| 3D Canvas | 3-D animation, modeling, rendering. | Freeware | 3D Graphics |
| 3DNA | Alternative Windows Shell in 3-D. I thought these were cool, well amusing so I listed a few. Here is a screenshot of 3dna in action. | Shareware | Shell |
| 7Zip | Zip utility with File Explorer support. | GPL | Utility |
| AB Commander Lite | File explorer replacement. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| AVG | Anti-virus, free for non-commercial use. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| AVI Maker | Makes avi video from images. | Freeware | Video |
| AbiWord | Word processor with all the bells and
whistles! Highly recommended. | GPL | Office |
| Acid Express | Digital sequencer and loop based music production software, this is a Sony free
download #B0( See Gungirl for a free alternative ;) | Freeware/other | Audio |
| ActiveGrid Studio | ActiveGrid
Studio enables developers to rapidly build enterprise-level Web 2.0
applications with a minimum of training, time, and effort. Supports
Java, PHP, Python. Database supports is the best I've seen in an open
IDE. Has built in Python and Java environments plus a built in running
Apache web server. Highly recommended. | APL | Programming |
| Adaware | Spyware removal tool. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| AlienGuise | Theme engine like Windows Blinds, by the same guys, and brought to you from Alienware computer systems. | Freeware | Utility |
| Anim8or | 3-D animation, modeling, rendering. | Freeware | 3D Graphics |
| AntiVir | Anti-virus. I have been using this for awhile and it kicks ass. Beats the shit out of Norton and it's free! Highly recommended. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| Apache Tomcat | Apache
Tomcat is the servlet container that is used in the official Reference
Implementation for the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages (jsp)
technologies. | ASF/GPL/Other | Server |
| Apache Web Server | Web Server, the best imo. | ASF/GPL/Other | Server |
| Apache2Triad | Installs
a developer preconfigured environment with Apache, PHP,
mySQL with control panel/PHPMyAdmin, xMail, ftp, and a Apache Web based
Control Panel, etc. Power packed with new cool things like Python/Pearl
mods, ASP support, SSL and so much more. Highly recommended. | GPL/Various | Server |
| Aptana | Development environment geared towards web development, Ajax style! Autocomplete and assistance for HTML, CSS, Java Script. | EPL | Programming |
| Arbaro | Make 3-D trees. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| ArtRage | Natural Painting Application, like Painter. and so worth the download! | Freeware | 2D Graphics |
| Audacity | Wav editor with VST support and can export to mp3. Highly recommended. | GPL | Audio |
| Avast | Anti-virus applcation. Free for personal use. I have not tried this software, but it works with Kerio so it can't be bad. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| Avidemux | Video editor. | GPL | Video |
| BRL-CAD | The
BRL-CAD package is a powerful Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) solid
modeling system with over 20 years development and production use by
the U.S. military. Visit the project page for downloads. | LGPL | 3D Graphics |
| Balthisar Cascade 2.0 | CSS level 2 editor available for the Windows platform. | Freeware | Programming |
| BartPE | Windows live cd. Now you can boot Windows from a CD-Rom and have full read/write access to NTFS volumes!. | Freeware | Utility |
| Bid O Magic | EBay bidding/selling utility. | GPL | Web |
| BitTorrent | Multipeer downloading! | GPL | Peer2Peer |
| BitTyrant | BitTorrent protocol compatible client. Faster than traditional BitTorrent, read more on their site. | GPL | Peer2Peer |
| Black Box | Alternative Windows Shell. I found this to be more stable than XOBlite2. http://www.bb4win.org/news.php | GPL | Shell |
| Black Box Lean | Alternative Windows Shell. | GPL | Shell |
| Blender 3-D | 3-D modeling, design\illustration, animation, game development. I like to call it the Free Maya 3-D! Highly recommended. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| BlitzMax IDE | Basic programming IDE for use with the Blitz game development environment. | Public Domain | Programming |
| BlockCAD | BlockCAD is a freeware program for building virtual models with Lego-like bricks. | Freeware | 3D Graphics |
| Blueberry | Alternative Windows Shell in 3-D. | LGPL | Shell |
| Boa Constructor | A visual GUI designer and IDE for
Python | GPL | Programming |
| Boot manager/partition manager | Partition magic like clone and boot manager. | GPL | Utility |
| Burn4Free | CD/DVD burner application, works oh so well! p.s. Run Adaware after installing to remove the spyware piece ;) | Freeware | Utility |
| Burst | A bittorrent creation and management tool! Highly recommended. | GPL | Peer2Peer |
| CD Image | ISO ripper. Like UltraISO, create convert disk images. Supports all the main images types. | GPL | Utility |
| CD burner XP | CD Burner. | Freeware | Utility |
| Cdexos | CDex
a CD-Ripper, thus extracting digital audio data from an Audio CD. The
application supports many Audio encoders, like MPEG (MP2,MP3), VQF, AAC
encoders. Highly recommended. | GPL | Audio |
| Celtx | Celtx
is a comprehensive software package designed for people who work in the
film, TV, theatre, and new media industries. It combines full-feature
scriptwriting with media rich pre-production support and enables online
collaboration. | MPL | Office |
| Chronicle Lite | Blog client that works with xmlrpc - works with Drupal and any other blogapi supporting blog. | GPL | Web |
| Cinepaint | Image editor geared for video production. | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| Clam Win | Anti-virus program. | GPL | Utility |
| ClamAV | Anti-virus program. | GPL | Utility |
| Clockwise3d | Alternative Windows Shell in 3-D. | Freeware | Shell |
| ConText | Programmers text editor, supports most languages, shell scripts, plugin support. | Freeware | Text/Programming |
| Console | Terminal enhancement. Ever wanted a transparent background in the command prompt window like in Linux? | GPL | Utility |
| Cooktop | XML editor. | Freeware | Programming |
| Crap Cleaner | Cleans
up Windows, internet cache, temp files, registry entries, etc. Also has
a kick ass uninstaller that works and a startup editor. Highly
recommended. | Freeware | Utility |
| Cream | A modern configuration of the powerful and famous Vim, with full GUI. | GPL | Programming |
| Creatoon | 2D cartoon animation application. | Freeware | Video |
| Crimson editor | Programmers
text editor. Features tabbed interface, html, php, c, python syntax
highlighting, code output window, and built in FTP! Highly recommended. | Freeware | Text/Programming |
| Cygwin | Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows. | GPL | Utility |
| Cygwin/x | Cygwin/x allows x11 (Linux apps) to run on Windows. | GPL | Utility |
| DAVIDLaserscanner | DAVIDLaserscanner
is too cool not to mention! DAVID-Laserscanner is a freeware software
for 3d laser range scanning. All you need to build a 3d scanner is a
PC, a camera (e.g. a webcam), a background corner, and a laser that
projects a line onto the object you want to scan. So everyone can use
it to scan objects without high costs. | Freeware | 3D Graphics |
| DVDFlick | DVD
Flick aims to be a simple but at the same time powerful DVD Authoring
tool. It can take a number of video files stored on your computer and
turn them into a DVD that will play back on your DVD player, Media
Center or Home Cinema Set. You can add additional custom audio tracks
as well as subtitles of your choice. Highly recommended. | GPL | Video |
| DVDShrink | DVD
ripper (rips encripted discs) that compresses for burning to
DVD-r/CD-r. The best DVD backup tool I could find. Highly recommended. | Freeware | Video |
| DVDStyler | DVDStyler
is a cross-platform DVD authoring application that makes possible for
video enthusiasts to create professional-looking DVDs. | GPL | Video |
| Daisy | Windows updater replacement that does not use IE settings. | GPL | Utility |
| Deep-Paint | Painting application similar to Painter. Man, I remember when this sold for $800.00! | Freeware/Other | 2D Graphics |
| Delineate | Raster to Vector coverter. Nice | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| Democracy Player | Best
damned video player! Play virtually any video-- Quicktime, WMV, MPEG,
AVI, XVID, and more. Video blog, YouTube, hell it does everything
including BitTorrent. | GPL | Video |
| Dia | Basically Visio. | GPL | Office |
| DoISO | Create and burn ISO disk images. | GPL | Utility |
| Dogwaffle | Natural painting application similar to Open Canvas. It limited, but pretty full featured at the same time. | Freeware/Other | 2D Graphics |
| Dorgem | Video/webcam capture. | GPL | Video |
| Doubletype | Font creation application. | GPL | Font |
| Download Checker | The
Update Checker will scan your computer for installed software, check
the versions and then send this information to filehippo.com to see if
there are any newer releases. These are then neatly displayed in your
browser for you to download. | Freeware | Utility |
| Dr Divx | Officially the unofficial DivX encoding tool to create DivX media files for playback on DivX hardware and software players. | LGPL | Video |
| Dusty | Dusty is a nice realtime 3D Smoke Simulator. It allowes to simulate smoke and fire in realtime. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| EMule | Peer2peer client for file sharing! | GPL | Peer2Peer |
| EMule Plus | Peer2peer client for file sharing with added features! | GPL | Peer2Peer |
| EZThumbs | Batch thumbnail creator. | Freeware | 2D Graphics |
| EasyPHP | Really
nice Apache install with PHP and mySQL included and configured. If you
need a heavy duty Apache web development environment look at
Apache2Triad. | GPL/Various | Server |
| Eclipse | Eclipse java IDE for Windows. | EPL | Programming |
| Ekiga | Ekiga
(formely known as GnomeMeeting) is an open source VoIP and video
conferencing application for GNOME. Ekiga uses both the H.323 and SIP
protocols. It supports many audio and video codecs, and is
interoperable with other SIP compliant software and also with Microsoft
NetMeeting. | GPL | Web |
| EmailXT | EmailXT
is an open, patent-free protocol that replaces your current email with
a more secure, full-featured system. EmailXT is a relationship-based
email system where unauthorized bulk emailing is no longer possible. No
more spam and mass mailing viruses. You don't need spam filters or
service subscriptions any more. | GPL | Web |
| Envelop VBasic | Visual Basic clone; compiles to exe, gui designer! | GPL | Programming |
| Ephpod | Copy iPod music to your PC. | Freeware | Audio |
| Ethereal | Packet sniffer. | GPL | Network |
| Ewido | Blocks spyware/adware and trojans. | Freeware/Other | Security |
| Explore2fs | Let's you see and explore a Linux partition, and do file operations, from Windows. Highly recommended if you dual boot. | GPL | Utility |
| ExplorerXP | Windows File Explorer replacement. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| FS-driver | Mount Linux Ext2/Ext3 file systems on Windows. | Freeware | Utility |
| FarPy | Awesome wxPython and .Net GUI designer. | GPL | Programming |
| Feedreader | News aggregator that supports RSS and ATOM formats. | GPL | Web |
| FileZilla | FTP Server and client. Highly recommended. | GPL | Server |
| Filseclab | Internet personal firewall - Nice | Freeware/Other | Security |
| FireFox Tune | This
will automatically tune Firefox for speed. Damn, I tuned manually, but
this thing sped it up three times as much. It worked wonders on verion
1.04 of Firefox. | Freeware | Web |
| Firebird database | Firebird
is a relational database offering many ANSI SQL standard features that
runs on Linux, Windows, and a variety of Unix platforms. Firebird
offers excellent concurrency, high performance, and powerful language
support for stored procedures and triggers. | GPL | Database |
| Flac | Lossless audio compression tool. Rips tracks without the quality loss like you find in mp3 format. | GPL | Audio |
| Flame | Fractal Flames are algorithmically generated images and animations. | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| Flashdevelop | Actionscript
2 IDE with seamless swfmill and MTASC integration. FlashDevelop is the
first alternative opensource IDE to feature AS3 & MXML completion,
including Flex2 compiler integration (the best compiler integration
after Adobe FB) and AS3 syntax checking. Highly recommended. Requires
.Net. | MIT/Other | Programming |
| Flock | Web browser based on Firefox with blogging utilities built in. | GPL | Web |
| Floola |
Floola is a freeware application to efficiently manage your iPod or
your Motorola mobile phone (any model supporting iTunes). Floola
supports all common used iPod features including artwork, podcasts and
smart playlists! It's also able to convert audio or video incompatible
with the iPod so that you can copy almost any file to it. It even
allows adding youtube and myspace videos just entering the page url! | Freeware | Utility |
| Fontforge | Font creation application. Requires Cygwin. | GPL | Font |
| Foobar2000 | Audio player. | Freeware | Audio |
| Foxit | PDF reader and Adobe PDF reader replacement. Very fast and lightweight. | Freeware/Other | Web |
| Fractal-Explorer | Fractal generator with landscape and script lib. | Freeware | 2D Graphics |
| Free commander | File Explorer replacement. This is one of the best file explorer replacements I have ever used. Highly Recommended. | Freeware | Utility |
| Free2Design |
CAD. | Freeware | 2D Graphics |
| Freeguide-tv | FreeGuide
is a TV guide. Download TV listings from the Internet, view them
offline, create a personalised TV guide and choose favourites. It uses
the XMLTV tools to grab listings for lots of different countries. | GPL | Misc |
| Freyja | Freyja
3d is a modeler and animator focusing on low polygon game content with
wide range of model import/export plugins. Freyja has some unique
features such as Lua macros, tools for reverse engineering, and use of
GLSL shaders while editing. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| Frhed | Hex editor. | GPL | Utility |
| Frostwire | Peer2Peer and BitTorrent client. | GPL | Peer2Peer |
| Fyre | Fyre
is a tool for producing computational artwork based on histograms of
iterated chaotic functions. If you wonder how those cool wispy blue OS
X like backgrounds are made this will show you the way. I use this on
Linux and it's excellent, but I haven't tested the Windows version. | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| G4U ghost utility | Ghost a drive. I have not used this, but it says it supports win2k. | BSD | Utility |
| GNUStep objective C | Objective C lib, compilers, etc. | GPL | Programming |
| GPG4Win | File, email encryption and other encryption utilites, like a file shredder. | GPL | Security |
| GSculpt | gSculpt
is an open source, procedural subdivision modeller. It has a
comprehensive set of polygon modelling tools, including most of those
found in Wings 3D, and more. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| Gaim | Chat
client. It is compatible with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN
Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger,
and Zephyr networks. | GPL | Chat |
| Gcad3D | 3-D CAD design. | Freeware | 3D Graphics |
| Gimpshop | Gimp
restructured like Photoshop. Very nice and you only need install this
one file as opposed to Gimp's GTK lib install. If your a Photoshop
junky like me this will fit nie into your tools and may save you money
down the road. Main page is here | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| Gizmoproject | Internet Phone. Gizmo Project uses your internet connection (broadband or dial-up) to make calls to other computers. | GPL | Web |
| GnuLedger | Open source financial solution. GnuLedger includes all of the functionality that home users need to manage their finances. | GPL | Finance |
| Google Picasa | Download
your images directly from your digital camera, share and organize
photos on and off line, edit and print, post on-line, or create a cd.
You can chat about your photos through Picasa also with Hello and works with Google blogger, which can be found here. | Freeware | 2D Graphics |
| Gourmet | Recipe Manager is a simple but powerful recipe-managing application. | GPL | Misc |
| Griffith | Movie collection manager, which fetches movie info, supports cover art, etc. | GPL | Video |
| Grisbi | Personnal accounting application. | GPL | Finance |
| Groovy | Groovy
is an agile, dynamic programming language for the Java Virtual Machine.
Groovy includes features found in Python, Ruby, and Smalltalk, but uses
syntax similar to the Java programming language. | APL | Programming |
| Gungirl Sequencer | Gungirl
Sequencer is an easy to use Audiosequencer. It includes a simple
Filemanager and uses Drag & Drop to arrange Audiosamples. | GPL | Audio |
| Haste | Haskell TurboEdit - is an IDE for the functional programming language Haskell, written in Haskell. | GPL/Other | Programming |
| Hitman Lite | Hitman
Pro is a freeware tool that combines a number of powerful anti-spyware
programs in one integrated solution. Hitman Pro combines Ad-Aware SE,
SpyBot Search & Destroy, Spy Sweeper, Spyware Doctor, CWShredder,
Spyware Blaster, NOD32, Sysclean package. Most of the included programs
are freeware. | Freeware/Various | Security |
| Hugin - Panorama Tools | Make panoramic photos out of normal images. | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| Hydrogen | Drum and synth application like Fruityloops. | GPL | Audio |
| Hymn | The
purpose of the Hymn Project is to allow you to exercise your fair-use
rights under copyright law. The various software provided on this web
site allows you to free your iTunes Music Store purchases (protected
AAC / .m4p) from their DRM restrictions with no loss of sound quality.
These songs can then be played outside of the iTunes environment, even
on operating systems not supported by iTunes and on hardware not
supported by Apple. | GPL | Audio |
| IE Password Uncover | Reveal
web passwords in Internet Explorer. I haven't tried this one since I
avoid IE like the plague. Maybe I will try it for Firefox or Opera. | Freeware | Utility |
| IM2 | Chat client. Works with
Yahoo, MSN, AOL, ICQ, IRC. Features voice\video and encrypted chat. Skinnable :) | Freeware | Chat |
| ISOrecorder | ISO burn utility! Add an option to
Explorer to burn .iso file to cd. HIghly Recommended. | Freeware | Utility |
| IZArc | Zip utility. Opens everything and has File Explorer support. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| Infrarecorder | CD/CDR burner. | GPL | Utility |
| Inkscape | Illustration
(vector) application, similar to Illustrator. The interface may be more
friendly to an Adobe person than Sodipodi. Get the latest win32.exe
installer here. Highly recommended. | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| Instantrails | Instant
Rails is a one-stop Rails runtime solution containing Ruby, Rails,
Apache, and MySQL, all preconfigured and ready to run. No installer,
you simply drop it into the directory of your choice and run it. | GPL | Server |
| Irfanview | Photo manager with some editing and plugin ability. | Freeware/Other | 2D Graphics |
| IronPythonIDE |
IronPython IDE is a GUI application written in C#. It is dedicated to
the IronPython language which is a .NET implementation of the Python
language. It is aimed at providing a nice, easy, full featured
development environment for IronPython. Read up on or download IronPython. | Free | Programming |
| IronPythonStudio |
IronPython Studio is a free full IDE (Integrated Development
Environment) for the Python programming language. It is based on the
existing IronPython example that is included in the VS SDK.
IronPython Studio is based on the Visual Studio 2008 Shell runtime
(royalty free) and can be installed without requiring any version of
Visual Studio. Read up on or download IronPython. | Ms-PL | Programming |
| Ivy Generator | Creates realistic ivy, including leaves. | Freeware | 3D Graphics |
| JMoney | Personal banking and accounting app. | GPL | Finance |
| Jahshaka | Video editor for Windows. Very nice. | GPL | Video |
| Jap | Anonymous proxy. JAP makes it possible to surf the internet anonymously and unobservably. | GPL | Web |
| Jazzware | Midi sequencer | GPL | Audio |
| Jedi database | Database for Windows. I haven't played with this one. | GPL | Database |
| Jedit | Jedit is a mature and well-designed programmer's text editor with a big focus on Java. Has nice Jython support! | BSD/GPL | Text/Programming |
| Joost | What's
Joost? It's video – more than 15,000 shows, with more added daily.
It's online – all you need is a broadband internet connection. And
it's free. Between this and VeohTV I hardly turn on the television
anymore.
| Freeware | Video |
| Juice | If you want to listen to podcasts, this program is for you. | GPL | Web |
| K-3D | 3-D animation, modeling, and rendering application. Uses multiple rendering engines including the renderman engine; Aqsis. Also see Yafray and Povray. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| K-Lite Codec Pack | Just
about every codex you will ever need in Windows XP (Vista?). Also
provides DVD (encrypted) playback in Windows Media Player. Highly
recommended! | Freeware | Video |
| Kerio Firewall | Internet personal firewall. Highly recommended. | Freeware/Other | Security |
| Kmelon | Web browser, very lightweight. | GPL | Web |
| Komodo Edit | Free, feature-rich editor for JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby and Tcl, on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. | Freeware | Programming |
| Konfabulator II | Desktop widgets and toys. Now owned by Yahoo. | Freeware | Utility |
| Kristal | Powerful
multi-track recorder, audio sequencer and mixer - ideal for anyone
wanting to get started with recording, mixing and mastering digital
audio. KRISTAL Audio Engine is free for personal, educational and
non-commercial use. | Freeware/Other | Audio |
| Launchy | Launchy
is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start
menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.
Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your
documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few
keystrokes! Similar to Quicksilver on OS X and Katapult on Linux. | GPL | Utility |
| Lazarus | Delphi/Kylix like programming environment using Pascal, compiles to exe, gui designer.! | GPL | Programming |
| Limewire | Peer2peer
software. The servers generally contain a lot of viruses so be sure to
scan zips, jpg, exe, etc before using or opening. | Freeware/Other | Peer2Peer |
| Litestep | Alternative Windows Shell. | GPL | Shell |
| MPEG Streamclip | Video converter/editor. | Freeware | Video |
| Madotate | 3-D
effects for Windows similar to those found in Project looking glass.
This is a direct download link and is the english version. | Freeware | Shell Enhancement |
| Maxthon | Web browser, similar to Firefox, but uses the Internet Explorer backend and settings. | Freeware | Web |
| Media Player Classic | Media
Player Classic looks like the original Windows Media Player, but with
more codex support. Tons of other downloads can be found here also,
audio and video... | GPL | Audio |
| Mediacoder | MediaCoder
is an open source universal audio/video batch transcoder (converter),
which puts together lots of excellent audio/video codecs and tools from
the open source community into an all-in-one solution. | GPL | Video |
| MegaPOV | MegaPOV is a custom unofficial version of POV-Ray with a lot of additional features. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| MegaTrack | MegaTrack
is an application that tracks Atlantic and eastern Pacific tropical
storms. It uses the HSQLDB engine and is updated from the tropical
storm data repository from the Unisys weather center. | GPL | Web |
| Mixx | Dj software. | GPL | Audio |
| Moonlight/3D | 3-D illustration, modeling, etc. A little easier learning curve than Blender.. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| Movica | Video editor.
| GPL | Video |
| Mozilla |
Web applications like Thunderbird mail client, Firefox web browser, and Sunbird Calendar. Highly recommended. | MPL | Web |
| Mucommander | File Explorer replacement. If you liked Norton Commander you will love this. | Freeware | Utility |
| MuteVJ | Mute is VJ software which aims to facilitate improvised, unique visuals. | GPL | Video |
| MySQL | SQL Database. | GPL/Other | Database |
| NVU | HTML wysiwyg editor, supports CSS, Javascript, etc. Highly recommended. | MPL/LGPL/GPL | Programming |
| Netstumbler |
Network Stumbler is a neat little program that allows you to see all
the available Wi-Fi access points and networks that are in range of you
and your active Wi-Fi computer. Network Stumbler is for desktop and
laptop machines, and Mini Stumbler is the equivalent for the Wi-Fi
enabled PDA. | Freeware | Utility |
| Neuromixer | Neuromixer Innovative software solutions for visual artists and musicians for live video production. | Freeware/Other | Audio |
| Notepad-plus | Notepad
replacement with tabs, plugins, no file size limit. Highlights many
langauges included Python, Java, Html, etc. Highly Recommended. | GPL | Utility |
| Ogg Vorbis | Ogg
is like an open source version of mp3. They list many ripping, playing,
and utilities on their site also for use with this format. I like it
better than mp3. | GPL | Audio |
| Open AntiVirus | Anti-virus framework. | GPL | Utility |
| Open SSH | SSH Remote administration. | GPL | Network |
| OpenFX | 3-D design, illustration, and modelling application. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| OpenLaszlo | Flash creation, plus much more. Kind of like Macromedia Flex. For everything you need for this visit my Laszlo article. | CPL | Programming |
| OpenOffice.org | Office
suite, like Microsoft Office and compatable with MS Office formats.
Word processor, Spreadsheets, Publisher, Presentation, HTML, and
Powerful database (like Access) products. Impress (Like Powerpoint)
exports to many formats including SWF (Flash). All can be exported as
PDF. Highly recommended. | GPL/LGPL/SISSL | Office |
| OpenVMS | Defrag and hard drive utility. | Freeware | Utility |
| Opera | Web browser. | Freeware | Web |
| Outpost | Firewall. | Freeware/Other | Security |
| PDF Creator | Create PDF documents. | GPL | Office |
| PDFCreator | Tool to create PDF files, like Adobe PDF Writer. | GPL | Office |
| PERL | Perl programming language. | ACL | Programming |
| PGP | A
free encryption software program that is the de-facto global standard
for E-mail and file privacy. Pretty Good Privacy (or PGP) offers
full-strength, 128-bit encryption. PGP has constantly been upgraded
over the years and now offers loads of useful features, including
secure file wiping; advanced keyserver searching; and seamless
integration with Qualcomm's popular Eudora E-mail client | Freeware/Other | Security |
| PHP | Web programming language used to make PHP
server pages. | PHP | Programming |
| Paint.Net | Cool Photoshop like application. | Freeware/Other | 2D Graphics |
| Partition Utilities | Partition resize, delete, create, etc... | GPL | Utility |
| Password Gorilla | Password manager. | GPL | Security |
| PearPC | Run Mac OS X or Linux on Windows ! This works as I was running Mac OS X panther on my Windows XP laptop. My screenshots Mac on win 1 Mac on win 2 | GPL | Virtualization |
| Pegasus Mail | Email client, very mature and feature rich. | Freeware | Web |
| Photofiltre | Photo editing application similar to Paint Shop Pro. Nice app. | Freeware | 2D Graphics |
| Photoshop Plugins | Photoshop plugin listing | Freeware/Other | 2D Graphics |
| Pidgin | Multi-protocol
Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all of your IM accounts
at once, used to be Gaim. Supports all the major IMs | GPL | Chat |
| Pitaschio | Pitaschio is the essential tool to use windows efficiently. Adds some interesting features. | Freeware | Shell Enhancement |
| Pixia | Painting/Image editing application. This reminds me of Open Canvas. | Freeware | 2D Graphics |
| Planet Genesis | Terragen clone - creates 3-d landscapes, planets, etc. | BSD | 3D Graphics |
| PortableApps | Now
you can carry your favorite computer programs along with all of your
bookmarks, settings, email and more with you. Use them on any Windows
computer via USB Flash device, iPod, or portable hard disk, and it
works like a start menu. Includes Firefox, Open Office, VideoLan, to
name a few. | GPL | Utility |
| PoseRay | So Nice! Poser like software, but much more with lots of 3-D file support. Also see
DazStudio | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| Postgresql | SQL database. Heavy duty relational database. | BSD | Database |
| PovRay | 3-D illustration - code based. Moray Interface for modeling, etc - not free, but cheap. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| Project Looking Glass | 3-d
desktop. It reminds me of os x in three dimensions. Note: This is under
development and requires lot's of Java setup. I would not use this
unless you want to test and develop and arn't worried about your
Windows installation. | GPL | Shell |
| Putty | Telnet/SSH application. | GPL | Network |
| PyScripter | A very powerful, full featured, professional Python IDE written in Delphi. Highly recommended. | GPL | Programming |
| Python Enthought edition | Scientific power packed
Python install! This has wxWindows installed by default. | GPL | Programming |
| Python for Photoshop | Python Actions Plug-in for Adobe Photoshop | GPL | Programming |
| Python programming language! | So much power and easy to
pick up! Has an included programming editor/IDE called
PythonWin.exe | ACL | Programming |
| QCD | MP3/Ogg player and OGG encoder plugin Screw MP3
- rip to OGG!!! Better and free! Highly recommended. | Freeware/Other | Audio |
| QCad | Autocad application. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| Quasar | Nice replacement for Quickbooks. | GPL | Finance |
| RRDTool | The
industry standard data logging and graphing application. Use it to
write your custom monitoring shell scripts or create whole applications
using its Perl, Python or PHP bindings. RRD is the acronym for Round
Robin Database. It is a system to store and display time-series data
(i.e. network bandwidth, machine-room temperature, server load average). | GPL | Network |
| RSS Owl | RSS news reader. | CPL | Web |
| RSSBandit | News aggregator that supports RSS and ATOM formats. Requires .Net | GPL | Web |
| RUBY | Perl/Python like programming language. | GPL | Programming |
| RadRails | Ruby On Rails IDE. | EPL | Programming |
| Rainlendar | Very cool skinnable calendar for windows, will set events from Outlook/Exchange! | GPL | Utility |
| Razorlame | Audio to mp3 ripper. Uses Lame Encoder | GPL | Audio |
| Rec | Decompiler, breaks exe files into C/C++ code. | GPL | Programming |
| Registry Fix | Fixes the Windows registry. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| Resolution AXS | AXS is a combination of an analog synthesizer, a sampler, two effect units and a sequencer. | Freeware | Audio |
| Resource Hacker |
Utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in
32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates
an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Win95,
Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2000 and WinXP operating systems. | Freeware | Utility |
| RocketDock | Rocket
dock is a Mac OS X like launcher complete with fisheye effect, taskbar
features, and even themes well with other engines. They also have a
cool icon enhancer for your desktop and file explorer with cool
effects, plug-in based. | Freeware | Shell Enhancement |
| RoughDraft | Really nice word processor geared towards authors created by an author. | Freeware | Office |
| SFLphone | The SFLphone project aims to provide a multi-platform, multi-protocol (SIP/IAX2), and multi-GUI desktop VoIP phone. | GPL | Web |
| SPE | If your a Python programmer working on Mac or Windows and your looking for a kick ass IDE Spe is for you! Highly recommended. | GPL | Programming |
| SQLCC | GUI Frontend for mySQL. | GPL | Database |
| Samurize | Another
skinnable clock, system meters,
weather, email, and trash indicators as well as music playback, but
with so much more - like multiple machine support! Highly recommended. | Freeware | Utility |
| Scite | A free source code editor for Win32 and X. | GPL | Programming |
| Scribus | Desktop publishing application similar to Pagemaker. Look here if you have trouble finding the exe installer. | GPL | Office |
| Selenium | Web
application test tool. Tests run directly in a browser, including
Internet Explorer, Mozilla, and Firefox. Supported platforms Windows,
Linux, and Macintosh. Languages include C#, Python, PHP, Ruby, etc. | GPL | Programming |
| Semagic | Blog clent for Live journal. Has the best features for Lj. | GPL | Web |
| Sepy | Flash Actionscript IDE. This is really nice! Has class list, auto complete, and compiler. Highly recommended. | GPL | Programming |
| Serif Software | Several FREE apps - Desktop Publishing, Graphic Design, Image and Photo Editing, 3D Animation, Web Publishing | Freeware/Other | 2D Graphics |
| Shapeshop | 3-D
modeling application that is a sketch-based 3D modeling tool for
creating procedural hierarchical implicit volume models, also known as
"BlobTrees", basically metaballs. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| SharpConstruct | 3D modeling program that paint depths on to polygon models in real-time. Like Z-Brush. Is being adding into Blender 3-D! | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| SharpDevelop | IDE for C# and VB.NET projects on Microsoft's .NET platform.. | GPL | Programming |
| SharpE | Alternative Windows Shell. More info and screen shots Here. | LGPL | Shell |
| SimpleCSS | CSS Editor. | Freeware | Programming |
| Skale | This
is a Freeware Music Creation Program, This means you can create your
own music with this software completely for free. All you need is your
creativity and a big bunch of good sound samples to create all you want. | Freeware | Audio |
| Sketch It Up | 3-D design, illustration, and modelling brought to by Google. | Freeware/other | 3D Graphics |
| Sketchboard | CAD software. 3-D | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| Skin Calc | Cool skinnable calculator. | Freeware | Utility |
| Skype | Internet
phone. Skype is a little program for making free calls over the
internet to anyone else who also has Skype. Its free and easy to
download and use, and works with most computers so your not limited to
call friends using the same operating system. Skype also has other
services that allow the calling of actual phone number and cells, plus
video options for a small price. | Freeware | Web |
| Snarfer | RSS with very powerful features, like search, web broswer, sharing, and embedded video playback. Highly Recommended. | Freeware | Web |
| Sodipodi | Illustration (vector) application. | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| Songbird | Desktop
Web player, digital jukebox and Web browser mash-up. Like Winamp, it
supports extensions and skins feathers. Like Firefox®, it is built
from Mozilla®, cross-platform and open source. Reminds me a bit of
Amarok. Also runs on OS X and Linux. Very nice player indeed! | MPL/Other | Audio |
| Speak-freely | Voice over ip, Internet phone. | GPL | Web |
| Sphere | 3-D effects in Windows similar to Beryl, Compiz/Metisse. | Shareware | Shell |
| Spket | IDE
for JavaScript, XUL/XBL and Yahoo! Widget development. It provides
features like code completion, syntax highlighting and content outline
that helps developers productively create efficient JavaScript code.
Supports Laszlo and Silverlight. Requires Java. | Freeware/Other | Programming |
| Spybot | Spyware removal tool. | GPL | Utility |
| Spyware Blaster | Blocks spyware/adware. Highly recommended. | Freeware | Security |
| Stickies | Post it notes for your desktop. | Freeware | Utility |
| StickiesforWindows | Post it notes for your desktop. | APL | Utility |
| StopMojo | StopMojo
is cross-platform stop-motion animation suite designed to aid in the
creation of stop-motion animations. Currently it includes a capture
program supporting capture of image files from various video capture
devices, overlay of previous frames (onion skinning), and export to AVI
and QUICKTIME video formats. | GPL | Video |
| Super | If
you need a simple, yet very efficient tool to convert (encode) or play
any Multimedia file SUPER © is all you need. I haven't used this, but
it looks cool. | Freeware | Video |
| Synergy | Synergy
is like dual monitors, a kvm switch, and vnc on speed! If you want to
operate multiple machines with one keyboard and mouse, move files
between them, and have both screens at your disposal this is for you.
Works between platforms also! | GPL | Utility |
| Synfig | Cartoon
animation - industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation software
package, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality
animation with fewer people and resources. Highly Recommended. | GPL | Video |
| Sysmetrix | Very cool skinnable clock system meters with weather,
email, and trash indicators as well as music playback. | Freeware | Utility |
| TSWebeditor | HTML/PHP IDE. Has FTP, projects, and css support built in. Very nice! Highly recommended. | Freeware | Programming |
| Task Scheduler | Task Schedule replacement. | Freeware/Other | Utility |
| TaskSwicthXP | Task switcher (alt+tab) replacement. | Freeware/Other | Shell Enhancement |
| TeraTerm | Terminal. | GPL | Network |
| Texture Processor | Create nice textures (seemless). | Freeware | 2D Graphics |
| The Gimp 2 | Very much like Photoshop, tons of great
plugins including a Flame fractal generator! Highly recommended. | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| TightVNC | Remote desktop tool. | GPL | Network |
| TransCoder | Video\DVD ripping and conversion tools. | Freeware/Other | Video |
| Trillian | Chat client. Nice, Works with
Yahoo, MSN, AOL, ICQ, IRC. Highly recommended. | Shareware | Chat |
| Truecrypt | Encryption software that locks down disks drives and storage devices on the fly. Best way to keep the bad guys out of your data. | GPL | Security |
| Truespace 3.1 | 3-D
modeling, design\illustration, animation, game development. I've used
this since version one, nicest 3-D app next to Cinema 4D. You must
register for the free serial number. | Freeware/Other | 3D Graphics |
| Tugzip | Zip/archive application. Really nice and opens most everything including rar. | Freeware | Utility |
| TurboCash | Accounting personal finance software. | GPL | Finance |
| UBCD4Win | UBCD4Win
is a bootable CD which contains software that allows you to
repair/restore/diagnostic almost any computer problem. Also see Win/Linux Version. | Freeware | Utility |
| UTorrent | Bittorrent. Highly recommended.
| Jabber | Peer2Peer |
| UVMapper | Map textures to 3-D objects. | Freeware/Other | 3D Graphics |
| UltraExplorer | File Explorer replacement. | Freeware | Utility |
| Uniformserver | The
Uniform Server is a WAMP package that allows you to run a server on any
MS Windows OS based computer. It is small and mobile to download or
move around and can also be used or setup as a production/live server.
Developers also use The Uniform Server to test their applications made
with either PHP, MySQL, Perl, or the Apache HTTPd Server. | BSD/Various | Server |
| Unxutils | Linux/Unix command line tools, like grep, written natively for Windows. | GPL | Utility |
| VMWare | Run
Windows, Linux, etc. in virtualization. Like Vitual PC, but 1000 times
better! I am running Windows in Linux and it's absolutely flawless! | Freeware | Virtualization |
| VNC | Remote desktop tool. | GPL | Network |
| VSpeech | Voice command your Windows computer. | GPL | Utility |
| VeohTV | VeohTV
is a free specialized video browser that turns online video into
Internet Television. Watch video from thousands of web sites, in one
easy-to-use full screen application. Watch streaming video from major
television networks such as Fox and CBS, to independently-produced
content available on sites such as YouTube, Google Video, Veoh.com and
MySpace. Highly recommended.
| Freeware | Video |
| Vex | Vex
is an editor for XML documents. The "visual" part comes from the fact
that Vex hides the raw XML tags from the user, providing instead a
wordprocessor-like interface. Because of this, Vex is best suited for
"document-style" XML documents such as XHTML and DocBook rather than
"data-style" XML documents. | GPL | Programming |
| VideoLan | Movie player, plays most everything including DVD! | GPL | Video |
| Videora iPhone | Convert video to iPod/iPhone format. Cues to iTunes for easy syncing. Highly recommended.
| Freeware | Video |
| Virtual Dimension | Multiple
desktops in Windows. I love this app, it actually makes your desktop
sessions separate and lots more cool features. Highly recommended. | GPL | Shell Enhancement |
| VirtualBox | VirtualBox
is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware. Targeted at
server, desktop and embedded use, it is now the only
professional-quality virtualization solution that is also Open Source
Software. | Freeware/Other | Virtualization |
| VirtualWin | Virtual desktops in Windows. | GPL | Shell Enhancement |
| Virtualdub | Video capture/processing utility for 32-bit Windows platforms. | GPL | Video |
| Visual Tooltips | Enhance the Windows taskbar with thumbs ans 3-d effects. Check out Yod'm while you're there for a 3-d cube virtual desktop. | Freeware | Shell Enhancement |
| W.Blogger | Blog
client, the best ever imo. Supports Drupal, Word Press, Live Journal,
and many other blog types and even FTPs files and tags them with either
link or image. Too many features to list here, highly recommended
application. Highly recommended. | Freeware | Web |
| WXWindows | BOA uses wxWindows backend | GPL | Programming |
| Wavosaur | Wavosaur
is a free sound editor, audio editor, wav editor software for editing,
processing and recording sounds, wav and mp3 files. Wavosaur has all
the features to edit audio (cut, copy, paste, etc.) produce music
loops, analyze, record, batch convert. Wavosaur supports VST plugins,
ASIO driver, multichannel wav files, real time effect processing. | Freeware | Audio |
| Web-Dev. Server Suite | WAMP-based
[Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP] web-server distribution for Windows that
is fully configured and ready to run. This has every thing from a Web
Application firewall to ASP.NET Host Interface. Security hardened and
even includes some open source CMS software, like Joomla. | GPL/Various | Server |
| Webniac | HTML editor, CSS, ETC. | GPL | Programming |
| Whisper32 | Password Manager with encryption. | Freeware | Security |
| White_Dune | White_dune is a low level VRML97 tool. | GPL | Programming |
| WikidPad |
wikidPad is a real-time wiki. wikidPad is not a web server, or
application server, or groupware solution. wikidPad is a standalone
notepad like application, albeit notepad on steroids. wikidPad is like
an IDE for your thoughts. | BSD | Utility |
| WinMorph | Morphing app for video. Also look at Wax and Wink. | Freeware/Other | Video |
| WinPooch | Winpooch
is a Windows watchdog, free and open source. Anti spyware and anti
trojan, it gives a full protection against local or external attacks by
scanning the activity of programs in real time. Associated with ClamWin
antivirus, Winpooch keeps safe your computer against virus. | GPL | Security |
| WinRoll | Lets you shade your windows like in Linux. | GPL | Shell Enhancement |
| WinSCP | SCP
for Windows. I have need for this on my Windows machine so I haven't
used it, but I ran across it tonight and it looks good, plus it's open. | GPL | Network |
| Wings3d | Wings 3D is a 3-D subdivision modeler inspired by Nendo and Mirai from Izware. | GPL | 3D Graphics |
| Winplanner | Project management application. | GPL | Office |
| XAMPP | Apache, MySQL, PHP web development environment install. Takes care of most configs and setup issues so you don't have to. | APL | Server |
| XMM | MeD's
Movie Manager is a simple to use, yet customizable, movie manager. Info
is automatically retrieved from IMDb and tv.com.
Technical info can also be retrieved from media files like AVI, OGM,
MPEG and DVD (ifo). It's written in Java and should therefore run on
most desktop systems supporting Java. | GPL | Video |
| XMPlay | Really nice music player with plugin support. Supports all the major formats. | Freeware | Audio |
| XOBLite | Alternative Windows Shell. Screenshot of my machine running XOBLite (blackbox) here | GPL | Shell |
| Xaos | Fractal generator. | GPL | 2D Graphics |
| Xerlin | XML editor. | GPL | Programming |
| Xinha | HTML editor also has a Firefox extension. | BSD/Other | Programming |
| Yamipod | YamiPod
is a freeware application to efficiently manage your iPod under Mac OS
X, Windows and Linux. It can be run directly from your iPod and needs
no installation. Take a look at the feature list to find out what it
can do and feel free to suggest anything that might be missing. | Freeware | Utility |
| Zinf | Mp3/Ogg player, skinnable. | GPL | Audio |
| Zipgenious | Zip utility that supports all the major archive types, zip, s7, gz, etc. Skinnable. | Freeware | Utility |
| Zone Alarm | Internet personal firewall. Highly recommended. | Freeware/Other | Security |
| Zoomify | Flash image gallery creation. | Freeware | Web |