Free Software Tips

This is a continually updated list of recommended free software by DoSu writers for your Windows PC. We try new software all the time and these are the ones we personally use and recommend. If you have any further suggestions, we want to hear it!

BROWSER

– Mozilla FireFox 3.6 — the default choice, lots of extensions, good support
– Opera 10 — our preferred browser, great built-in features, customization and interface
– Google Chrome 4.0 — streamlined interface built from the ground up for the new web

EMAIL CLIENT

– Gmail — can be used as a POP3 and IMAP client too
– Windows Live Mail — a surprisingly good e-mail client (really!). support for hotmail.
– Thunderbird — customizable (the latest version looks neat, but i haven’t tried it)

ANTI-MALWARE

– HiJack This — tool that displays and allows you to delete auto-starting applications that are not listed elsewhere in Windows tools (msconfig, services.msc)
– Microsoft Security Essentials — has great new virus detection rate, some of the same old AV practices but not that bad
– Your Brain (I can’t find a link for this *wink*)

IMAGE VIEWER

– Irfanview — image viewer & browser.
– Check out Google’s Picasa or Windows Live Gallery for photo gallery viewing

FILE COMPRESSION

– IZArc — the power of 7zip with a much nicer interface

BURNING SOFTWARE

– Infrarecorder — general burning application (don’t use currently)
– CDBurnerXP — another good general burning application (don’t use currently)
– ImgBurn — specializes in burning and creating data images

BITTORRENT

– µTorrent — hands down the best torrent application

INSTANT MESSAGING

– Miranda — best customization. extremely light (what we use)
– Pidgin — best non-bloated out-of-box.
– Steam Friends — ubiquitous for a PC gamer

VOICE CHAT

– Ventrilo — gaming, group conference.
– Skype — 1-on-1 calling. lots of plugins.

VIDEO/DVD PLAYER

– VLC Player — all-around player.
– Miro — internet video aggregator and player.
– Been using Media Player Classic a bunch lately. GOM player is pretty cool, too.

AUDIO PLAYER

– MediaMonkey — great library, light player.

GAMING

– GameTap — Over 30 free games on a rotation.
– Cheap Games Round-Up — our ever-growing list of free & cheap games.

OTHER SOFTWARE

– Process Explorer — view & manage detailed process information.
– CCleaner — clear up hard drive space, clean registry, manage start-up & uninstall software.
– WizMouse — Enables use of mouse-wheel on unfocused windows. (can cause problems in some games, requiring you to disable it during those times)
– Hamachi — easy to use virtual private network.
– FileZilla — handles file transfers using the FTP.
– Daemon Tools — CD/DVD discs emulation.
– Peer Block — an IP blocker to protect your privacy on P2P
– Foxit Reader — light-weight and fast PDF reader.
– Notepad ++ — great text/code editor