Today's show is all about the freeware. Whether you're cheap or just enjoy using superior software that doesn't cost a dime we've laid out current faves from Patrick, Robert and Roger.
Need a good free anti-virus? Then one of these titles should fill the bill; AntiVir Personal Edition Classic Avast! Home Edition or AVG Free Edition But remember always keep the virus definitions up to date!
Need a bombproof PC FTP program? Then definitely give FileZilla a try. For Mac OS X users out there try outCyberduck.
Adobe Reader can be a beast, especially in its most recent incarnation. Luckily there's a great replacement. Foxit Reader is both fast and free, and skip having to use Adobe Reader ever again.
Reach out and nag someone with Skype. Free VOIP app for PC to PC calling.
Want an office suite that won't cost you a pretty penny? Then give Open Office a spin. Available for every major OS including Windows, OS X, and Linux.
Need more power than Windows Paint can provide but don't need the all features of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements? Then you need to check out Paint.Net. A free windows only photo editing software, supports layers, unlimited undo, and special effects.
IrfanView a small, fast, capable graphics viewer that runs great on slow machines (or if your machine is running 32 other apps). Plus does a bang-up job of cutting and resizing photos when you're in a rush.
For Audiophiles that require only the most pristine rip of their audio CDs into a digital format you need to get dBpoweramp. Supports multiple codecs including FLAC, OggVorbis and of course MP3.
VLC Media Player is a great media player that plays DVDs that expensive dvd playback software doesn't normally handle. Of course it also plays back MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 over a network.
Pat's all-time favorite MP3 plater, Winamp is still a pretty cool audio player, even if Pat now uses iTunes for most things.
The ultimate reference global reference tool Google Earth or the ultimate timesink. Almost as dangerous as Google Maps or Live.com Maps, but also very very cool.
Portable Apps is a great excuse to load that fat USB drive of yours with loads of cool applications that you can run on any Windows PC you plug the drive into. If you need a mac solution you can find it at OSX Portable Apps.
An all in one IM client Trillian Basic is a great tool for IM addicts. You should also check out Pidgin for an opensource solution and for you OS X folks try out AdiumX.
Firefox the perennial favorite for web browsing todays hazardous websites.
For the ultimate in downloading convenience try out FlashGet. A great download manager that evens shuts off your PC when you¹re done.
Azureus is one nifty bit torrent tool that supports plugins, runs in java, and works great even on a Mac. Coded in Java so might chew more CPU cycles than other clients but offers up a great feature set and butt simple operation.
Display Calibration one handy site for quick/dirty monitor adjustments.
Memtest86+ tests the memory in your system for problems.... has saved me tons of time diagnosing problems with pcs.
Still having trouble dropping playable videos on to your Gen 5 iPod? Download iSquint and follow on the directions and you should be converting iPod compatible videos in no time.
Yeah call me a old fuddie duddie but I likes my old LucasArts point and click adventure games. Too bad they don't run well on today's OSs. Thankfully some ingenious and dedicated folks created ScummVM. It allows you to run all your old LucasArts SCUMM based games on your Mac or PC.
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