A list of FREE Windows-software that can make your life easier

Here's a list I made of FREE software I use for Windows, and I can thoroughly recommend everything here. Enjoy!

(Last updated 20/9-2010.)

OFFICE:
* OpenOffice
(perfect replacement for Microsoft Office for 99.9% of the users)

WEB BROWSER:
* Google Chrome
(I recently switched to this, it's by far the fastest browser I've used, plus it consumes MUCH less resources than both Micro$oft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox)

* Mozilla Firefox

(I used this before, it has a lot of addons and functionality that Micro$oft Internet Explorer doesn't have)

Very useful add-ons for Firefox (and Chrome):

- AutoCopy

(automatically copy selected text to clipboard, no need to click Ctrl-C)
- Clone Window
(makes new windows and tabs in Firefox inherit the history and URL of the current window)
- Cooliris
("fly" through hundreds of pictures in a short time)
- Copy Plain Text
(removes formatting from the text you copy)
- DownThemAll!
(a very good mass downloader)
- Flashblock
(automatically blocks Flash-objects in pages and lets you decide which you want to see - removes 99% of the advertising on the net as you surf)
- IE View
(gives you a right-click option for opening the current page in an Internet Explorer-window)
- Image Toolbar
(toolbar for actions for images, like saving, copying and printing)
- Text Link
(allows URLs written as plain text in webpages to be loaded by just double clicking on them, no need to copy and paste)

CALENDAR/TASKS:

* Mozilla Sunbird

(one of the best calendar programs. Also available as Lightning, an addon for Thunderbird.)

Very useful add-ons for Sunbird:

- MinimizeToTray Plus
(minimizes Sunbird into the system tray)

- Provider for Google Calendar

(let's you automatically synchronize your Sunbird/Lightning with Google Calendar, you can find instructions for setting it up here. If you get any problems with appointments in Google Calendar showing ahead or behind Sunbird/Lightning, adjust your time zone in Google Calendar by that amount.)

EMAIL:

* Mozilla Thunderbird

(really good email program, and much safer and less bloaty than Micro$oft Outlook)

Very useful add-ons for Thunderbird:
- GMailUI
(add concepts inspired by GMail, like archiving mail and powerful message searching across all folders)
- MinimizeToTray Plus
(minimizes Thunderbird into the system tray, the enhancer gives it additional functionality)
- Contacts Sidebar
(displays the address books in a sidebar in Thunderbirds 3-pane-window)
- Mail Redirect
(redirect, or "bounce", mail messages to other recipients without forwarding it)

OTHER INTERNET SOFTWARE:
* Yahoo! Messenger
(nice and feature-packed IM-software, also lets you add and talk to MSN/Windows Live-users - alternately use the webmessenger when you're not on your PC)
* µTorrent
(torrent program that is fast, versatile and uses few resources)
* Soulseek
(absolutely brilliant program for downloading amazing amounts of music from other music lovers)
* JDownloader
(the best mass downloader)
* Skype
(VoIP-software for speaking with others over the net)

VIDEO PLAYER:
* Media Player Classic
(much better than Windows Media Player for all kinds of video: DVD, AVI, MKV, FLV, MPG, MOV etc. Also plays tons of audio files.)

Very useful codecs for Windows:

* FFDSHOW
(the best and only decoder you need for XviD, DivX, x264, AC3, subtitles etc.)
* QuickTime Alternative
(play QuickTime without installing QuickTime player)
* Real Alternative
(play RealAudio and RealVideo without installing RealOne Player)

MULTIMEDIA:
* WinAmp
(classic player for MP3, WAV, OGG, AAC, APE, FLAC etc.)
* XnView
(good image viewer)
* Google Picasa
(good image editor and viewer)
* Subtitle Workshop
(nice program for editing and re-synchronising downloaded subtitles, use v2.51 if you can)
* LAME
(great MP3-encoder, use RazorLame for the user interface)
* EAC
(the best audio grabber for CD's)
* Audacity
(good software for recording and editing audio)

* Mp3 Tag Tools

(good software for mass editing tags in music files, a little easier to use than WinAmp's library editing function)

MISCELLANEOUS:

* CDBurnerXP
(burns audio- and data-CD's, DVD's, ISO-images etc.)
* DAEMON Tools
(virtual CD/DVD-ROM emulator)
* 7-Zip
(decompress RAR, ZIP and more, compress ZIP etc.)
* Gmail Drive
(a very useful way of making backup of files to a Gmail-account within Windows Explorer)
* File Renamer Basic
(nice little batch renamer for files and folders)
* MozBackup
(an easy way to backup and share your Mozilla Firefox/Thunderbird/Sunbird profiles)

MUSIC CREATION SOFTWARE:

* Free Music Software is a page with an extremely good list of software and plugins for creating music.

If you have any ideas for better software or solutions, please let me know in the comments-field. Thanks!