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30 Essential Pieces Of Free (and Open) Software for Windows 252comments
Recently, I received a fresh new laptop from Dell. Upon receiving it, I did the traditional “installation of Windows from scratch” on it to remove a lot of the garbage that is preinstalled on Dells. Then I got really busy installing tons of great software that takes care of pretty much every software need I have. Not only was all of the software free, every piece of it was open source, which means that the code is peer-reviewed; no spyware here!
What follows is a list of thirty pieces of software that are the cream of the crop of open source software for Windows. Not only is every piece of it free, almost all of them directly replace expensive software packages.
Now, if only there were an open version of The Sims 2, I might go the whole way and switch to Linux…
1. Firefox
http://www.getfirefox.com/
Replaces Internet Explorer
If you haven’t switched to Firefox for your web browsing needs, do it now. It stops annoying popups and it has tons of amazing plugins that can make surfing the web even better. I could evangelize all day about Firefox, but one thing’s for sure: the first thing I do on any new Windows machine is run Internet Explorer just long enough to download Firefox.
2. Thunderbird
http://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/
Replaces Microsoft Outlook or Eudora
Thunderbird is an email client that has five big things going for it: it’s free, it’s full featured, it’s lightweight and runs quick, it has an unparalleled spam filter, and it protects you from those ridiculous phishing attacks by clearly indicating which emails send you to a bogus website. If you’re not already using a web-based email solution, Thunderbird should be your client.
3. Sunbird
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/
Replaces Microsoft Outlook’s calendaring functions
Might as well get the Mozilla trifecta out of the way by mentioning Sunbird, which is the Mozilla Foundation’s calendaring program. It’s extremely easy to use (I figured out everything I needed in a minute or two) and easy to share your calendar with others. I consider a calendaring tool to be essential if you’re using a laptop, and this is no different.
4. Abiword
http://www.abisource.com/
Replaces Microsoft Word
Want a good word processor but find Microsoft Word too expensive? AbiWord is my favorite replacement for Word. It’s lightweight (meaning it runs quickly) and includes pretty much every feature that I use regularly in a word processor, plus it can save files in formats that you can exchange with Word and WordPerfect users, plus open any of their files, too.
5. OpenOffice
http://www.openoffice.org/
Replaces Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint
If you want to replace the rest of the Office suite, your best bet is OpenOffice. It includes very nice replacements for Excel and PowerPoint (and workable replacements for Access and other Office elements). In fact, I actually prefer their Excel and PowerPoint replacements to the real thing.
6. ClamWin
http://www.clamwin.com/
Replaces Norton AntiVirus or McAfee
ClamWin is a slick anti-virus software that’s quite easy to manage and is unobtrusive while keep your system free of viruses. That’s pretty much all I want from a package, so why pay money for McAfee to keep bugging me all the time?
7. Gaim
http://gaim.sourceforge.net/
Replaces AIM, Windows Messenger, etc.
This is a very clean instant messaging program that allows you to be on AOL Instant Messenger, Windows (MSN) Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger simultaneously with one program. There are other free packages that do this, but Gaim is stable and clean and simple.
8. BitTorrent
http://www.bittorrent.com/
Original but essential
From their website, “BitTorrent is a peer-assisted, digital content delivery platform that provides the fastest, most efficient means of distributing, discovering, and consuming large, high-quality files on the Web. Our mission is simple: to deliver the content that entertains and informs the digital world.” In other words, BitTorrent allows you to download large media files and also use your bandwidth to help others download these files. Search for media files you want and download ‘em.
9. GIMPShop
http://www.gimpshop.net/
Replaces Adobe Photoshop
This is a version of the GNU Image Manipulation Program that does a pretty solid job of imitating Adobe Photoshop - a regular user of Photoshop (like me) can adapt to it quite quickly. It’s very richly featured and runs quite well - in fact, I see no reason to ever go back, even if Photoshop were free.
10. Gnucleus
http://www.gnucleus.com/Gnucleus/
Replaces LimeWire, BearShare, etc.
Sure, LimeWire and BearShare are free, but why not just get the same basic software without all of the spyware? Gnucleus is pretty much identical to those software packages - but without all that extra junk that slows down your computer.
11. VLC Media Player
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Replaces Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer, etc.
If you get tired of having tons of media players on your computer, get this package that runs pretty much every media type you’ll run across without breaking a sweat.
12. Juice
http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/
Unique but essential
Juice lets you effortlessly subscribe to podcasts, organize them, and listen to them at your convenience. In conjunction with PodNova, I find it easier to use Juice to organize podcasts than using iTunes itself.
13. Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Unique but essential (for some)
If you’re interested in recording your own podcast (or just want to make your own voice recordings for whatever reason), Audacity and a microphone are pretty much all you need to get the job done. I’m not much for podcasting (let’s just say I don’t have a radio voice), but I use Audacity for other voice recording purposes.
14. RSSOwl
http://www.rssowl.org/
Unique but essential
RSSOwl is one of many open source RSS readers. In other words, it enables you to use one program to keep track of the content of a lot of different blogs; if you read a lot of blogs, it’s the only way to keep tabs on all of them without devoting hours jumping from site to site. If you have a laptop, it’s preferable to using sites like Bloglines, but if you’re on a desktop, a web-based feed manager might be better.
15. Filezilla
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/
Replaces WinFTP
Many people occasionally have a need to FTP files to other computers; if you ever have the need to transfer files in such a fashion, FileZilla will do the job slickly and quickly.
16. Keynote
http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote.html
Unique but essential
Keynote is basically designed specifically for the task of taking notes on a laptop. If you ever find yourself in a meeting or a presentation with your laptop open and want to jot down notes and organize them just a bit, Keynote is unquestionably the program for you. It’s not good at quality word processing, but that’s not the point. In my professional work, I find myself using Keynote almost as often as any other utility.
17. MusikCube
http://www.musikcube.com/
Replaces iTunes
If you’re not already committed to downloaded music from the iTunes Music Store, then MusikCube is the best choice available for a music organizer and player. It organizes your mp3s, makes it really easy and really fast to find them, and allows you to make some incredibly clever smart playlists.
18. Handbrake
http://handbrake.m0k.org/
Unique but essential
Handbrake enables you to stick a DVD in your DVD drive and have the contents of that film stored to your hard drive in a form that can be read by pretty much any media player. I often use it to put a few movies on my laptop for travel purposes, so I don’t have to worry about keeping track of DVDs while on the road.
19. X-Chat 2
http://www.silverex.org/
Replaces mIRC
X-Chat is a free IRC client. For those unfamiliar with IRC, it’s a place for technical people (and, as my wife loves to point out, nerds) to meet and discuss topics in an open environment. I often find it very useful when piecing through difficult technical issues.
20. KeePass
http://keepass.sourceforge.net/
Unique but essential
KeePass is a program that securely stores and manages the abundance of passwords we all use on a daily basis. I have literally hundreds of usernames and passwords spread out all over the place; KeePass keeps them all for me and keeps them safe.
21. TrueCrypt
http://www.truecrypt.org/
Unique but essential
TrueCrypt enables you to convert a memory stick into a strongly encrypted data storage device, meaning that you can store personal data on it without worrying about losing it and having personal information get out and about. I use it to keep some of my most personal data off of my laptop and strongly secured, just in case.
22. PDFCreator
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
Replaces Adobe Acrobat
PDFCreator creates a virtual printer on your computer that, if you print a document to it from any program, creates a PDF of that document that can be read on any computer with Acrobat Reader on it. After installing PDFCreator, all you have to do is print like normal and out comes a PDF!
23. Freemind
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/
Unique but Essential
Freemind is a “mind mapping” software program. In essence, it enables you to brainstorm and link together ideas quickly, creating “maps” of concepts similar to what you might do on a whiteboard. I find it incredibly useful when putting together ideas for new posts or planning small projects or assembling the backbone of a writing project.
24. NASA Worldwind
http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/
Replaces Google Earth
WorldWind is very similar to Google Earth in that it allows you to browse the globe. While it isn’t strong for creating maps (but why not just use Google Maps for that?), it is utterly incredible for viewing three-dimensional landscapes of any place on earth.
25. Notepad2
http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
Replaces Notepad
Notepad2 is a replacement for the traditional Windows Notepad that just adds a few sweet little features: multiple documents; line, word, and character counts; and some highlighting of tags. In fact, I’m using Notepad2 as I draft this post (after using Freemind to organize it).
26. HealthMonitor
http://healthmonitor.zucchetti.com/
Unique but useful
HealthMonitor enables you to keep an eye on the health of your computer. It identifies slowdowns and other system issues quickly and lets you know (for example, it gives a popup if your system memory gets to a certain percentage of fullness, or if your hard drive has only 10 GB free). This can keep you out of trouble and also give you clues to problems your machine might be having.
27. Workrave
http://www.workrave.org/
Unique but useful
Sometimes late into a writing session, my wrists get sore from too much repetitive movement. Workrave basically jumps in before this happens and locks down the computer for a while, preventing me from working too much and causing repetitive stress injury. Since I’ve started using it, it hasn’t significantly hurt my productivity at all and my wrists are thanking me!
28. GanttPV
http://www.pureviolet.net/ganttpv/
Replaces Microsoft Project
If you do any project management (or have a need to dip your toes in the water), GanttPV does a brilliant job of managing the task quickly, easily, and freely. If you need to move to MS Project later, you can export from GanttPV to Project, but once you start digging into GanttPV, you’ll likely have no reason to use Project.
29. GnuCash
http://www.gnucash.org/
Replaces Microsoft Money or Quicken
GnuCash is a slimmed-down version of the bloated Microsoft Money and Quicken packages, but it contains all of the features I want for managing my money. The interfaces are incredibly simple - it functions much like a checkbook ledger on your computer - but there’s a lot of meat hidden throughout the software.
30. True Combat: Elite
http://www.truecombatelite.net/
Replaces Quake IV, Halo, etc.
After all this downloading, you’re going to need to blow off a little steam, and I’ve yet to find a more enjoyable free game than this one. It’s basically a third person combat game, but the graphics are spectacular and the game is quite engrossing.
If you’ve downloaded and installed all of these, you’ve got access to all the productivity software you’ll likely need, clean and open and best of all free.
Comments
Many of these can be run off of a USB thumb drive as well. If you travel, it can be very handy to be able to bring your environment with you.
Three things that I didn’t notice on here. Maybe VLC covers the first two…
QuickTime Alternative
Realplayer Alternative
Foxit PDF Reader
Nice list. I use about 50% of the apps you’ve listed and find them better than the pay sites.
One addition would be Real Alternative (http://www.free-codecs.com/Real_Alternative_download.htm) which plugs into mplayer which, like VLC, can play just about anything you throw at it.
[…] 30 Essential Pieces of Free (and Open) Software For Windows - The Simple Dollar highlights some fantastic free software programs, some of which I use and some new products I love. […]
ummm….I didn’t think GnuCash ran under Windows? If there’s a version that does, please point me to it!
That is a great list. I’m already using some of these but there are a few more I’d like to try. I’ve found Filezilla to be easier to use than FTPs you have to pay for. Hope that holds true for GIMPshop and Gnucash as well.
[…] This is from the perspective of a person setting up a machine from scratch and shows the possibilities of OSS. Good descriptions, covers the obvious and the not-so-obvious, provides URLs, and indicates clearly what closed source software each package can replace. A great list for someone setting up a new machine or updating one.read more | digg story […]
18. Handbrake - This app is for MAC, not Windows
GNUCash? Not available for Windows. How about Eclipse as a replacement
Nice list. One issue with it though: LimeWire is open source too.
I just thought that Songbird should have been added to the list as something to keep an eye out for. As far as I know now, it is only at 0.2.1DR, but I’ve been running it for the past few weeks without problems. http://www.songbirdnest.com/
GnuCash doesn’t have a windows version :/
[…] Simple Dollar » 30 Essential Pieces Of Free (and Open) Software for Windows Trackback · RelatedPosts: […]
Hey, a couple of things:
Notepad2 is my favorite text editor. Good choice!
You could also suggest WarRock as a free game, but this one you have here looks better.
I think SongBird (songbirdnest.com) is better than than MusikCube. MusikCube has a boring GUI and doesn’t have as many features. Songbird is just like Itunes, has many cool features, and a sleek GUI. And it eliminates the need for the VLC player, because it’s built right in!
Avast antivirus is better than ClamWin IMO…but ClamWin is open source…I don’t use ClamWin because there’s no real time protection.
I use Paint.NET instead of GimpShop, and although its not as fully featured, it’s good for newbies and offers a BIG improvement over Paint. I rarely do complex graphics, so I just use Paint.NET; it’s fast and has a better GUI.
By the way, I’ve seen a lot of free/OS software blog posts that list like the top whatever of free apps, and out of all of them, I think this one is the best. It’s detailed, and includes applications that I use and I think are best (compared with other free alternatives)…
Brilliant!
Great post.
One good alternative to VLCPlayer is MPUI, a front-end to mplayer, or Media Player Classic.
Just to let you know, the windows version of X-Chat is not free. It costs a small one time fee. But it isn’t free.
[…] The Simple Dollar has a great list with 30 great programs to download. All are free and all are immensely useful, pending of course on what you need. […]
Nice post… However, I would definitely go with Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) over Noteapd2 (but I am a programmer).
Did you install all these 30 applications under Windows? How did you get GnuCash and Handbrake to work on it? A nice detailed explanation would be appreciated, since I’ve never been able to run GnuCash on Windows. Getting it to work on Cygwin was too much hassle, but if there is a binary somewhere, I’d like that. I use jGnash instead, although I’m not that crazy about the sluggish Java interface.
Many people are asking about GnuCash. There are some binaries floating around out there from various sources; in fact, I didn’t realize there wasn’t an “official” binary when I wrote this. However, it’s pretty easy to build it yourself if you want; here are the instructions: http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Windows
True Combat: Elite isn’t free or open source.
True Combat:Elite doesn’t appear to be F/OSS. I strongly encourage donating to F/OSS projects (see my link).
There seems to be a lot of conflicting information about whether TC:E is open or closed source. I’m going to leave it on the list for now until I get clear confirmation one way or another, since it is an excellent game and I keep finding conflicting information about it. If you want to remain clearly in the open source category, I recommend BZFlag ( http://bzflag.org/ ).
FireFTP plugin for Firefox is also a wonderful FTP client.
I sometimes don’t like the gui of filezilla for some reason. Especially the file views are messy…
[…] read more | digg story […]
[…] For everyone who is interested in discovering alternative solutions to proprietary software (e.g. if you want to find some good open-source and free software), I found this great post that made the front page of digg. For added convenience, I have recreated the list (in no particular order): […]
I prefer GanttProject over GanttPV.
You missed one.
VirtuaWin (http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/) which is an open source virtual desktop manager.
Probably one of the first 5 things I install on a new Windows installation.
I also vote for GanttProject over GanttPV. Excellent, cross-platform Gantt charting software.
or alien arena if you want a FPS game: http://red.planetarena.org/
[…] It’s like a gateway drug, first you replace as much of your propietary software on WINDOWS as you can, then it’s much easier to wean yourself off of other things like the OS. […]
[…] Este artículo fue leído originalmente en The Simple Dollar. Fue ajustado y modificado por mi para traducirlo al castellano y agregar o quitar ciertos programas de la lista. Los Créditos, son de The Simple Dollar. La traducción es mía eso si.. además de las descripciones de algunos programas. Espero te haya sido de utilidad. […]
Notepad2 is nice, but I prefer SciTE (http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html). Both are based on the Scintilla editing component. But, SciTE has tabbed interface, and is more configurable.
[…] De 30 mest uundvrlige opensource programmer til Windows […]
30 Essential Pieces Of Free (and Open) Software for Windows…
…
[…] read more | digg story […]
What about NotePad++, th best notepad ever!
Very Interesting Thank you for everything.
Regards,
Gopi
if you want a Windows accounting package thats FOSS GPL support for many countries etc check out Turbocash
True Combat Elite is closed source, but still a great game and free. From the FAQ at True Combat Europe (http://www.truecombat.eu):
10. Is TC:E Open Source? How about moving to the Q3 GPL engine or its forks? Can I contribute?
TCE is closed source. The engine subject has been discussed already, and the developement team has stated several times that they intend to continue in the W:ET engine as a closed source project. If you think you can contribute models/maps/textures of the same quality of the TC:E standards, feel free to contact the team through the Contact Form.
You forgot Inkscape
Zoom Player is a great free video/audio player that can be configured more than VLC. I especially like having the arrow keys control the volume and jumping the video by 5 seconds. It’s very handy. The developer is personally involved in running the support forum, too.
If you like KeyNotes and Freemind, you might also like The Guide (http://theguide.sourceforge.net/). It’s like KeyNotes, without the bloat.
[…] Source: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/ […]
Soon you’ll be able to stick with Eudora instead of using Thunderbird, which IMHO isn’t as feature-rich and robust as Eudora. Qualcomm has announced plans to donate Eudora to the open source community, and there should be a free full-featured release out early 2007!
nice collection.
Gnucleus appears to be abandonded, but eMule-Plus is open-source, and works great!
[…] http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/ […]
Useful collection!
VCL Mediaplayer does NOT play real media. See feature list -> http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html
Mino
[…] This is from the perspective of a person setting up a machine from scratch and shows the possibilities of OSS. Good descriptions, covers the obvious and the not-so-obvious, provides URLs, and indicates clearly what closed source software each package can replace. A great list for someone setting up a new machine or updating one.read more | digg story […]
Nice list.
I’m a fan of Crimson Editor, which is likely close to the other 2 notepad replacements.
[…] And lo! the name of Firefox led the list (full descriptions and links at the link): […]
Los 30 programas gratis y de codigo abierto esenciales para Windows…
30 programas gratis y de codigo abierto para Windows. Desde Thunderbird para el email hasta Gimshop como sustituto de Photoshop, o MusikCube en lugar de iTunes. Todo gratis….
I am going to link this page to my website above, which contains other, similar lists.
Also, the next time you buy a new PC, try the “PC Decrapifier” http://www.yorkspace.com/pc-de-crapifier/ Before you do a re-install…
Thanks for the List! It is amazing. I have two recommendations:
EditPad Lite (Freeware)
http://www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html
Even better replacement for notepad.
Dark Room (Freeware)
http://they.misled.us/dark-room/
Simple app for taking notes. Frees the mind.
JD
True Combat: Elite looks like a cool free game but any software that isn’t a straight-up installation these days doesn’t make any of my top lists.
Love it!
I hope you will keep this list of software updated often.
Thanks for the replacements.
This is a great post. I didn’t know that some of these applications were available for windows. There is one piece of software that I think is good that is PAF (personal ancestral file) great way to do family history without having to pay for it. check it out at http://www.familysearch.org
Awesome detailed list. I will be trying a few of these programs out.
The top 30 free Windows software apps…
Financial blog The Simple Dollar has come up with an excellent list of the top 30 free Windows software, from Firefox to GnuCash: Recently, I received a fresh new laptop from Dell. Upon receiving it, I did the traditional……
You forgot Notepad++ .
Its awsome tool, i use it as a notepad and for coding. It has syntax highligthing and lot of useful functionalities.
check it out.
Freeware Financial Apps for Windows:
http://www.turbocash.co.za/
http://jgnash.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
There aren’t any good free, open source firewall applications that I can find for Windows.
I am also having trouble finding a good FOSS replacement for Handbrake on Windows.
I’d love to know if there’s a program like Handbrake for Windows.. I’m about to receive my first ipod, and would love something for the video part. Thanks and wonderful post!
There is more to the world then just Mozilla you know.
Opera is another fantastic browsers
http://www.opera.com
Eudora for mail is gone free/open and is one of the oldest email clients around
http://www.eudora.com/
Gantt Project for Project management
http://ganttproject.sourceforge.net/
And for Anti-virus there are a slew of good options.
Anti-Vir
http://www.free-av.com/
why gaim and not miranda ?
miranda defenetly must have a place in this list !
I was wondering if there was a good program that cleans up and maybe even makes windows faster. Im preety sure there is some non adware/virus problems with my computer that is making it run slower. Any free programs that would help speed up my computer?
this is a great list of apps . considering i am a newbie i find alot of these actually help i also find great stuff on filehippo/demonoid . just my opinion though . if there are more sites i can look through would appreciate.
Thanks!
I’ve red this in the right moment.
Tips:
Use free AVAST home version for squashing threat to your laptop ’cause it’s rock solid and the tiny personal firewall.
@Travis: CCleaner is amazing. On my first run of the program it freed up 2.2 GB of crap (the “C” in “CCleaner”), which included 78 MB of data in my IE Temp folder alone (and I use Firefox 99% of the time!). It also features a better uninstall launcher than the Windows Control Panel’s Add/Remove Programs utility.
Another unique, not-available-in-payware open-source project is “HFS - Http File Server” at http://www.rejetto.com/hfs/. Really easy filesharing.
-Meter
Nice list. Why is Handbrake on it? There doesn’t seem to be a Windows version of it.
Quote from the homepage: “HandBrake was originally available on the BeOS, but now has been ported over to MacOS X and to GNU/Linux. A Windows port is being worked on.”
For free, but not open source antispyware programs, I would recommend Ad-Aware SE, made by the Lavasoft corporation, and Spybot Search&Destroy, by Safer-Networking. Both work great, and cover just about everything.
Babya Logic-freewebs.com/babyalogic. Produces both WAV and MIDI music.
Great list, going to download a few of those later. Here’s a program that I have been using for about 3 years now and absolutely adore:
http://www.ePrompter.com
This program (for those that haven’t used it) allows you to log into all of your e-mail accounts and check them all from the program. It only uses HTML and does not support attachments, this way you can check your e-mail without the risk of viruses.
nice list
i think freeware are good but can they supports unicode for reginal language
i like microsoft beacuuse it is user friendly supports reginal language
I would submit that Freemind is a far superior piece of note-taking software than Tranglos…. The same organization functions that make it good for brain-storming also make it good for organizing notes around central topics and key points.
I have another compilation for you:
http://www.ttcsweb.org/osswin-cd/index.htm
“The TTCS OSSWIN CD is a collection of over 100 Free/Open Source software for home and business users using the Microsoft Windows 98SE/Me/2000 and XP operating systems… Version 1.65 of the TTCS OSSWIN CD was created on November 6th, 2006 and is available for download as an .ISO file.”
nice list - I had also compiled something like this before but was not aware of GanttPV and Gnucash! my list here:
http://vinu.wordpress.com/2006/02/20/vinu-winpack/
Something you should add are:
VLC and mwsnap.
I’d recommend UTorrent over Bitcomet (which I used to use), it has a smaller footprint.
I’d definitely add Eclipse http://www.eclipse.org to that list. Not only is it an adequate replacement for many professional Java development environments, it’s extensibility makes it a replacement for many development environments for any language. Not only that, but many plugins add more than just development environment functionality.
I’d spend some time with search engines before using Babya Logic. aafuss (the “creator”) is notorious for ripping off other people’s work and claiming it as his own.
I’m due a new laptop at work soon so this will be a valuable resource for making sure I’ve got all the basic essentials without bloating my system with numerous unused apps.
Cheers for the write up!
Very useful list! I’m keeping this, in case I decide to start my computer from scratch.
Currently I use around half of the software on the list.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a great list!
Very good list, I just have a couple of suggested apps that I use.
VNC (or ultraVNC, etc.) to replace Remote Desktop Client or Citrix (www.realvnc.com)
ZipGenius - this software opens almost every kind of archive file. Free, but not OSS. http://www.zipgenius.it
Google Browser Sync - plugin for Firefox. it will sync your bookmarks to multiple systems. Free, not OSS.
Microsoft Virtual PC - try Linux or run windows as a virtual machine. Or VMWare is free too.
Picasa from Google for photo organizing.
i would say the (not yet complete) SONGBIRD will be my replacement for iTunes.
it’s like an RSS reader, browser and all-around media player in one.
Using Opera replaces 1, 2, 8, 14, and 19 easily.
In this case I’d prefer 1 free app to 5 free/open source apps.
Great list. Eerily similar to my linux list :)
I’d add Spybot Search&Destroy, Ad-Aware, Crap Cleaner, and Hijack This. All free and all very good at what they do, especially in combination.
Opera is also a very commendable web browser. It opens faster and loads pages much better (it is generally considered the fastest), BUT - and this is a big BUT - it has limited plugins and not as much support.
It isn’t open-source, as far as I know, but in a discussion of good safe free stuff it needs a mention!
Nice list! But.
Free and best music Player? It’s Apollo!
http://koti.welho.com/hylinen/apollo/
Using it for 5 years. Must have.
Congrats on the traffic!
Way to spread the free software cheer!
I would like to add, FreeCommander ( http://www.freecommander.com/ ) the best file manager!
uTorrent, smaller than most other torrent clients, and very fast.
And Fuzlez Wheels of volume, the coolest volume controller I have found, simple and quick.
There is a functional beta Handbrake for Windows available - check the forums (http://handbrake.m0k.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=8) for link and usage info.
Nice list. I would actually say uTorrent over the original BitTorrent client or Azureus (which is a resource hog, most likely due to it being based on Java).
Although I just realized uTorrent isn’t open-souce. Never mind ;).
Instead of handbrake, you might try AutoGK, based on the GordianKnot collection of free / open source tools for ripping / compressing video & audio. It compressed in divX/Xvid, and you can choose image quality, sound quality, etc., without too much trouble. Saves a bit of space.
From the GnuCash wiki re GnuCash on Windows: “…compiling is possible, and running as well, but so far not everything runs.” Not sure I’d recommend trusting your finances to something this unfinished.
Great job, but I would add some apps…
- Apache (well, this is trivial because I do not think there is a competitor for it).
- Octave or Scilab (they can be used to replace some of the uses of MatLab).
- 7zip (which can deal with all sorts of compressed files I can imagine, zip, rar, tar, tz, bz2…)
This is really Cool Stuff!!!
I was searching somthing similar to this.. I found it very usefull..
You forgot Inkscape! una de las mas sencilas y funcionales herramientas de diseño vectorial que he probado…por otra parte yo no pondría The Gimp en esta lista porque aunque el rendimiento del software en linux es inmejorable en Windows deja mucho que desear.
for taking note evernote is the best. No need to maintain 100 scattered files. And the best part is that it supports mime content also and it save automatically(there is no save button :-)
I ahve an idea too, Though not open source , Opera browser is for the me the best. YOucan find RSS feeds , zooming , torrents at least
I think Omea reader does a better job than RSSowl
http://www.jetbrains.com/omea/reader/
Awsome, just plain brilliant, several of the apps I already use but this introduced me to some awsome ones, anyway one thing that bothers me is that the only game here looks like it probably wouldn’t run on my computer very well, if at all, but otherwise its a great list :).
editpad lite is very good notepad replacements. It is among the first few applications that I install immediately after doing an install of windows.
For those of us that are weaning themselves of Outlook with Thunderbird, keep an eye on the “Lightning” project under Mozilla. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/
It brings much of the Sunbird functionality into TB.
Regards
If only…
… a substitute for Quickbooks
… a quality, free Tax prep program
I wish you had included what other platforms these are for. I’m already using Linux, but a few looked like programs I would like to try…
I think you forgot to mention 7-zip (File archiving utility), Vim/Emacs (File Editors). Emacs would further remove the need for calendar/todo list software requirement.
For FTP we can use FireFTP Firefox-plugin. For playing multimedia files, mplayer+mencoder is way far better than vlc player.
For Bittorent, utorrent is again more popular choice.
What a fantastic list! Usually this lists are full of either rubbish or the usual suspects.
For the fans of IE ,Greenbroswer is also a free alternative having too many addons : page manager on the start of the program,script collector - it also clooects javascrits , proxies, multiple engine watch at same time , form manager , ad filter , url alias and many others . MOre on this site morequick.com (chinese site! )
this is the version 2 . I think there is now a nw version but i have not tested it so far.
I enjoy pies. And people who wear red dresses.
What about Notepad++?
And GIMP? Ugh, why not put LaTex on the list too?
Something easier and free would be Paint.NET
Having seen the number of posts regarding an OSS finance app, I highly recommend the cross-platform jGnash: http://jgnash.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Also, Password Gorilla is another (cross-platform) password manager:
http://www.fpx.de/fp/Software/Gorilla/
Finally, another game to add:
http://www.wesnoth.org/
F/OSS on winblows is not too bad but F/OSS running on a F/OSS operative system rocks! ^_^
Let me be a more generic today:
For the fans of IE ,Greenbroswer is also a free alternative having too many addons : page manager on the start of the program, script collector - it also colledcts javascrits-, proxies inldcluding anonymizer , multiple engine watch at same time , form manager , ad filter,plugins , url alias autosave pages also per category , autorefresh , alias ,drag drop tabs ,mouse grestures , tab groups (also in firefox and opera ), auto scroller , auto filler ,ad filter ,updirectory visiting etc . It is a green program meaning that it does not require installation
MOre on this site morequick.com (chinese site! )
I however prefer Opera which in its latest version 9 includes page zooming , widgets, RSS , and many more
As for picture viewer i recommend the freeware Irfanview . The program though can be used as ‘green’ , once installed associates with the most pictures extensions, having several basic picture adjustments and capturing. Its plug ins are 3 times bigger than the program itself!
Also Sage plug in for MOzilla is better than RSS owl.
Another ‘freeware’ download manager is Flashget- as far as i know it from its 1.65 version . i mean program with adverts
Another good resource (OK, I’m biased: I created it) is “Just Say NO to Microsoft” (http://microsoft.toddverbeek.com). Parts of it are getting a bit out of date (who knew that it was going to take so much work to maintain?) but it lists multiple free and low-cost (and high-cost) alternatives to most of Microsoft’s major products.
Great list of software! My only recommendation is to ditch Firefox for Opera. Yes, you heard that right. Numerous users, myself included, have experienced crippling memory leaks in FF. As much as I love FF… I had to let it go because as a small business owner I simply cannot afford to lose any more productivity to tech problems.
You would use the Gimp “even if Photoshop were free?” Really? I mean, you can easily argue Photoshop isn’t worth the difference in price, but for ease of use, compatibility with other programs, plugins, scripts, etc., come on.
It’s comments like this one that make these lists lose credibility quickly.
Great programs and thanks. I”ll name a couple more. ccleaner.com for a free registry cleaner that works great. Also dzsoft.com has a great program called Favorites Search which does just what the title says. Saves hours by not having to search through your favorites manually. A great educational site concerning unborn children is abort73.com
Original List lacks a file archiver. As mentioned in previous comments, 7-Zip is a free archiver and is damn good. (see http://sourceforge.net/projects/sevenzip/)
If you want to compress something to mp3, you may wish to download the lame codec (http://sourceforge.net/projects/lame/)
A good site listing open source software is http://directory.fsf.org/ . Win ports for many gnu tools can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnuwin32/ . I recommend as a minimum: gawk (text processing) and ls (commandline “list directory”).
SPECIALITY SOFTWARE
For very particular purposes, there are various high-ranked programs:
- statistics: R (http://cran.r-project.org/) is the gold standard
- octave (http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/), a free mathematics program
- gnuplot (a free and powerfull plotting utility)
- gnumeric: an alternative to Excel and OpenOffice Calc (and much more accurate than both of them - uses far more robust statistical algorithms)
I would also recommend a great PDF viewer/editor replacement: Ghostview and Ghostscript.
Your political views != free open-source software. I’m not interested in installing them on my computer.
I haven’t used Gnucleus, but would suggest Shareaza or FilePipe as better open-source alternatives to LimeWire.
Shareaza connects to the Gnutella, G2 & eDonkey2000 networks, and also handles torrents and HTTP/FTP downloads (so it makes a great download manager). FilePipe uses the giFT daemon to connect to Gnutella, FastTrack and Ares.
Great list! Another open source (and addicting) game is jrisk. It’s just like the popular board game with great maps and it’s multi-platform java based with a game server for lan-multi-player games as well.
Thanks for have suggested Healthmonitor. I was looking for software similar and finally I fond it. It gives me a big hand keep an eye on my servers.
Thanks for the list. I wanted to recommend Spiceworks (www.spiceworks.com) which I use. Its a free Network Management and Inventory tool. Helps me keep all my computers and printers working :)
Now THIS is one of the most useful posts I’ve seen in a long time! Thanks
Notepad2 doesn’t offer tabbed windows, a bit minus in my book. Check out Notetab (www.notetab.com). It comes in a free and share ware version, only difference are a couple of features which I never needed anyway.
Foxit Reader (to replace Adobe Reader):
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
Small, capable, free (with available add-ons, for a price).
i’ve got a better idea! USE LINUX!!!!!!!!!!
seriously trying to simply find free alternative to microsoft and other close-source programs is just damn pathetic, Linux already has it all!
very very nice list, had some (open) software on it that I didn’t check out yet. NASA worldwind is definitely worth checking out too.
Thanks soo much!!
I found the following interesting programs: Oolite (http://oolite.aegidian.org/). It’s a reimplementation of the original Elite. I also prefer Notepad++ over any editor, especially Editpad lite.
Another thing that may be interesting is AutoIt. It can replace Winbatch to script actions that you are doing over and over again, pressing buttons, sending text to windows, etc.
For translators: OmegaT translation memory
For removing spyware: Hitman Pro2 (http://www.hitmanpro.nl/hitmanpro/)
I maintain a similar list at: http://www.winfix.it/ It needs to be update though.
Thanks for the list. And Thank God for all those who make good (and free) software.
If anyone is still running Windows 9x (Windows what?) then FreeRamXpPro is a must. It not only frees memory, but shows system resources, CPU load, and available RAM, etc. and can alert when resources get too low. Find it at
http://www.yourwaresolutions.com/
I have used AbiWord, but find OpenOffice to be much more useful, even for basic word processing,and very customizable. For a replacement for Word Pad i have found that the best by far is a discontinued word pro named Text Shield, which has so many features that i am still discovering some: http://members.lycos.nl/textshield/download.htm
The VLC player is quite good, the next best one i found is JetAudio (at jetaudio.com), which does play real files.
An app that should have come with Windows is Folder Size Shell Extension which add a Size tab to the Properties dialog of each drive and folder to see the individual size and in order.
http://www.jsifaq.com/SF/Tips/Tip.aspx?id=5802
This is similar:
http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml
Another nifty app is FileNote, which is a little shell extension that allows you to add textual descriptions to your files. It adds one command to the shell context menu of a file object. Useful for downloads, etc.
http://www.moonsoftware.com/freeware.asp
And the best free and fast alternative to the bloated Adobe PDF, is the Foxit-PDF-Reader http://www.download.com/Foxit-PDF-Reader
WinPatrol (http://www.winpatrol.com)is also a low resource app that detects changes to files, and with an allow/disallow option.
And to clean up residues from the apps you unistall, Easy Cleaner has a good rep. http://www.tucows.com/preview/355248
Finally, to quick launch all these i find WinKey sufficient http://freewarewiki.com/WinKey
There are so many more, but these are enough for now!
Grace and peace by Jesus
I do not like the clam virus support. I downloaded it and used it, and it was finding about four viruses per second. All in a file that isn’t even on my computer! They were just random names, too. Such as fairly odd parents and Fairy. I do not trust this software!
A few things:
Handbrake is indeed Windows software, or at least it is nowadays.
If you do both IRC and IM, then XChat is just redundant; use Gaim. Gaim has great IRC support. http://gaim.sf.net
Emacs is available on about any platform, if you can stand configuring/extending your text editor with Lisp. http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
If you don’t like Lisp, jEdit is a great editor. Personally I have mine set up as a TextMate substitute, and it rocks. Based on Java, but heck, even Java is GPLed nowadays so it’s not like you’re relying on proprietary software…other than Windows, of course. ;-) http://jedit.org/
Cygwin always gets a bad rap, but if you’re also a *n?x user, you’ll want it. http://cygwin.com/
And if you need a terminal emulator to go with Cygwin, we’ll delve back into Java territory: http://software.jessies.org/terminator/
Heh, a dubious program like Handbrake gets mentioned without mention of VirtualDub? http://www.virtualdub.org/
And if VirtualDub doesn’t do it for ya, how about AVIDemux? http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/
I’d add free art apps to the this list..
Project Dogwaffle’s free version–digital art & some animation capabilities
ArtRage2 Free version–naturalistic painting tool. The shareware version is a sane 20 bucks.
FreeCad–an AutoCad alternative
Blender–for 3D graphics
and for older PCs, those with limited disc space, or who just want something with more punch than MS Paint: mtPaint or Paint.net
Sorry for the lack of links. It’s past my bedtime and I trust everyone to copy and paste the names! :D
As you say - awesome!!
Check this URL too:
This has more goodies and a decent comparison between some of the best freeware programs too:
Awsome list (^_^)
Instead of Handbrake though, which does not officially support windows I would highly recommend Ripit4me, a great tool that will rip any dvd.
TC:Elite is also a great game, it does take time to install but definetly worth it. Read the forums first though.
Hi, seeing as some these apps are actually only for Linux, and seeing a the latter can be quite useful in recovering files from a corrupted Windows OS, i would suggest that an important “windows” software would be Linux. Having tried Ubuntu (+ Kbuntu Edgy), Xandros, Puppy, Mandriva, etc, i found found the best to be Knoppix for that purpose. Unlike Ubuntu, it auto-mounts windows partitions and read and move files therein (at least on my 9x PC).
Also, i found the best freeware image viewer to be xnviewer, and the best smaller-than-Gimp graphics editor to be photo filtre.
I´m looking for a good open source and/or free CONTACT MANAGER. Any ideas?
thanks
One glaring omission:
CDex
CDex is an open source audio ripper/encoder. I have never found a program that can do it better than CDex. Multiple codecs, incredibly configurable, very fast ripping and encoding.
I have to agree with BobH - even in the wildest dreams you cant expect me to believe you would use Gimp over PS if PS was free. The differences are huge, particularly if you are a serious photographer.
I would recommend Azueus over BitTorrent and if you totally must be anti MS for a browser use the best alternative - Opera
Hi Trent,
Wonderful list. Just wondering, isn’t gnucash for linux only? is there any windows version too?
/CD
You’ve done a great service. I agree with you on most of your selections.
Here’s a suggestion: How about expanding this site to allow user submissions and topic-specific comments ?
Here’s another suggestion: Remind everyone that they can get actively involved with most of these open-source projects or donate money to them.
Thanks for this resource . . . Keep it up
What a fantastic collection of free applications! You have covered the gambit, and anyone who wants to set up their system for an all around work environment can actually do that with your suggestions. Great work! Keep it up.
Hi,
Great post! For IM I really prefer Miranda, which is now OSS. It blows GAIM away.
Nice post! A cool open-source flightsimulator game is Flightgear.
http://www.flightgear.org/
I installed Audacity after PC Mag recommended it. It has lots of options, etc., but it won’t record sound off the internet. The people at the online forum were telling me all kinds of things to change so it would work. No dice.
Of course this is just like most freeware/Linux stuff, lots of options and power, but you need to be a total geek to get it running. No thanks. My Windows apps run first time with no problems. Of course that is what they claim about Linux, but it is not true.
Just to inform you, there are a new version of HealthMonitor. Visit http://www.health-monitor.com
Wow This is great post.
I have used already many Open Softwares,
you have listed.
Open Source MATTERS! :-)
Wishes
I use Apatar Data Integration, to turn my Excel spreadsheets into an XML, and to mashup data between desktop databases and web-based applications. Apatar has many connectors, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MS SQL, Sybase, Salesforce.com, HTTP, WebDav, Ldap, FTP, SugarCRM, Compiere, Amazon and even Flickr. It is basically an ETL (Extract Transform Load) tool, as it works in a batch mode, and it is released under GPL. Apatar Data Integration.
Text is very good,but I think that is new version of HealthMonitor available.
from guncash.org:
The GnuCash development team proudly announces GnuCash 2.1.1 aka “Bug-begone”, the second of several unstable 2.1.x releases of the GnuCash Open Source Accounting Software which will eventually lead to the stable version 2.2.0. With this new release series, GnuCash is available on Microsoft Windows for the first time…
What a great post!
Thank you!
As for Workrave and repetitive stress injury (wich is by the way repetitive STRAIN injury) why not just use an anti repetitive strain injury keyboard, like I do?
Hmm…Good list.Some of them I never use.
Not open source - but The Filter is another excellent app. You can get it for free from http://www.thefilter.com
möchte dankeschön für die seite sagen….
konnte eine menge davon gebrauchen. merci
will say thank u for this site….
tommy
Excellent list of applications. Thank you very much.
Hi some other interesting software / plugins
1. DTA for Firefox [downloader super good]
2. Firebug for Firefox [ all http html problems ]
3. web developer for Firefox [gives u an insider view to html ]
4. whats running a great tool alt to task manager
5. sys internals suite [ built by mark russinovich a key man in MS itself and amazing set of system internals tools [as the name goes]]
6. inkscape as an alt / complement to GIMP
7. Cmaps from ICHP >> alt to freemind and better
8. mp3TAG >> great tool to organize and rename all mp3 > useful when u have tons [>10 Gb] of songs , automates using the mp3 metadata
9. ccleaner >> cleans all temp files registry etc…
10. quintessential player >> good media player else u can go with mplayer
11. picasa >> image viewer need to check magicube
12. super >> great audio video converter
13. blender >> animation studio ala maya 3dmax?
14. winhttrack >> website copier the best of its kind!
awesome article, PDFCreator is a great tip thanks
Is there is any tool like bind, free for use in Win XP? I will be grateful if anyone help.
Thanks in Advance.
Looks like this guy took your writing almost wholesale under his own name…
http://tech-tonic.net/microsoft/25-essential-open-source-software-for-windows.html
FYI
I downloaded clamwin antivirus. I let it run for about 10 hours. It never finishes , It just ran and ran until I stopped it. . I think it was in an endless loop. It proves once again to me that freeware is worth what you pay for it….. !
I like CutePDF better than PDFcreator.
Open source is better :)
I LOVE some of the free stuff out there, unfortunately I have dialup, so I’m limited on what I can take advantage of.
Hopefully, AT&T will come through, and I too will get high speed internet by the end of the year.
:D
nice nice … :) the most comprehensive list of useful opensource and freeware apps i’ve seen. great work.
Okay, I never even realised that Gimp was available on Windows - shows how far behind I am in the loop!
Interesting list, a few of these I’ve never heard of before. I’ll definitely check them out. Most of it still seems valid, even after 8+ months. I’ve also read through the comments, a lot of useful tips in there too.
My 2 cents:
Launchy - http://www.launchy.net/
OSS (windows) keystroke launcher. I use it all the time. No need to locate any apps. No need to locate any files anymore, just Alt+Space and start typing the name. Easy to configure.
Subsonic - http://subsonic.sourceforge.net/
OSS (crossplatform), requires a web server. Free Media Streamer. Fast and great UI. Streams music (or video) over the web. I use it to listen to my music at work, making my entire music collection available — all over the world! Actually, I use it at home too, finding the UI easier and better than iTunes and all those clones.
Opera - http://www.opera.com/
Mentioned by others. Not OSS, but freeware (crossplatform). Very fast. Replaces at least 5 other apps in your list (and others you didn’t mention). (Web browser, mail client, Usenet News Reader, RSS, Bittorrent, IRC).
Picasa - http://picasa.google.com/
Mentioned by others. Not OSS, but freeware (windows only I think). The best picture organizer I’ve seen.
Regards,
Steinar
Thank you, it’s great to find a list of programs that I have bookmarked for download all in the same place. I will be using pretty much all of them by weeks end.
Greate list, thanks.
this is my favorite websites:
http://www.webi.org
http://www.opensourcewindows.org
http://portableapps.com
great list of tools and such
useful for both private and business needs
Gaim is now pidgin
http://www.pidgin.im/
Great list. I have linked to my post with an excellent Wiki for free and open source games! LibregameWiki.
wow the only one I’m interested right now ‘KeyNote” is over 4 years old
http://healthmonitor.zucchetti.com/ is dead, anything else or has it moved somewhere?
Very good article. I’d like to mention Trillian (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/). Their basic version is free and it’s great. It supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC.
Theres no way bittorrent.com is better than utorrent.com… c’mon dude!
Process Explorer is mandatory on every PC
FreeRamXpPro - It seems this was loaded with some spyware last I put it on. I stay away from it now.
Trillian is a good alternative to Pidgin for multiple IMs.
Xfire - A must have for gaming IM.
Teamspeak for Xfire
DVD Flick - great for converting and burning .avi’s to .iso.
Daemon Tools - mount drives
FastStone - any of their viewers
Weather Watcher
Foxit Reader - fast pdf viewer
PowerToys for Windows XP
Hamachi - for creating a virtual private network
Azureus - great torrent program
Microsoft Private Folder - you have to search for this one as MS pulled it shortly after release.
Paperless Printer - like PDFcreator but this program can create .jpgs, gifs, etc… along with PDFs.
MWSnap - for screen captures.
SMPlayer over VLC any day: http://smplayer.sf.net/
Caveat lector about replacements for Microsoft’s (official) MSN clients: afaik you won’t get file transfers above 5 kB/s.
Guys, this list is now 9 months old — may explain some of the dead links.
Also, this guy at xgaweb.com reviewed it:
http://xgaweb.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2624&keywords=simpledollar
… pardon the judgement, but his reviews explain a lot about some members of the closed-source community: he writes a lot of them off specifically because he’s never heard of them, and is too lazy/closed-minded to look into them; he writes them off because they’re not relevant to *his* use case; and he is pretty clueless about the purpose of some of the software (see #25).
… Anyway… Good job on the list!
LOL, replace Photoshop. I stopped reading when I read that. Gimp’s not even close. It’s good but not Photoshop.
I use both OOo and MSO for university work, and I can’t see how anyone in their right mind could prefer OOo Impress to Powerpoint on a functionality basis. Sure, it gives you more freedom but since I (and, according to your article, you) have a Powerpoint licence, that’s a moot point anyway.
I’ve recently written an open-source C# app.
ZScreen is an open-source screen capture program that allows for region/window/full-screen screenshots. It can FTP screenshots and put the URL in your clipboard in a single keystroke. It supports automatic custom naming conventions with variables. It can also interface with image editing software.
Nice Post. VLC is awesome but it does not replace Real Player. VLC cannot play Real Fiel format.
HealthMonitor i avialiable at http://www.health-monitor.com.
Nice list of applications. A good management and monitoring system for Windows desktop/servers is at (https://www.versiera.com/) - works from anywhere and for most operating systems. Free!
calm does not have a realtime scanner..
Nice list. I’d like to mention though, that when i tried to install ClamWin, my McAfee poppped up and said that it is infected with a virus, and cannot be cleaned.
Where’s Miro?! Miro allows you to do so much. plus it plays any media file, auto checks for new episodes and can be easily integrated with RSS video feeds (Read: The Office on you computer for free).
Thanks for the great list — it’s amazing how many of these I’m already using.. I’d also like to recommend the Kompozer HTML editor - for a free version of what DreamWeaver and FrontPage charge a lot of money for — http://www.kompozer.net/screenshots.php
Robert H. Goretsky of Hoboken, NJ
okay, i have seen many of these top free software list, and i have finally gotten sick of always seeing vlc player as the video player to use. someone mentioned zoom player earlier which i believe is much better than vlc player, however the player that i recommend is gom player http://www.gomplayer.com/main.html this player can play pretty much every media type, except for real media which can be fixed with real alternative. believe me, i have used vlc player and zoom player, and this one is by far the best
Great list , I would maybe add daemon tools
If you’re such an advocate of open source, why don’t you even switch your entire OS altogether from Windows to something like Ubuntu, it’ll make your life a whole lot simpler than it already is.
Replace GAIM with Pidgin. G
Awesome post! I’ve thought about looking for alternatives to what I have, but just haven’t had the time. And so many of these I could really use. Thanks for sharing!
MoneyFwd @ 1:43 pm December 1st, 2006 (comment #1)