Free Softwares List

This is a simple list of free software for windows. It gives alternatives to much paid software and solutions to many simple problems. I've tried to make it complete as possible but theres probably a few I've missed. nice and simple layout, name - description then a link with more info and a download.

Many of these app's are available in a portable form at portableapps.com which allows them to run from a USB thumbdrive on any computer.

Browsers

Firefox - By far the best browser for use with dA, there are a huge amount of plugins and scripts available for use on dA. Which can be found at =Mozilla
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ie.html

Opera - Very fast and feature filled browser.
http://www.opera.com/#

Email

Thunderbird - Outstanding email client from mozilla
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/

FTP

FileZilla - Very good FTP client and server.
http://filezilla-project.org/#

SmartFTP - Simple to use FTP client
http://www.smartftp.com/#

Messaging

Windows Live Messenger - The newest version of MSN messenger with video and voice chat built in.
http://download.live.com/?sku=messenger

Skype - The most popular Voip program on the net.
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/

ICQ - A more chatroom 'themed' IM
http://www.icq.com/#

AIM - AOL instant messenger.
http://dashboard.aim.com/aim#

GoogleTalk - Googles answer to IM.
http://www.google.com/talk/#

Yahoo Messenger - You guessed it, Yahoo's answer to IM.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/#

Trillian - A multi-protocol chat program. Can connect to IRC, AIM, MSN, yahoo etc etc.
http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/#

GAIM - An open-source multi protocol client.
http://www.pidgin.im/#

Xchat - Open source IRC client.
http://www.xchat.org/#


Office software

Open Office - Free alternative to Microsoft Office
http://www.openoffice.org/#

Foxit PDF Reader - Foxit Reader 2.0 is a free PDF document viewer and printer.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

Web Design

Notepad++ - Code editor that supports syntax highlighting for many languages.
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm#

NVU - A free alternative to Dreamweaver. Allows you to visually create and edit websites.
http://www.nvu.com/#

Programmers Notepad - Code editor with syntax higlighting and a variety of plugins.
http://www.pnotepad.org/#

Anti-Virus

AVG - Anti-virus
http://www.avg.com/#

Avast! - Anti-virus
http://www.avast.com/#

Firewall

Zone-alarm - Easy-to-use firewall
http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en...try=us&lang=en

Kerio Personal Firewall - Another firewall
http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Home-...nal-Firewall/#

Anti-spyware

Spybot Search & Destroy - One of the best Anti spyware programs available.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html#

Ad-Aware - Another great Anti-spyware utility
http://www.lavasoft.com/?domain=lava...port/download#

Windows Defender - A free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro.../default.mspx#

Other Security Utilities

Process Explorer - Like task manager but much better
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...bb896653.aspx#

AutoRuns - View/edit all auto-starting programs on your system
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...bb963902.aspx#

NetStumbler - locate wireless networks
http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/

TCPView - View all currently active network connections on your computer
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...bb897437.aspx#

Rootkit Revealer - Exactly what it says on the tin.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...bb897445.aspx#

hikackThis - Advanced tool for spyware and virus detection
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html#

System Utilities

Windows Powertoys - Extra features for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...owertoys.mspx#

CPU-Z - Quick tool to identify chipset, CPU type & memory configuration
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php#

Unlocker - Unlock files which are locked by an application to allow deletion, moving or renaming.
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/#