Gallery: Free and essential Windows apps
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uTorrent
uTorrent
Make the most of your computer without spending a dime. These dozen must-have applications for Windows are all free.
uTorrent, the BitTorrent client, is a must-have for anyone who wants an effective file sharing application that allows you to download large files.
Please see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
Paint.NET
Paint.NET
Paint.NET is just a nice free replacement for Windows Paint. It requires .Net Framework 2.0 but that’s included in Windows Vista. For a managed programming language, it’s not that bloated and loads relatively quickly. rnrn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
Infra recorder
Infra recorder
If you don’t have a Nero for your CD or DVD burner or some other burner application, Infra recorder is a good free alternative. Not only that, it’s a lot less bloated and it has a small memory foot print. rnrn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
Dr. Divx
Dr. Divx
For anyone who wants to take their movies on the go or backup their DVDs to a smaller format, Dr. Divx is an excellent free solution. Unlike the commercial Divx encoder (which I bought and can’t use), Dr. Divx actually works in Windows Vista. rnrn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
FastStone Photo Resizer
FastStone Photo Resizer
FastStone Photo Resizer is an absolute killer application for anyone who deals with images. It can batch resize, rename, and convert images of all formats and sizes. rnrn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
K-Lite Mega Codec pack
K-Lite Mega Codec pack
If you are the kind of person who likes to download videos (especially from questionable sources promising adult content) and you don’t want to end up with malware, K-Lite Mega Codec pack plus QuickTime Alternative is for you. This is CRITICAL security advice that everyone needs to know about. rnrn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
IZArc
IZArc
As good as the built in CAB and ZIP utility is in Windows XP and Vista, it isn’t enough because you need compatibility with all the other compression formats out there. IZArc will open any compression format under the sun and it’s free, unlike a lot of other utilities on the Internet. rnrn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
Autoruns
Autoruns
Autoruns is an essential tool from Sysinternals (now owned by Microsoft) in the war against crapware. rnrnrn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
Process Explorer
Process Explorer
Process Explorer is another essential tool from Sysinternals for diagnosing computer problems and finding potential malware on your computer.rnrn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
AVG Antivirus Free Edition
AVG Antivirus Free Edition
For me, the only good anti-virus application is no anti-virus — but I realize that most consumers need some kind of protection from the hostile Internet and often themselves. So a really nice compromise is AVG Antivirus Free Edition which has a really small footprint and doesn’t slow your computer down to the point where your dual-core PC feels like an 80286 computer circa 1982. rn
rnPlease see George Ou’s blog for details on free and essential apps for Windows.
