[Leeky]

The 2nd part of my free software thread.

Below is a list of free software highly recommended by me or by others online, and available for Windows XP, Vista, 7, in 32bit/64bit versions. If certain software is only available for certain Windows builds it will be listed in the title.

So, first of all, a bit of a repeat...

Internet Browsers

For those that find Internet Explorer too slow, the following browsers will speed up your online experience considerably. I much prefer Firefox, and have used it for years myself! Opera is also very good, and both are feature packed.

Firefox
Opera
Google Chrome
Safari

Free CD/DVD burning & manipulation software

CD burner XP - Can have issues with Comodo personal firewall
Magic ISO - A fantastic ISO mounting utility, I use it all the time!

Others are available, but I haven't tested them personally, so don't want to recommend them as some can be annoying to use! Both of the above are installed on my computer and are frequetly used by me.

Free image manipulation software

Gimp - Originally Linux, and can be complex when first used but very powerful!
Irfanview - Not used by me, but very highly recommended

Email software

Email software is somewhat redundant with Vista onwards. Some options you can use are:

MSN email (through your msn messenger account)
MSN Windows Live Email
Windows Mail (Vista onwards)
Webmail (by logging into your account using a web browser)
Outlook Express (for Windows XP users)

If these are of no use (say you have multiple accounts then the following are worthy:

Mozilla Thunderbird
Pegasus Mail - Not used by me, but recommended


FTP clients

FileZilla - Used by me daily, very highly recommended.
Core FTP LE - I used to use this before moving to FileZilla.

More to follow shortly, when I update it further.

[matt-m]

going to have a look at the gimp bit later on

[Leeky]

Its good stuff. I'll get more added later on - I was having a bit of a mind blank whilst doing it. lol.

[McOlaf]

The Gimp is great!!!!
I use it all the time...

I am a fan of open source... will always try to use open source instead of the "buy me get crap software"

[Leeky]

	Quote:
	Originally Posted by McOlaf The Gimp is great!!!! I use it all the time... I am a fan of open source... will always try to use open source instead of the "buy me get crap software"

Me too. I find open source software to be much more adaptable, cross platform compatible and regularly updated.

I use the Gimp all the time; on all linux boxes, and my main pc. Though I have to admit I also have Corel Paintshop Pro XII as well. lol.

Openoffice is a really good replacement for Microsoft Office in 90% of cases, but not having built in email support is a massive negative for me. Other free offerings, like Thunderbird just aren't suitable for my needs (11 IMAP email accounts/countless RSS feeds), so I stay with Outlook which works for me perfectly. Getting Office 2007 Ultimate with student discount for under £50 was a deciding factor in that though!!!

Apart from Office 2007 Ultimate, and the aforementioned image software pretty much everything is open source... All my diagnostic software excluded of course!