The following is a list of 50 great software applications that you can download and install for free. The list is originally compiled by TechVivo and edited by Elias Kifle.
1. Audacity – Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows
2. VirtualDub – VirtualDub is a video capture and video processing application for Windows
3. Avidemux – Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering, and encoding tasks.
4. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack – K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codes, needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video formats. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play most of the popular audio and video formats, even the rare ones.
5. SUPER – If you need a simple, efficient, and ugly tool to convert any of your multimedia files into any other format, then SUPER is all you need
6. FormatFactory – If you need a simple, efficient, easy-to-use, and a not-so-hideously-ugly tool to convert any of your multimedia files into any other format, then FormatFactory is all you need
7. Mozilla Sunbird – Sunbird is an open-source, cross-platform calendar application.
8. VLC Media Player – VLC Media Player is a multimedia player that can play most of the audio and video formats out there, including DVDs and CDs, without the need of a codec.
9. WinAmp – WinAmp is a fast and flexible music and video player for Windows
10. Media Player Classic – Media Player Classic looks like Windows Media Player 6, but with additional features, such as AVI subtitle support, QuickTime and RealVideo support, and a few built-in codec. And it doesn’t have the bloat the Windows Media Player 11 has.
11. KeePas – KeePas is an opensource password manager which helps you manage your passwords in a secure way
12. MemoKeys – MemoKeys allows you to create shortcut key combinations (hotkeys) and associate them with any text information of your choice.
13. AutoIt – AutoIt is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI
14. AutoHotKey – AutoHotKey is a free keyboard macro program. It supports hotkeys for the keyboard, mouse, and joystick.
15. PeaZip – PeaZip is an open-source file and archive manager
16. 7Zip – 7zip is an open-source file archiver predominantly for Microsoft Windows OS
17. GMail Drive – GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google Mail account, allowing you to use GMail as a storage medium
18. Mozy – Mozy is the industry-leading solution for online backup. Its offers 2GB storage for free.
19. Recuva – Recuva is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentaly deleted from your computer
20. Windows Live Writer – Windows Live Writer is a desktop blog-publishing application that has many features.
21. BitTorrent – BitTorrent is a BitTorrent client and a good alternative to uTorrent.
22. ZoneAlarm Free – ZoneAlarm Free is one of the best and well know free firewall software in the market.
23. Ashampoo Burning Studio Free – If you’re looking for a fast, responsive, and high-quality burning software that does not cost a dime, then Ashampoo Burning Studio Free is for you.
24. DeepBurner – DeepBurner is a free CD and DVD burning tool
25. Defraggler – Defraggler lets you defrag individual files, without having to process the whole drive, and it allows you to schedule runs
26. CCleaner – CCleaner is a system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused temporary files from your system, allowing it to run faster, more efficiently, and giving you more hard disk space.
27. Startup Delayer – Startup Delayer allows you to setup how many seconds after Windows has started, to load each program.
28. RevoUninstaller – RevoUninstaller can be used to uninstall programs, and scan for leftover registry keys, files, and folders.
29. Eraser – Eraser is a secure data removal tool for Windows
30. SUMo – With SUMo, you’ll be able to keep your PC up-to-date by detecting required updates for your software.
31. RadarSync – Stop searching for drivers and app updates, update your PC for free with RadarSync
32. FileHippo Update Checker – The Update Checker will scan your computer for installed software, check the versions, and then send this info to FileHippo.com to see if there are any newer releases. These are then neatly displayed in your browser for you to download.
33. Launchy – Launchy allows you to launch programs with just a few keystrokes
34. FileZilla – FileZilla is a powerful FTP client that is easy-to-use, has many features, and is fast and relaible.
35. Kompozer – WYSIWYG HTML and CSS editor derived from Nvu
36. HTML-Kit – HTML-Kit is a full-featured and customizable HTML text editor that can be used to create and edit web pages.
37. Ades Clr Picker – AdesClrPicker is a very easy-to-use, yet powerful color picker application for web designers.
38. Notepad++ – Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages.
39. Internet Download Manager – Internet Download Manager is a tool that can increase download speeds, resume, schedule, and manage downloads.
40. FlashGet – FlashGet is a free download manager that allows you to spit the files you’re downloading into different sections.
41. GIMP – The GIMP is a multiplatform photo manipulation tool. It’s suitable for a variety of image manipulation tasks, including photo retouching, image composition, and image construction.
42. Paint.NET – Paint.NET is an image and photo manipulation software. It’s meant to be a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with all Windows operating systems.
43. CamStudio – CamStudio records screen into standard AVI files. It’s an ideal tool for creating software demonstations.
44. Mozilla Thunderbird – Thunderbird is a great email client from the same people who brought you the Firefox browser
45. PDFCreator – PDFCreator can create PDF files from almost any Windows app
46. Gadwin PrintScreen – Gadwin PrintScreen is an easy-to-use utility that allows you to capture any portion of the screen, and save it to a file, copy to Windows clipboard, print it, or email it to a friend.
47. Skype – Using Skype, you can make telephone calls over the Internet, and calls to other people using Skype.
48. SAM – SAM is a simple voice answering machine for Skype users
49. OpenOffice – OpenOffice is an open-source, multi-platform, and multi-lingual suite comparable with MS Office.
50. AbiWord – AbiWord is a free word processing program similar to Microsoft Word and is rapidly becoming a state-of-the-art word processor.