There are many times that we need software on our computer, but don’t know what to use, and don’t have any money to buy it. So, here is a list of free software that we recommend using as alternatives to expensive software. Also, if you have any recommendations that should be added to the list, please add a comment including the software title and where to find it.
Word Processing / Office Suites
OpenOffice.org
Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with and a free freplacement for Microsoft Word documents. Also supports OpenDocument format.
Download
Web Browsing
Mozilla Firefox
The premier free, open-source browser. Tabs, pop-up blocking, themes, and extensions. Considered by many to be the world’s best browser.
Download
Video Playback
VLC Media Player
Plays more video files than most players: Quicktime, AVI, DIVX, OGG, and more. Pretty good interface.
Download
Graphics / Photo Editing
GIMP
Photo editing application that rivals Photoshop in features.
Download
Inkscape
Vector graphics application, similar to Adobe Illustrator.
Download
Sound Recording
Audacity
Simple Sound Recording Tool
Download
FTP / SFTP
Filezilla
Excellent FTP Program
Download
Archiving / Zip Files
PeaZip
Fantastic archiving utility to extract and pack archives of an extensive amount of formats. PeaZip also features password protecting archives, keyfile support, system integration, a lovely interface, and much more.
Download
DVD Ripping / Video Conversion
Media Coder
Great tool for ripping CDs, DVDs, etc and converting between tons of video formats.
Download