Some Freeware I Use

Inspired by Trent’s list of essential open source freeware for Windows I have had a look at the installed applications on my computer. Most of the applications I run are freeware as well, though not always open source. And there are also some commercial ones but I will list just some of the freeware stuff.

1. Firefox is my browser. I was using Mozilla since version 0.6 I think and switched to Firefox when it was available as a stand alone browser. It is fast and very customisable. Tons of themes and add-ons are available which should fit the needs of everyone surfing the net.
2. Email is managed by Thunderbird. Basically everything said about Firefox applies here as well. I have tried Pegasus and Eudora before but neither fit my needs. Pegasus was too old-fashioned though very powerful and Eudora not worth the money. However web clients like GMail and Yahoo Mail are a real threat to Thunderbird because they give access to my email from every computer.
3. When I bought my first computer I did not have the money to buy Microsoft Office so I bought StarOffice instead. Actually I upgraded several times; the last version was 5.2. I still have the box. Anyway, soon after 5.2 I switched to OpenOffice which has similar features as MS Office and offers everything I need.
4. I never liked the Windows Explorer, especially comparing folders is difficult. The perfect replacement is FreeCommander. Expedient features like dual panel view, comparing of folders, MD5 checksums, wiping files and much more. I like it a lot.
5. If you want to know more about your hardware configuration or processes and software running on your system you should check out SIW (System Information for Windows). I was happy with AIDA before but it was discontinued when the author joined Lavalys, the company offering a similar commercial product.
6. Spyware has no chance with Windows Defender. Yes, that is right. I use a Microsoft tool. It is fast, reliable and I have never had any problems.
7. Archives are managed by 7-Zip. It packs and unpacks several formats and its own 7z format which provides very high compression. I certainly do not need WinZip.
8. MWSnap is a great screen capturing tool. You can capture the whole desktop, just a window screen, whatever. It is an old tool. The last stable version is from 2002, though I have not seen any better tool yet.
9. If you are looking for a Notepad replacement I recommend Notepad++. It is fast and provides syntax highlighting for a multitude of languages like C++, HTML, PHP, CSS, Ruby, Phython and many more.
10. Keeping track of passwords is tough. I cannot even count how many I have. So I use KeePass which manages them all. It shows the strength of the passwords and can generate secure ones if you want to. Highly recommended tool.
11. Everyone needs a graphic viewer, I guess. IrfanView is a tool I also use since the beginning of my computer life. Most graphic formats are supported and you can also resize pictures, create slideshows, optimise photos and much more. Another good tool is Google’s Picasa.
12. There are an awful lot of media players around. Currently I am running Foobar for audio files. Its focus is definitely on a preferably perfect reproduction of audio files. People who use Winamp won’t like Foobar, I think. There are no skins available and the basic installation does not look very appealing. However you can customise Foobar as well. If you want a more modern looking audio player try Songbird. It is based on Firefox and provides some clever and nifty features. Just watch the screencast.
13. For DVD’S and other video files VLC Media Player is a good choice.
14. Currently I am using two instant messengers: AIM and Google Talk. I should use GAIM, right?
15. Paint.NET is certainly a good Photoshop replacement. However I have not used it very often so far. It requires Microsoft’s NET Framework.

I think the mentioned applications are very good choices for a Windows machine. You probably miss an anti-virus tool and a firewall. My firewall is Sygate Personal Firewall but I don’t know if it is still available since Sygate was aquired by Symantec. NOD32 is the anti-virus tool I am running though that is a commercial product.