Software Jargon

[sunrise]

I know there are a lot of people out there that would rather not pay for commercial software to get certain things done. Because of this many end up downloading the software illegally (aka pirating). This topic is meant to point out the tons of freeware applications that are available so people do not resort to pirating.

If you have any free software that you recommend please help this thread and other members by posting it. However, do not post any illegal downloads. Also, please try not to just list every piece of freeware that you know of. Only mention the ones that you have used and recommend highly. It is best if this list is made up of the best or the better freeware available. If you do find that one of the programs listed below really do suck (e.g. it's bundles with spyware), then either reply or PM me. Please don't reply or PM me with something along the lines of "X sucks, Y is TONS better!" Those will just be ignored. If you find that software listed below just rocks then let others know about it. Things like "OMG Y program is awesome" doesn't help though.

Computer Maintenence and Security

AntiVirus:
AntiVir - It has a great detection rate and is really light on recourses. However it does not update automatically.
avast! - Is a little heavier on recourses then AntiVir, but still a good product and has a good detection rate.
AVG - Another very popular free solution that is light on recourses.
Software Firewall:
Kerio v215 - This version of Kerio is very easy to use and configure. It is also really light on system resources. Kerio v4 is also available for free, but v215 is a much better product IMO.
Outpost Free - Another very good product, but I prefer the simplicity of Kerio.
Sygate Personal Firewall - One of the best free firewall products available currently.
ZoneAlarm - ZoneAlarm offers shareware and freeware firewalls, for basic desktop protection.

Spyware Removal & Prevention:
Windows Defender - Many reviewers has rated it the best of its kind and I tend to agree. It has the best detection rate and offers good real-time p[rotection. Should be used along with other spyware removers.
Ad-Aware SE Personal - Another very good product. It should be used for occasional scanning. I suggest using Microsoft AntiSpyware for real-time protection.
Spybot Search & Destroy - Another very popular removal tool.
SpywareBlaster - Prevents the installation of spyware and other potentially harmful software!
Utilities
USB Apps - A pack of all sorts of USB programs all put together with an autolaunch feature. Fits on 128MB+ drives. It includes FTP, Firefox, editors, and Open office.
DriveImage XML - One of the best (and free) drive imaging, restoring and copying applications I (Greg) have used.
Internet

Browsers
Opera - One of the fastest and most full-featured browser available; includes RSS feed reader, BitTorrent client, etc.
Firefox - Internet Explorer's #1 competition; more than 50 million downloads worldwide; simple, easy, yet effective
Mozilla Suite - More advanced version of Firefox; contains many useful tools for web development; fastest rendering engine than Firefox
It is recommended to use one of the above browsers rather then IE for security reasons.

Multimedia

Audio/Video Players
Winamp - a nice audio/video media player with good features
iTunes - one of the best audio/video players; Apple's official software for syncronization with the iPod; includes podcasts
Windows Media Player 10 - Microsoft's offical audio/video player for Windows
Media Player Classic - Looks like the old Windows Media Player (pre WMP7), but does a LOT more.
Audio/Video Encoding
Audio Grabber - Amazing CD-ripping and encoding tool.
Virtual Dub - A great freeware video encoder (does just about anything with plugins).
S.U.P.E.R. - Convert anything to anything (just about). Great for iPod, PSP, or PDA video conversions.

[rwshthn]

thank you for this all info but i wounder did you type that

[speedybiz]

good help post, it better stay far from pirate software or your OS will infect by trojan virus...
why someone carck a soft & giving for free so easily if because want to make success trojan network.
have you ever download antivirus but after all your PC full of problem...?...
that a example how dirty pirate software....

[locust]

you really pay for what you get.
those crack pirated software is never as reliable as the one you pay for.
support is really good when you have it and not to worry its like insurance.

[Mizo]

wooooooow grat informations and full topic thanks for that i will save it

on my pc and read it

[raina]

Wow!thats a lot of info.Thanks a lot.Appreciate your patience in posting this info.