| Internet |
| ICQ | One of the defacto standard Instant messaging programs that's really handy. |
| Firefox | A free browser that supports extensions such as 'Click to run flash', 'mouse guestures', and adblock. Has many features and is better than IE. The adblock extension is worth using this browser for alone. Has a much better text zooming that makes type in some sites such as cnn that refuse to zoom much more readable, which was my initial reason for switching. |
| Thunderbird | Mozilla Thunderbird is a redesign of the Mozilla mail component. Our goal is to produce a cross platform stand alone mail application using the XUL user interface language. Our intended customer is someone who uses Mozilla Firebird (or another stand alone browser) as their primary browser and wants a mail client based on mozilla that "plays nice" with the browser.' This is the mail client I use. Use anything other than the software microsoft supplies and you'll be better off and won't have to deal with the near weekly security breaches. |
| Azureus | It provides a bittorrent protocol implementation using java language. Azureus offers multiple torrent downloads, queuing/priority systems (on torrents and files), start/stop seeding options and instant access to numerous pieces of information about your torrents. |
| utorrent | uTorrent is the world's most popular BitTorrent client. Most of the features present in other BitTorrent clients are present in uTorrent, including bandwidth prioritization, scheduling, RSS auto-downloading and Mainline DHT (compatible with BitComet). |
| Audio Related |
| Exact Audio Copy | EAC is a free CD audio extraction utility and is better than one that I paid for. Can slow down the cd drive when it encounters popping errors. |
| FooBar 2000 | Foobar2000 is an advanced audio player for Windows platform. Some of the basic features include ReplayGain support, low memory footprint and native support for several popular audio formats. |
| Mp3 & Wav Trim | mp3Trim is a simple and easy to use MP3 editor. mp3Trim can trim MP3s - obviously! - removing the silence or unwanted parts and splitting hidden tracks. |
| MP3 Directcut | mp3DirectCut is a fast and extensive audio editor and recorder for compressed mp3. You can directly cut, copy, paste or change the volume with no need to decompress your files for audio editing. This saves encoding time and preserves the original quality, because nothing will be re-encoded. The built in recorder creates mp3 on the fly from your audio input. Using Cue sheets, pause detection or Auto cue you can easily divide long files. |
| MP3 Gain | Tired of reaching for your volume knob every time your mp3 player changes to a new song? MP3Gain analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume. Works well especially for simpler devices that do not have replay gain capability. Foobar2000 also has this functionality. |
| Mp3 Voyeur | Search your local network for mp3s AUTOMATICALLY! Ideal for lanparties and college networks. Not at useful as when it first came out, but still good to have. |
| MP3Tag | Open Source Mp3 tag editor. Writes APE tags as well as ID3 types (useful for foobar2000) |
| Utilities |
| Autohotkey | A simple yet powerful hotkey (shortcut key) scripting language for Windows, A keyboard and mouse remapper, and more. |
| Swap Mouse Buttons | SMB is a simple utility for swapping left and right mouse buttons easily by double clicking on it's system tray icon. |
| StrokeIt | From the site : StrokeIt is an advanced mouse gesture recognition engine and command processor. What is a mouse gesture? Mouse gestures are simple symbols that you "draw" on your screen using your mouse. When you perform a mouse gesture that StrokeIt can recognize, it will perform the "action" associated with that gesture. In short, it's a nifty little program that lets you easily control programs by drawing symbols with your mouse. Mouse gestures are great because you don't have to click on an absolute point like the X to close a window. Just gesture anywhere! |
| CD Check | For data-paranoid types like me, making sure your CD has what Its supposed to is handy. Compares the harddrive contents with what is on the CD. Less usefull now that some CD burners support verifying files automatically. |
| CDROM Tool | Lets you set the maximium speed that a CDROM can go and the spindown time. If you've got a CDROM that sounds like a jet turbine and vibrates your entire computer case, you'll want this. Except for installation CDs, most applications don't get any real benefit from high RPM speeds above 1X such as playing MP3s from CDRs you've made and it should make your drive last longer. |
| Notepad+ | Notepad++ is a free (as in "free speech" and also as in "free beer") source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. |
| 7Zip | 7-Zip is a file archiver with highest compression ratio. Compresses zip files to a smaller ratio than Winzip does, and around fifty percent better in the 7Z format. Free. |
| Freeware Sites |
| Freeware Home | Freeware Home - Collection of Free Software and Internet Services |
| The Free Site | Welcome to The Free Site, home of the Web's best freebies. (not just ftp) |