Essential Free Software!
UKtech maintains this list of the top picks of the freeware world, which
is constantly evolving and actively tested,
these applications represent the best freebies available.
Any suggestions? email me here.
We would also encourage the purchase of software, from producers who
maintain a free version. After all, if you like the free version,
it's only reasonable you purchase the full product and reap the benefits
of further enhancements, features, support and maintenance.
Office related
-
Open Office - free alternative to Microsoft Office
-
Firefox - a replacement web browser that's light years
ahead of Internet Explorer!
-
FoxIt - a lightweight PDF document reader.
- CD BurnerXP
- CD / DVD Burner. (Creates or 'burns' data to CD ROMs and DVD
disks).
-
Adobe
Flash Player - allows you to view 'Flash' based movies.
- FastStone -
image management software allows you to view many different image formats.
- VLC - media player - plays
just about every major video format.
- Pidgin
- instant messaging client which allows you to connect to nearly all
IM providers.
-
Bullzip - a program that allows you to create PDFs easily from
Word or other documents.
- IzArc - top
file zipping and archiving tool.
-
Freemind - mind mapping software
Audio
-
Audacity - cross platform sound editor.
- BoncEnc -
audio converter and ripper.
- AIMP2 -
MP3 player - especially with 'Red Sensor' Skin :-)
- EAC
- Exact Audio Copy - a superlative CD ripping tool.
- Songbird -
full featured audio player.
- MP3
Gain - lets you to change the output level of MP3 files so they
are all the same.
Security
UUtilities
- FireFTP
- FTP client for Firefox.
-
Lightscreen, screen capture now replaces Gadwin Printscreen as our top pick.
- CCleaner
- system maintenance and cleanup.
-
Smart Defrag - disk defragmentation utility
-
DiskInfo - shows temperature and SMART details, really good to
help spot disk issues early.
-
Teracopy
- file copy handler for Windows - miles better than Windows own.
- Free
Commander - Explorer replacement - now you can explore properly!
-
Space Sniffer - excellent tool to view how your disk space is
being used.
-
Flexible Renamer - allows you to perform complex file renaming
on multiple files - easily.
-
Easy
Duplicate Finder - does exactly what it says on the tin!
Download and install this basic set and you should have most
eventualities covered.
Portable Apps
These applications do not need to be installed on your computer and
typically have a very small 'footprint'. They can also be rolled up into
'suites' that run directly from a USB key via a popup menu:
The Best Tech Tools - Ever!
For all those of you who are seasoned die-hard techies, here are some
of the very best free tools:
-
NetSetMan - simply fantastic for changing multiple IP settings
in a single click!
- Vyatta - can be run as a virtual image and gives you instant,
enterprise grade routing.
- Virtualbox - very impressed with this alternative to VMware -
very fast and low resource hog.
-
Teracopy - copy files with much more control than the native
windows app.
-
Link Shell Extension - brings symbolic links to Windows - fantastic!
- Ketarin - - can link all your installed programs to their
respective websites - and download updates all in one!
-
ESXi /
Server /
Player - top virtualisation suite from VMware - these components
are free!
- Everything
- this is a filename search tool and is absolutely indispensible.
Why? it's blisteringly fast. - I guarantee you won't be able to find
a file faster!
-
Newt Professional - network scanning and inventory - allows 25
node scanning for free
-
The Dude - auto discovery network management!
- Angry
IP Scanner - network IP scanning tool
-
Remote Desktop Manager - no, not the windows version, but a
multi RDP connection manager.
- Wireshark
- network protocol analyzer. (or packet sniffer!)
-
NetStumbler - wireless network sniffer.
- pSiphon - don't
go here :-)
-
Spotlight on Windows - simply awesome free remote process
monitor for windows PCs.
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