | "HTML Kit is a full-featured free editor for HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and other text files. Over 400 plugins are available for it, including HTML Tidy for creating standards -compliant web pages." FREE! Highly reommended. | |
| Notepad++ | "A free source code editor and Notepad replacement, which supports several programming languages, running under the MS Windows environment." | |
| Filezilla FTP Client | FileZilla is open source software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. | |
| Xenu's Link Sleuth 1.3 | "Xenu's Link Sleuth (TM) is a spidering software that checks Web sites for broken links. Link verification is done on "normal" links, images, frames, backgrounds and local image maps. It displays a continuously updated list of URLs which you can sort by different criteria. A report can be produced at any time." - A great little program and its free! | |
| CamStudio | "CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs)." Free! | |
| GSiteCrawler | Google (and Yahoo!) Sitemap Generator for Windows. "GSiteCrawler will help you generate the best Google Sitemap file for your website. The GSiteCrawler uses different ways to find all the pages in your website and can generate all sorts of files, statistics and more. The sitemaps file format has lately been also adapted by Yahoo! - even MSN/Live.com is pledging it's support." | |
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