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General discussion (archive)The software gems thread(64 posts)(64 posts)
(64 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 03, 2009
high rated
We already have an excellent freeware game thread, but I thought it would be nice to also be able to share other free software gems.
Index:
==Information Managment
.....==Lists
==Internet & Communication
.....==Browsers
.....==EMail & Messenging
.....==Downloaders / FTP Clients
.....==Telephony
==Productivity
.....==Office
.....==Desktop Publishing
.....==Graphics
.....==Animation / Modelling
==Mulitmedia
.....==Playback
..........==Video
..........==Audio
.....==Editing / Conversion / Capturing
.....==Streaming Servers
==System Utilities
.....==Compression
.....==Encryption
.....==System Health
.....==Monitoring / Capturing
.....==Threat Protection
.....==File System
==Devel
.....==Source editors
Information Managment
Information Managment > Lists
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escapedturkey: .
<span class="bold">NoteCase</span>
NoteCase is a hierarchical note manager (aka. outliner). It helps you organize your everyday text notes into a single document, with individual notes placed in the tree-like structure (each note can have its sub-notes, ...).

Internet & Communication
Internet & Communication > Browsers
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">Firefox</span>
The browser that broke the Microsoft monopoly, offering speed and features that make Internet Explorer look like a complete joke. It's not the only good browser out there anymore, but it's definitely still one of, if not the best.
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escapedturkey: .
<span class="bold">Opera</span>
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by the Opera Software company. Opera handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, IRC online chatting, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading web feeds. Opera is offered free of charge for personal computers and mobile phones, but for other devices it must be paid for.

Internet & Communication > EMail & Messenging
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cogadh: .
<span class="bold">Thunderbird</span>
The e-mail client alternative to Outlook Express, from the same folks who brought us Firefox.
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">Pidgin</span>
I enjoy using Pidgin for instant messenging and for an irc client.

Internet & Communication > Downloaders / FTP Clients
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">FreeDownloadManager</span>
Just another download manager - True, but FDM delivers what others promise, an excellent user experience with perfect browser integration (via FlashGot for FF or natively for others), allowing for even password or cookie protected downloads to work without problems. Multiple download threads can get some servers to give you more bandwidth and you can preview media files right there.
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escapedturkey: .
<span class="bold">Filezilla</span>
FileZilla Client (also referred to as FileZilla) is a free, open source, cross-platform FTP client. Binaries are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS). As of June 20, 2008, it was the 10th most popular download of all time from SourceForge.net.

Internet & Communication > Telephony
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escapedturkey: .
<span class="bold">Skype</span>
Skype is software that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and to free-of-charge numbers are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

Productivity
Productivity > Office
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">OpenOffice</span>
If you need a full-featured office suit for offline use, but aren't quite heavy user enough to justify the costs for MicrosoftOffice, then OpenOffice will do the trick. While there's definitely room for improvement as far as speed and the userinterface are concerned, it is a very powerful package.
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">AbiWord</span>
A fast and easy to use word processor.

Productivity > Desktop Publishing
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Ois: .
<span class="bold">Scribus</span>
Page layout / desktop publishing.

Productivity > Graphics
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">Inkscape</span>
If you ever need to draw something (not photo editing, I mean real drawing) then you won't get around Inkscape. This program delivers a quality that rivals professional tools, but with an easy to use interface and based on the standard SVG vector graphics format.
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Wishbone: .
<span class="bold">Paint.NET</span>
Well, if you ARE on a Windows platform, and need to do some photoediting, I highly recommend Paint.NET. It's free, it's fast, it's powerful. I hasn't got all the options of Photoshop, but if you can settle for less than a professional package, this is for you.
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">The GIMP</span>
Powerful photo editing, but with a very... unique? Yes, unique interface. (description not part of original post)
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">Irfan view</span>
A great image, avi viewer.

Productivity > Animation / Modelling
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Ois: .
<span class="bold">Synfig</span>
2D animation tool (highly buggy, but rather powerful). Dual/Quad core users may have a few extra issues, so read the readme.
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">Blender</span>
is a great free 3d modeling program.

Multimedia
Multimedia > Playback
Multimedia > Playback > Video
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">VLC</span>
For problematic files there's always VLC, offering very good support for strange video formats, in a compact, easy to use interface.
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">MPlayer</span>
You have a movie file that won't play? Windows is having problems with a certain codec? Well, MPlayer plays pretty much anything you throw at it, and because it uses its own codecs it works even if the rest of your system doesn't. There are two versions. One with a GUI and another one with only keyboard controls. Trust me, looking through a long list of files, is a lot more enjoyable with a program that loads instantly and is entirely keyboard controlled.
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Ois: .
<span class="bold">Media Mplayer Classic with K-Light Mega Codec Pack</span>
Not a program, but a good collection of audio/video codecs. Comes with Media-Player Classic.

Multimedia > Playback > Audio
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">Foobar 2000</span>
No, Foobar 2000 is not an iTunes competitor, but it is an excellent audio player. If you havy any needs that iTunes and the horde of clones don't satisfy, have a look at Foobar 2000. Chances are, it will fulfill them. Anything from dozens of playback formats over a highly customizable interface and conversion between dozens of formats to automatic renaming, moving or tagging of files: Foobar 2000 does it all. It requires a bit more learning than other players, but if you have use for the advanced features, then you won't mind.
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">Songbird</span>
On the other hand, if you want an iTunes clone, then Songbird is your best choice. Beautiful interface. Easy to use. 'nough said.

Multimedia > Editing / Conversion / Capturing
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">VirtualDub</span>
I prefer Virtual Dub for video editing and recording using a t.v. tuner.
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Karlallen: .
<span class="bold">Super C</span>
For all my video conversion needs I use Super C. If you ignore the awfulness of the website you'll find a very good program. There are many pre-defined settings ie: PSP - MPEG4
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">wegame</span>
is a great video capture client that's also free. I'd prefer it to fraps, if only it had a higher compatibility setting.
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">Camstudio</span>
is a great video capture program as well, works great with dosgames, also captures desktop videos. The only issues I've had with it, is properly detecting my sound card, I have to collect the input on my microphone instead.. but it will record virtually anything you see on your screen.

Multimedia > Streaming Servers
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PieceMaker42: .
<span class="bold">TVersity</span>
If you have XP or even vista and want to setup a sharing network for videos or music nothing compares to TVersity. I use it to share my videos with my xbox 360/PS3. You can also use it just for your music library and other internet media.

System Utilities
System Utilities > Compression
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">TugZIP</span>
Packer with a very rich interface.(description not part of original post)
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">7-zip</span>
Very high quality compression and support for almost any format.(description not part of original post)

System Utilities > Encryption
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">Truecrypt</span>
Ever wanted to protect some or all of your data? Truecrypt makes it easy: Just pick a volume, pick the encryption, your password and you're set. And the best thing is, you can make a portable version that will allow you to quickly load your protected volumes on any computer. Oh, and don't worry, your friends Mac can still access them to if you want him to.

System Utilities > System Health
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Ois: .
<span class="bold">FileHippo Update Checker</span>
Scans your PC and lets you know which programs have a new update out.
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Ois: .
<span class="bold">CCleaner</span>
System cleanup, (Temp files, windows system, program caches, and Registry)
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Ois: .
<span class="bold">Defraggler</span>
Windows based Defragger, has the option to defrag individual files and directories, along with the entire drive.
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">Auslogics Disk Defrag</span>
Sorts your HD to minimize jumps while reading a file. (description not part of original post)
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Ois: .
<span class="bold">Recuva</span>
File recovery.
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Weclock: .
<span class="bold">Space Monger 1.x</span>
Displays disk space usage of directories and files.(description not part of original post)

System Utilities > Monitoring / Capturing
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">ProcExp</span>
The Task Manager, the way it should be. See what started a program and how. See what files a program is currently accessing. Suspend a program to free resources for other high-priority tasks and resume it lateron.
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Luned: .
<span class="bold">PrintKey 2000</span>
PrintKey 2000, a handy screen capture utility that works with Win95 through WinXP. Install PrintKey2000, set to run at system startup, and pressing the "PrintScreen" button will bring up PrintKey while in any program.
Absolutely priceless for those moments when tech support asks you to describe the problem. "See?" :) Also, I have a couple of games that don't minimize with Alt-Tab the way they should; I've found that using the PrintScreen button to call up PrintKey in the middle of the game will then allow me to minimize them (no idea why this works on my machine, but it does).

System Utilities > Threat Protection
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Mentalepsy: .
<span class="bold">Avast</span>
Virus protection free for non-commercial home use. Requires you to register online once per year to receive a serial key, but there's no charge for doing so. Frequently updated and includes active scanning. I've been using this for a few years now and have had great results with it.

System Utilities > File System
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">Junction</span>
Ever found yourself returning from Linux and cursing that there are not Symlinks in Windows. Well, there are, at least for directories. Junction will let you access this functionality.
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">Locate32</span>
If you can't stand "clever" file searching tools always returning false positivs, because they assume too much, locate32 is for you. It only indexes filenames, and searches them at mindboggling speed.

Devel
Devel > Source Editors
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hansschmucker: .
<span class="bold">SciTE</span>
If you ever need to quickly edit a C, PHP, JS or whatever file, SciTE will do it. Syntax highlighting for dozens of languages-

========== Non-Free honourable mentions ==========
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Blarg: .
<span class="bold">WinRAR</span>
I'd feel naked without winRAR. It's a great zipper/unzipper that integrates really well into your right-click functions and takes a minimum of fuss.
Post edited January 05, 2009 by hansschmucker
Posted January 03, 2009
I prefer Virtual Dub for video editing and recording using a t.v. tuner.
Posted January 03, 2009
Don't forget:
<span class="bold">Thunderbird</span>
The e-mail client alternative to Outlook Express, from the same folks who brought us Firefox.
<span class="bold">Linux</span>
The open source, free alternative to Windows. Available in a variety of "flavors", endlessly customizable, secure and stable... what more could you ask for?
Posted January 03, 2009
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cogadh: <span class="bold">Linux</span>
The open source, free alternative to Windows. Available in a variety of "flavors", endlessly customizable, secure and stable... what more could you ask for?

I won't include Linux in the first post as it's not much of a ready-to-use program in itself, more like a basis that is used for a variety of purposes. I hope you can accept that.
Posted January 03, 2009
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cogadh: <span class="bold">Linux</span>
The open source, free alternative to Windows. Available in a variety of "flavors", endlessly customizable, secure and stable... what more could you ask for?
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hansschmucker: I won't include Linux in the first post as it's not much of a ready-to-use program in itself, more like a basis that is used for a variety of purposes. I hope you can accept that.

Linux is a mixed bag as much as windows and osx.
Posted January 03, 2009
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cogadh: <span class="bold">Linux</span>
The open source, free alternative to Windows. Available in a variety of "flavors", endlessly customizable, secure and stable... what more could you ask for?
avatar
hansschmucker: I won't include Linux in the first post as it's not much of a ready-to-use program in itself, more like a basis that is used for a variety of purposes. I hope you can accept that.

Its your thread to do with as you please, however, Linux as an operating system is much more than just a simple operating system these days, just like Windows. It is more of a collection of free software on top of the Linux kernel, completely ready to use "out of the box".
Posted January 03, 2009
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hansschmucker: I won't include Linux in the first post as it's not much of a ready-to-use program in itself, more like a basis that is used for a variety of purposes. I hope you can accept that.
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cogadh: Its your thread to do with as you please, however, Linux as an operating system is much more than just a simple operating system these days, just like Windows. It is more of a collection of free software on top of the Linux kernel, completely ready to use "out of the box".

That's what I meant. I also use Linux occasionally (dual-booting to OpenSuse 11). and on one of my virtual servers (Suse Enterprise 9) as well as parts on Windows through Cygwin, and I didn't mean that Linux is bad, I just meant that posting a link for them to get the Linux Kernel sources won't really help anybody.
Also, I'm actually a bit scared that somebody could read this, download "some Linux" and then come back here to complain :)
Post edited January 03, 2009 by hansschmucker
Posted January 03, 2009
Well, if you ARE on a Windows platform, and need to do some photoediting, I highly recommend Paint.NET. It's free, it's fast, it's powerful. I hasn't got all the options of Photoshop, but if you can settle for less than a professional package, this is for you.
Posted January 03, 2009
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Wishbone: Well, if you ARE on a Windows platform, and need to do some photoediting, I highly recommend Paint.NET. It's free, it's fast, it's powerful. I hasn't got all the options of Photoshop, but if you can settle for less than a professional package, this is for you.

I sometimes use paint.net as well as the gimp. but I am frequently ticked off at paint.net because typically whenever I have to open it, it has to update.
I'm sure there's a setting to turn it off however.
I also sometimes use The GiMP but it's a complete mess.. maybe my installation is bad.
Posted January 03, 2009
If you're talking about the interface,,, no, that's just the way it is. Otherwise, you can just delete the %USERPROFILE%\.gimp* directories to reset everything.
Edit: GoG is eating backslashes again
Post edited January 03, 2009 by hansschmucker
Posted January 03, 2009
I enjoy using Pidgin for instant messenging and for an irc client.
Posted January 03, 2009
Yeah, I tried the GIMP once, but the interface was so magnificently horrible to work with, that I uninstalled it again almost immediately.
Posted January 03, 2009
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Wishbone: Yeah, I tried the GIMP once, but the interface was so magnificently horrible to work with, that I uninstalled it again almost immediately.
You can work with it if you use one screen (either virtual or physical) entirely for Gimp... but on a normal Windows setup it just doesn't work. The individual windows always end up on top of each other.
Posted January 03, 2009
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Weclock: I sometimes use paint.net as well as the gimp. but I am frequently ticked off at paint.net because typically whenever I have to open it, it has to update.
I'm sure there's a setting to turn it off however.

No, I don't think there is, actually. However, you don't have to update it. It just informs you that there is an update. But of course, if you never update it, it'll keep nagging at you each time you start it. Still, the latest update was on August 26th 2008, so I reckon you don't use it that often.
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Weclock: I enjoy using Pidgin for instant messenging and for an irc client.

Yeah, I use Pidgin for IRC too.
Posted January 03, 2009
Seems like I'm a lonely little Chatzilla user here ;)
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)The software gems thread(64 posts)(64 posts)
(64 posts)