Selected 157 FREE Softwares by PC-MAG
PC Magazine have compiled a great list of selected 157 free softwares/online services you can use over commercial ones. While 157 is a large number, I strongly suggest you go through the whole categorized list, or your favorite category at least. I tried to go through it to come up with most preferred ones, I ended up with a list of almost, umm… 157! No just kidding, but the list was really huge I will try to make some picks of what I use, and am interested in. Also, I will list the one hot item I think they missed from the list.
What I Currently Use:
- GIMP: The FREE open source graphics editor is not really as good as Photoshop, but does the job on many occasions. At least for a novice like me, it’s more than enough.
- Notepad+++: I added an extra plus here as this light-weight notepad clone editor is really good for quick file editing. Tab based, open source, add-ons, highlighting on various programming languages. Only place where it lacks is for framework based development, like Ruby on Rails. This is where Komodo Edit comes into picture. Komodo Free version was made public last year and I’m not sure how PC Mag guys missed it. It’s doing great for me.
- Launchy: Quickly from command line kinda interface reach all your apps, files, folders, and custom actions as well. It’s smart to know the preferred apps as well.
- Google Reader: Read all your favorite blogs and news sites from one place, accessible where ever you go. Tag and categorize the feeds, search through them as well, and share them.
- Google Desktop: The best and most efficient way to search all your computer, emails, chat, web history and more, on the fly. Alas, for some reason it doesn’t work on my home PC :(.
- Geni: Build your family tree. Share it with family members and let them add to your tree. Ofcourse, this could be a more serious privacy infringement than Facebook someday!
Trust me there is a lot more, but I will jump to a selected list of softwares I am yet to look into.
Interested In:
- ThreatFire AntiVirus: Seems to detect suspicious behavior and blocks it, rather than depending on virus signatures which is more of reactive approach to new viruses.
- EULAlyzer: This is quite smart thinking. It goes through those long Terms & Conditions detecting weird words. Like if a program involves installing ad programs on your computer, while we usually tend to accept all unaware.
- Hotspot Shield: Create an instant virtual private network (VPN) tunnel between your laptop and the router at any Wi-Fi hot spot to protect your data from snoops on the public airwaves
- Mint: Syncs with your bank and credit cards online, checks spending habits, and come with suggestions on how to improve your savings.Alas, no Kuwait bank supports those type of stuff, and my cash spending is considerable as well.
- Zoho: Very strong online word, spreadsheet, presentation, database, and more tool. Getting more popular every day.
- Remember The Milk: Organize and track your grocery items online. It sends SMS,email, and IM remainders. Forcing geek into family life basically
- Eraser: People think when they remove item from their recycle bin it goes ino a black hole forever. But they’re wrong. the system just removes the pointer to that file marking it as empty for future use. If someone goes and read those specific bits of data later on, he will get to your private information. Eraser lets you overwrite those private sensitive data by blank 1s and 0s. Basically a virtual shredder. It is slower than normal Delete though, so use it when you must to.
- ZamZar: Convert your files online from/to any type for FREE.
- GizmoProject: Skype competitor offering free peer-to-peer, over internet phone, and video calls, based on open standards.
- Prism: This is a new thing from Mozilla still in the labs. The idea is that you basically load a certain favorite web app of yours (Gmail in my case), and let it run like any other application on your desktop.
Well, don’t let me ruin your appetite. There is a load lot more to look for, based on your interests. Enjoy, and please, do share your insight on the tools you tried before.
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