Free software list

When I was teaching at GSU, I discovered many of my students were not aware of some of the best free tools on Windows. Then I was thinking, why don't I set up a webpage and put up these nice resources so everyone can benefit.

Table of Contents

A. For common users
B. For techies
C. Resources

[View all in one page]

The programs listed here are either open source or free for personal use. They are very useful and can replace its commercial counterparts (if there are). I have been using them frequently, for quite some time. I definitely recommend them.

Recommended List of Free Software on Windows

Updated in Oct 2008

A. For common users >> B. For techies >> C. Resources >> [View all in one page]

A. Free Software for Common Users

These programs are for everyone.

1. Browsers

2. 7-Zip logo

7-Zip is a very good file compression and decompression program. It supports the common .ZIP, .RAR, and .ISO format. I have been using this to replace WinZIP and WinRAR for quite some time now. Strongly recommended!

3. Daemon Tools Lite

This one is a very good CD/DVD simulation tool. You can use it to load CD/DVD images directly from hard drives; so that saves a lot of CD/DVDs. I use it all the time on every one of my computers. Strongly recommended!

4. Media Player Classic

This compact player mimics the look and feel of the old Windows media player. The best of all is that it is a green application - just one .exe file, no installation, and very portable. It supports Matroska (.mkv) files and multiple audio tracks (great for multi-linguists). A great supplementary tool - recommended!

5. Microsoft Security Essentials

  • Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It's free for genuine Windows.

6. Quick launch tools

Don't want to always go to "Start" and click several times to find and click on a shortcut? Here are some options:

  • Quick launch toolbar. The only problem is it is too small. But you can (in Windows XP) unlock it, detach it from the taskbar, move (dock) it to the edge of the screen and create a toolbar ribbon with large icons. In Windows Vista you need to do this:
    • From any Windows Explorer window (not maximized), navigate to the folder:
      %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer.
    •  Drag and drop the "QuickLaunch" folder to the edge of the screen; it will transform itself to a toolbar on the side.
    • Move it around to any side of the screen; adjust icon size and other settings.
  • App Launcher gadget for Windows Vista sidebar, or Application Launcher for Google Desktop: gadgets that only reside inside the sidebar.
  • Launchy: best for Windows XP, you can use it to search and launch programs, files, websites, etc.

7. Screenshot capture tools

For many reasons, we need to capture some screenshots. Here are two useful tools:

8. FlashGet

FlashGet is a downloading manager tool. It supports multi-thread downloading so that makes downloading faster if the server sets max bandwidth. It also can resume broken or paused downloads, which is good for very large files. I had been using this tool for some years.

9. Foxit PDF Reader

Foxit PDF Reader is a free reader/viewer for PDF documents. It is a green application, with one .exe file and needs no installation. It is super fast to open PDF files. Of course, Adobe Reader is also free.

10. Desktop management tools

Many Linux GUI provide multiple desktops so you can better organize task bars and open Windows. If you always open too many Windows but don't have enough big monitors, this type of tool is for you. Here are two of them:

11. MultiMon Taskbar

Having multiple monitors? No easy way to move the window to the desired monitor? Don't know which application on the taskbar will show on which monitor? Try this:

12. open office logo

OpenOffice.org is a open source office software which includes a word processing program, a spreadsheet program, a presentation program, a drawing program and a personal database program. It's an alternative for MS Office.

Honorable mention

Others

I know these are good programs, too. But I just haven't got a chance to test them. Will keep this page updated ...

  • Thunderbird and Sunbird/Lighting: a great alternative for MS Outlook and Windows Mail/Calendar, from Mozilla. I am not using them because I have been a long time user of MS Outlook (and Outlook Express, which is also free).
  • Paint.Net: an image processing program based on .Net.
  • Eraser: will completely remove sensitive files.
  • KeePass: a password management tool.
  • TrueCrypt: encrypting files, folders, and drives.
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B. For techies

These are for those who are quite familiar with computers and would like to discover and play with all kinds of programs. Some developer tools are also included.

1. Microsoft Virtual PC and Virtual Server

Virtual PC (Server) is a virtualization program on Windows. You can use it to simulate multiple operating systems inside your current Windows system. So, if your computer is powerful enough, you can have multiple Windows systems (personal or server) installed and running at the same time on the same computer. This is very helpful for development and testing purposes. For example, I currently have 3 WinXP, 2 WinVista, 1 Win98, 2 WinServer 2003 and 1 WinServer 2008 on only two computers! Recommended!

2. Remote desktop (terminal service)

This tool is coming with Windows. You can use it to remotely operate other computers running Windows, just like using a local computer. It is very useful if you have multiple computers in different locations and connected to the internet (or a home network). I even help my father (who is on the other side of the earth, China) to configure his computer using this tool. Strongly recommended!

3. XML/XSLT Editors

  1. Recommended comprehensive
    • XMLPad: a pretty powerful XML/XSD/XSLT editor; providing multiple views for XML content. But sometimes there is ad.
    • XMLFox: a nice tool to view and edit XML schemas (and XML content) with multiple views; requires .Net 2.0.
  2. Recommended unique
    • XPath Visualizer: great tool to test XPath expressions.
    • Treebeard: a open source XML/XSLT editor, based on Java. easy for transformation (side by side view); but lack of visual mode and advanced features.
    • XML Marker: XML editor, very unique in visualizing XML data using tables, which is very helpful for editing structured relational data.
  3. Others
    • Notepad++: a general editor for many languages including XML.
    • EditiX Lite: very nice visual (diagram style) editor; it's good to get XPath information for any nodes; based on Java. limitation on the free edition (cannot generate schema).
    • XML Notepad 2007: a basic XML editing tool downloadable from Microsoft; requires .Net 2.0.

4. FileZilla

This is a FTP tool. If you are managing files on a remote hosted server, this one is good. Or, you can use a browser (e.g. IE) as a FTP interface.

5. Microsoft Network Monitor

A fairly good tool to monitor network traffic so you can see what is being transferred. I once used it for my master's thesis project.

6. TCP View

Another useful tool from Sysinternals. You can monitor all open ports of your computer and see processes using them.

7. CPU-Z

CPU-Z is a small utility program to display information about CPU, memory and motherboard.

8. Shrew Soft VPN Client

  • Shrew Soft VPN client is a free VPN client, compatibal with Windows 7 64 bit system. It also can import Cisco VPN profiles.

9. Fiddler

http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/

9. Diagramming Tools

10. Data management

BaseX

 

Appendix. Online resources to find more free software

1. General

2. Specific software set from notable organizations

  • Mozilla: the famous Mozilla group -- find more besides FireFox!
  • Microsoft express: free developmental tools from Microsoft.
  • Windows Sysinternals: these utilities help you manage, troubleshoot and diagnose Windows systems and applications - from Microsoft.
  • PowerToys for Windows: PowerToys are for Windows XP - from Microsoft.
  • Apache: tons of open source tools (for professionals)
  • Oracle Technology Network: all Oracle software for download, for free! Of course they are only for developmental use, not production use.

3. Others