List of free software

[Rakoua]

I'm attempting to make a list of free software with various applications for Windows, Linux and OSX. Please, feel free to post your favorite programs with a short (one or two sentences) review and description. Also please note and problems with the software on the list if you experience some, and provide a link to its webpage. Click the name of the program to be taken to its website.  Here is the list so far:

Web browsers
Firefox - a great free web browser, if a bit slow at times.
Google Chrome

Desktop customization
Rocketdock - adds a dock similar to the one in Linux and OSX to your Windows desktop.
Rainmeter - arguably the best tool for customizing your desktop, with lots and lots of skins available.

Image editors
GIMP - a program which can do a lot of the things Photoshop can, but is free.

Video players
VLC - one of the best video players out there.
KMPlayer - another great video player, though somewhat confusing since it has a lot of features.

Audio players
iTunes - a great program for playing music.

System cleaners
CCleaner - a tool for cleaning up your computer and increasing performance

System monitoring tools
Speccy - great tool for system information
GPU-Z - lots of information on your graphics card, like temperature and load
CPU-Z - lots of information on your CPU
HWMonitor - gives you information on system temperature, battery health, fan speed, voltages...

Productivity
LibreOffice - a great free Office substitute



Please post more programs  you like, since this list is currently highly incomplete (as you can see)!

[Blade]

VLC Media Player; a rather good alternative to Winamp, iTunes, and the like. Maybe not as feature intensive as the rest, and I don't recall a direct syncing feature; but for a video/music player? One of the best I've seen. =D

Website

[Rakoua]

Updated with VLC and KMP for video players.

[mtmerrick]

free software i love:

iTunes - free [windows, mac] tried and true music program (don't hate me)

CCleaner - free (w/ donate/corporate versions) [Windows] amazing cleaning tool that will speed up your PC significantly.

X-Link - free [windows, linux, mac, android] crazy fast WiFi file transfer java program. will render flash drives obsolete. Android link (includes download link to desktop version)

Scratchpad - free [chrome os, plus windows linux & mac support if installed via chrome] simple but fast, google-syncing note taking Chrome App Download link

Speccy - free (w/ donate/corporate versions) [windows] everything you ever wanted to know about your PC, all in one great little app

Picasa - free [windows, mac, depreciated linux version] best photo viewer i know, has some great photo editing tools as well.

Mari0 - free [windows, mac, linux] hilarious but maddening mashup game download links

LibreOffice - free [windows, mac, linux] best free office suite



there's loads more, but that's a good start =P

[Rakoua]

I've added some of those along with some I've been using for some time now.

[Blade]

xLink... That sounds like a program I've heard that can connect different gaming systems to act like the local multiplayer features... Any relation, do you think?

Also, Mari0, I've actually heard of that! Was watching a video on it, didn't know it had actually been put up or anything; I should give it a try, sounds fun. =D

[mtmerrick]

@ X-Link: highly doubt it but who knows? =P

@ Mari0: you should play it, its great fun with close to zero system requirements. and free =D

[Blade]

I'll try it on my laptop later, then. =D

[The Truth]

Maintenance:
CCleaner (with CCEnhancer addon): Cleans tons of junk files, also has a mediocre registry cleaner.
Glary Utilities: Registry Cleaner and Defrag, startup manager, cleans some junk files, fixes broken shortcuts.
Auslogics Registry Cleaner: Cleans more of the registry than CCleaner or Glary, but misses some errors that they catch (I usually run Auslogics, then CCleaner, and finally Glary)
Auslogics Disk Defrag: One of the best free defraggers there is.

Security: Microsoft Security Essentials.

Web Browser: Pale Moon.  (It's Firefox, but better)

[Blade]

Okay, I'll bite; can you run Pale Moon at the same time as Firefox?

[The Truth]

Yes.

[Blade]

Perfect... >=) </mrburns>

[Blade]

To revive this, I've found a new free program that might be of handy to those who want to do Let's Plays. Try out CamStudio. I believe it's Windows-only, but it's pretty good for capturing parts of your computer screen. I don't honestly know what the sound capabilities are like; apparently my sound card is too horrible for it. =P There's some artifacts when using the default encoder; but there might be some way to fix that, I haven't actually tested anything yet. =P

[KnightsFan]

I could use some screen capture software

[Blade]

Do let me know how the audio is; as said, I never had a chance to actually try it, so I hope it's good. =P

[Flipz]

I'm using BBFlashBack Express, it's been awesome so far.

[Blade]

What is it? Is it something to use to record your desktop?

[Flipz]

Yeah, it can record your whole desktop, a specifically-defined region on the screen, or a specific window.  It also has configurable options for cursor highlighting and other things, and it's pretty resource-light (I only have to adjust my Minecraft render distance from Far to Normal, and I still have decent framerate).

The built-in editor for the free version is fairly limited (note that it's where you configure the mouse pointer options, though), but if you have another program for editing, that's OK. :wink:

[KnightsFan]

CamStudio won't install properly for me.

[Blade]

Hmm, that's odd. It worked fine for me... =/

Flipz: Will have to look into it, then. =)