Roundup: 22 Most Useful Free Applications For Your Computer

Just because recession is at our front doors doesn't mean you can't get the most out of your computer. There are so many great applications out there today that even if your wallet's lighter than a Macbook Air right now, you can still do just about anything with your computer without having to spend a dime. Here's 22 of them (the best, mind you), courtesy of Vitamin CM.

The roundup is split into 5 different categories:

Communication

Internet

Productivity

Multimedia

System Utilities

Communication:

Thunderbird: Open-source e-mail with add-on support.

Digsby:Best multi-client IM tool available.

Internet:

Firefox: A must-have for every Internet user.

Google Earth: The world at your fingertips.

Productivity:

Windows Live Writer: A blogger's MS Word.

Notepad++: A coder's sidekick.

Foxit PDF Reader: Love for PDFs, no fluff.

CutePDF Writer: Create PDFs easy.

Multimedia:

Paint.net: Minor photo edits without Photoshop muscles.

VLC: Play anything, anywhere.

Picasa: Manage photos like a champ.

iTunes: Streaming made easy.

DVD Shrink: Legally back up your DVDs.

System Utilities:

uTorrent: Torrents made easy.

CCleaner: Clean out your system's crap.

Filezilla: Quick FTP client.

Rocket Dock: PC users get a taste of the dock.

7Zip: Free WinZip alternative.

SyncBack: Backup and restoration made easy.

AVG Antivirus: Free lightweight protection.

If you want the full list of 22 programs, check out Vitamin CM's coverage. Or better yet, have a favorite application you'd like to recommend? Let us know in the comments!

adiumx for best chat application!

www.adiumx.org

posted by bkoerper on January 30th 2009 at 12:25am
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I use jZip instead of WinZip. Free as well....

But otherwise a great list !!!

posted by ET on January 30th 2009 at 5:16am
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I'm not real big on itunes - I know some people love it but I personally think there is better out there. This article compares itunes, wmp, winamp and media monkey:

http://www.skytopia.com/project/articles/music/players.html

posted by bordjon on January 30th 2009 at 10:01am
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Media Player Classic Home Cinema is way better than VLC.

http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/

Better HD playback, better usability. Can use ffdshow as video codec.

posted by mikko on January 30th 2009 at 5:09pm
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I'm no lawyer but I have to wonder how on earth they/you got the idea that dvdshrink is legal. I'm sure this particular program's legality hasn't been tested in court, but in general breaking the encryption on dvds is completely illegal. Surely you've wondered why no major company makes dvd rippers, like itunes rips cds but not dvds.

posted by StephenR on January 31st 2009 at 3:34pm
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