157 software tools. No fees. No expiration dates. No problems. Sometimes even no downloads. No kidding.
Finance
mint
www.mint.com
Web Mint isn't like Quicken, where you
enter in all your transactions. Instead, it syncs with your bank and
credit 
GnuCash
www.gnucash.org
LinuxLinux users can track their bank
accounts, stocks, and expenses in this financial program using a double-entry
accounting method.
Office
AbiWord
www.abiword.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux Volunteers keep
this
Read the full review of
AbiWord 2.0.
Gliffy
www.gliffy.com
Web | Flash An online-only diagramming
tool with more options than you can flowchart. The free version is limited to
five diagrams.
Google Docs
docs.google.com
Web | MobileGoogle's slickly designed
office suite offers online shared word processing, spreadsheets, and
presentations-and best of all, finally a solid alternative in the office-suite
space to the totally dominating Microsoft. Upload or e-mail your current
documents for
Read the full review of
Google Docs.
IBM Lotus Symphony
symphony.lotus.com
Web | Mobile A much prettier version of
OpenOffice.org, Symphony is prepped for presentations, spreadsheets, and word
processing in a single window (but lacks OO's drawing and database modules).
Read the full review of
IBM Lotus Symphony
Beta.
KompoZer
www.kompozer.net
Windows | MacOS | Linux A full WYSIWYG
Web-page authoring tool akin to Dreamweaver, KompoZer integrates an FTP site
manager for file uploads.
NeoOffice
www.neooffice.com
MacOSThis version of OpenOffice.org has
the same great tools and price (free), but with an interface designed
specifically for the Mac OS.
Notepad++
notepad-plus.sourceforge.net
Windows Notepad++ handles
text--especially source code-in ways the basic Windows Notepad could only dream
of, with embellishments like tabs and color coding.
Read the full review of
Notepad++.
Scribus
www.scribus.net
Windows | MacOS | Linux This open-source
page layout tool has features comparable to big names like PAgemaker, plus
support for PDFs and scalable vector graphics (SVG).
Windows Live Mail
get.live.com
WindowsLive Mail not only reads your
Hotmail, but also can check POP, IMAP, or HTTP mail accounts. It works as an RSS
feed reader and a newsreader.
Zoho
www.zoho.com
Web | MobileZoho features every tool you
could want-word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, database, even a
wiki-and several you never knew you needed. Some are also available off-line.
Read the full review of
Zoho.
Calendar/PIMs
Plaxo
www.plaxo.com
Web Perhaps the ultimate online address
book, Plaxo is enhanced with the superpowers of a social network and plug-ins
for many Web-based services like Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and LiveJournal for
sharing across the Internet.
Backpack
www.backpackit.com
WebBackpack is more than a to-do list
site. Your five easy-to-update pages send reminders via e-mail or SMS and
include a whiteboard for
online
Read the full review of
Backpack.
EssentialPIM Free
www.essentialpim.com
Windows Imagine taking the e-mail out of
Microsoft Outlook to get a killer personal information manager (PIM). That's
what EssentialPIM is all about.
Google Calendar
calendar.google.com
Web | Mobile Featuring seamless
Read the full review of
Google Calendar.
Lightning
www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning
Windows | MacOS | LinuxTo be more like
Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird needs a calendar. Lightning provides that, plus a
to-do list. It can even sync with Google Calendar.
Power Calculator
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
Windows This XP-only PowerToy replaces
the lame Windows calculator with a mathematical powerhouse.
Remember The Milk
www.rememberthemilk.com
Web | MobileNever forget another grocery
item, or anything else, using this extensible online task manager. It'll send
reminders via e-mail, SMS, and IM.
Sunbird
www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird
Windows | MacOS | LinuxSunbird is
Mozilla's standalone calendar for tracking events and upcoming tasks. It's a
sister to Lightning, which adds the same functions to Thunderbird.
30 Boxes
www.30boxes.com
WebOne of the best-looking online
calendars, 30 Boxes features easy-to-grasp pop-ups for adding events and viewing
schedule details.
Yahoo! Calendar
calendar.yahoo.com
WebTrack your schedule and share it with
friends, then sync your calendar with Outlook or your phone. It's a great place
to back up a handheld.
Backup/Sync
Allway Sync
www.allwaysync.com
Windows Sync files between your PC and
an external drive, filtering by folder, file name, or file type. The program
displays warnings about questionable files before syncing.
DriveImage XML
www.runtime.org
Windows Make an image of your entire
hard drive for
backup and
FolderShare
www.foldershare.com
Windows | MacOS Install the utility on
multiple
Read the full review of
FolderShare.
MozyHome Free
www.mozy.com
Windows | MacOS MozyHome provides
automatic online
PassPack
www.passpack.com
Web Pack away all your passwords in this
secure online vault; it even logs you in to Web sites.
SyncToy v2.0
www.microsoft.com/downloads
Windows Make sure folders across your
networked computers contain the same files, even on drives that change location
and name.
WinClone
www.twocanoes.com
MacOS Bootcamp users: Now you can clone
(back up) your Windows XP/Vista partition for reinstall on a new Mac.
App Launchers
Launchy
www.launchy.net
Windows Launchy launches (duh)
applications, files, folders, or searches via a command-line-esque interface.
ObjectDock
www.stardock.com
Windows Organize your application
shortcuts in a toolbar that mimics the look and feel of the Macintosh dock,
complete with icon animations. It will even mimic Windows Taskbar buttons. Add
in extras (docklets) like real-time clock and weather forecasts, even a fully
functional Windows Start button and Recycle Bin, to get everything you need.
QuickSilver
www.blacktree.com
MacOS This open-source launcher takes
plug-ins that allow it to do almost anything you want in the MacOS.
Utilities
Absolute Uninstaller
www.glarysoft.com
Windows Replace the Add/Remove Programs
control panel in XP to get batch uninstalls and clear out leftovers that Windows
frequently misses when uninstalling.
CCleaner
www.ccleaner.com
Windows The extra C is for crap, and
that's what CCleaner gets rid of: all the detritus left behind in the course of
using Windows.
CoolMon
www.coolmon.org
WindowsCoolMon displays all of your
system's vital statistics, including use of your CPU, RAM, and hard drives,
internal PC temperature, and more.
Defraggler
www.defraggler.com
Windows Defragment your entire hard
drive-or just one heavily fragmented file at a time.
DriverView
www.nirsoft.net
Windows DriverView lists every single
device driver running on your system, with extra info on each.
Eraser
www.heidi.ie/eraser
WindowsShredders are popular in the
office, so why not have the digital equivalent? Eraser adds a right-click menu
that will do away with a file or folder forever.
FileZilla
www.filezilla-project.org
Windows | MacOS | Linux Download this
FTP client for accessing multiple sites or to use as an FTP server. In both
cases, FileZilla has convenient drag-and-drop support.
Glary Utilities
www.glaryutilities.com
Windows Glary offers a ton of utilities
for cleaning, optimizing, and securing Windows in one package.
Microsoft Virtual PC 2007
www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc
WindowsInstall anything-DOS, OS/2, or
any earlier version of Windows-as a virtual machine. It'll run in a separate
window on your Vista or XP desktop.
Read the full review of
Microsoft Virtual
PC 2007.
SandBoxie
www.sandboxie.com
Web Place a layer of "transient
SecureZIP
www.securezip.com
Windows Compress and decompress files on
the fly, even in e-mail through Outlook
Task Killer
www.rsdsoft.com
Windows Stop any Windows process dead;
this is handy for clearing frozen applications.
TinkerTool
www.bresink.com
MacOS Get access to additional
preference settings in Mac OS X to turn on hidden features.
Uniblue ProcessScanner
www.processlibrary.com
Windows | Web You can do the
Ctrl-Alt-Delete salute in Windows to see what's bogging down your PC, but can
you understand the results? ProcessScanner, coupled with the online Process
Library, provides extra information on each process (like whether it autostarts
or not, and who makes the software in question), and even lists the security
risk to your system for running it.
Downloads
BitLet.org
www.bitlet.org
Web Who needs a BitTorrent client? Just
find the torrent metafile link on a tracker site, plug it in at BitLet.org, and
let it retrieve the file as if you were downloading it from a regular Web site.
Universal Extractor
www.legroom.net
Windows See what's inside any archive
file—ZIP, RAR, even EXE.
uTorrent
www.utorrent.com
Windows The tiniest BitTorrent client
around (only 214K) comes with all the torrent download features you crave.
Interface Enhancement
Battery Status
users.rcn.com/tmtalpey/BattStat
WindowsThis app runs in the system tray
and takes advantage of smart battery support in XP/Vista to provide loads of
info on laptop-power usage.
Google Desktop
desktop.google.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux Let Google index
and search your hard drive contents. The sidebar adds graphical widgets to your
desktop.
miniMIZE
aquaria.za.net
Windows miniMIZE puts thumbnails of your
minimized applications on the desktop for easier access.
Quero Toolbar 4
www.quero.at
Windows Replace the Internet Explorer
address bar to integrate ad blocking and make IE7 look more like IE6.
Vista Drive Icon
drvicon.sourceforge.net
Windows Add one of Vista's best features
to XP: smart drive icons showing the current capacity of each hard drive.
XYplorer
www.xyplorer.com
Windows Multiple tabs and improved
search enhance and replace the boring old Windows Explorer.
Yahoo! Widgets
widgets.yahoo.com
Windows | MacOS Fill your desktop with
tiny interfaces for everything from stock picks to RSS feeds to weather
forecasts (using Doppler radar!) to Wi-Fi sensors to remote desktops to
countdown clocks-to name a few. Pick from over 4,300; some are more useful than
others, but almost all are interesting to look at.
File View/Conversion
Foxit Reader
www.foxitsoftware.com
Windows Perhaps the fastest PDF reader
around, Foxit includes a free annotation tool. Add-ons enable support for new
file formats and UI languages.
Samuraj Data
view.samurajdata.se
Web You can display PDF files in your
Web browser when no other reader is available.
ScanR.com
scanr.com
Web | Mobile Instantly perform optical
character recognition (OCR) on pictures by e-mailing them from your phone to
ScanR.com.
YouConvertIt.com
youconvertit.com
WebThis site turns just about any file
into a different kind of file, even online videos from YouTube. It also converts
units of energy, force, length, and more.
ZamZar
www.zamzar.com
WebFile conversion is no longer a
complete nightmare. Just go to ZamZar, upload a file, choose from a long list of
extensions (including image, doc, music, video, and compression types), and
enter your e-mail address. When it's done, ZamZar will send you the converted
file.
Networking
LogMeIn Hamachi
secure.logmein.com
Windows | MacOS | LinuxInstantly create
a free, peer-to-peer VPN connection between your computer and other people's.
Download the software, create a network with a unique name, give it to friends
you want to join, and start
sharing
NetStumbler
www.netstumbler.com
Windows Use it to detect any Wi-Fi
network in your vicinity and see if it's open for use, or just use it to
troubleshoot your own.
PrinterAnywhere
www.printeranywhere.com
Windows Share your printer with others
over the Web; in turn, send jobs to other shared printers, no matter their
location.
Blogging
Blogger
www.blogger.com
Web | Mobile Blogger was one of the
first blog-publishing tools. Years after Google bought it, it remains one of the
best, especially for newbies. Create a brain-dead simple weblog and let Blogger
host it (with a blogspot.com name) using the slew of provided templates, or use
it to publish a blog on your own domain.
w.bloggar
www.wbloggar.com
Windows This post and template editor
can handle multiple blogs, across multiple blogging systems.
Windows Live Writer
get.live.com
WindowsLive Writer is not a word
processor, but a universal, WYSIWYG blog-posting tool more powerful than most
blog services' own tools.
WordPress
www.wordpress.com
WebIt lacks the simplicity of Blogger or
Vox, but the commercial offshoot of WordPress.org offers some of the best tools
of any hosted blogging service.
RSS Readers
Bloglines
www.bloglines.com
Web | MobileKeeping track of your daily
Web news reading can be a nightmare. This Ask.com-owned news aggregator is one
of the cleanest and most straightforward methods for keeping your RSS feeds
under control, and the new beta version features a great new interface that
steals some of the best features of Google Reader.
Google Reader
reader.google.com
Web | Mobile Google Reader is arguably
the best RSS/newsfeed reader on the Internet. Read feeds while off-line or on
your mobile phone.
Netvibes
www.netvibes.com
Web This is a handsome combination of
online RSS reader and podcast aggregator, with some widget apps thrown in.
Instant Messaging
Meebo.com
www.meebo.com
WebThis polished Web app aggregates your
AOL, Gmail, ICQ, Jabber, Windows, and Yahoo! buddy lists into a single,
Web-based instant-messaging and chat-room experience. Meebo is building in
extras, such as games you can play with IM buddies, as well as video and audio
chat you'd find with your regular IM client software.
Pidgin
www.pidgin.im
Windows | Linux
Open
Trillian
www.ceruleanstudios.com
WindowsAccess all your IM accounts (AIM,
ICQ, Windows Messenger, Yahoo!, and more) from a single interface that also logs
all your conversations, if you desire.
Communication
GizmoProject
www.gizmoproject.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux Gizmo competes
with Skype to offer free, peer-to-peer, over-the-Internet phone and video calls,
but uses open standards.
Gmail
www.gmail.com
Web | Mobile What to do with nearly
limitless e-mail
Mail Redirect
addons.mozilla.org
Windows | MacOS | Linux This add-on for
Thunderbird lets you bounce a message to the proper recipient without revealing
that you got the message first.
ooVoo
www.oovoo.com
Windows | MacOSooVoo video chat is more
P2P than Skype (no supernodes!), with a better picture. It supports up to six
co-videoconferencers, file transfers, and group text chat.
SightSpeed
www.sightspeed.com
Windows | MacOSSightSpeed has better
video quality than ooVoo, but in a less attractive interface. More than two
video chatters will cost you, as will file transfer and group chat.
Audio
Juice
http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net
Windows | MacOS | Linux Aggregate all
your favorite podcasts in one place for easy listening.
Levelator
www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator
Windows | MacOS | Linux Levelator
adjusts the levels of your audio files to give the perfect balance.
Reaper
www.cockos.com/reaper
Windows | MacOS The name is short for
Rapid Environment for Audio Production, Engineering, and Recording. That pretty
much says it all.
Wavosaur
www.wavosaur.com
WebA low-price and low-profile audio
editor, Wavosaur doesn't even need installation. Just click the executable to
start processing and recording sounds. It lacks some of the features of full
programs like Audacity, but for quick-and-dirty MP3 editing it can't be beat.
Video
Cinelerra
www.osalt.com/cinelerra
Linux This is professional video-editing
software for the Linux crowd.
Eyespot.com
www.eyespot.com
Web Upload your clips, mix via
drag-and-drop, and share your finished videos in one spot.
HandBrake
handbrake.m0k.org
Windows | MacOS | Linux Convert your
DVDs to MPEG-4 video (or just the audio) for
Jing
www.jingproject.com
Windows | MacOSx Jing shares what's
showing on your monitor with others online, or records it for future viewing.
Jumpcut.com
www.jumpcut.com
Web This online app provides
Flash-powered video editing.
Miro
www.getmiro.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux Miro combines
BitTorrent downloads with video playback to become the next best thing to your
DVR.
MythTV
www.mythtv.org
Linux Use your Linux box as a homespun
digital video recorder (DVR).
Songbird
www.songbirdnest.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux The
TVersity
www.tversity.com
Windows Turn your computer into a server
to stream video and audio to just about any device on your network.
Ustream.tv
www.ustream.tv
Web Our reviews call this the absolute
easiest way to broadcast live video from your webcam across the Internet.
Videora Converter
www.videora.com
Windows Convert nearly any video you can
find online (or on DVD) for use on any video-capable iPod or iPhone.
VLC media player
www.videolan.org
Windows | MacOS | Linux Forget Windows
Media Player. VideoLAN's open-source VLC can replace it, and nearly every other
player, too. VLC supports almost every audio format and video codec imaginable
and doubles as a server for streaming your music and video to other PCs. Change
its skin to make it look like the player you want—even WMP.
YouTube Uploader
www.youtube.com/multifile_installer
Windows | MacOS If you've got a lot of
YouTube videos ready to go online, upload them to the site all at once with the
Uploader.
Graphics
IrfanView
www.irfanview.com
Windows IrfanView previews images (or
even audio and video) and then converts or optimizes them without opening a
separate editor.
Paint.NET
www.getpaint.net
Windows This program is probably the
closest thing to Photoshop you can get free, courtesy of a student project.
Picasa
www.picasa.com
Windows | Linux Google's photo manager
makes it easy to get pictures off a digital camera, organize them, and even edit
and share them.
Picnik
www.picnik.com
Web | Flash Instantly edit pictures in
this Web site. Upload images from your computer, Flickr, Picasa, or elsewhere.
pikifx.com
pikifx.com
Web Another online pic editor,
pikifx.com emphasizes special effects such as added text and borders.
rsizr.com
rsizr.com
Web | Flash With one of the best Web
interfaces yet—all in Flash—rsizr.com incorporates smart resizing to avoid
distortion.
Splashup
www.splashup.com
Web | Flash Another beauty with a Flash
interface, Splashup sets itself apart with multi-image editing and a full-screen
mode.
Windows Live Photo Gallery
get.live.com/photogallery
Windows Windows Live Photo Gallery gives
Picasa (above) a run for its money, with many of the same photo-enhancing and
sharing features—red-eye reduction, exposure adjustment, cropping, color,
sharpen, and auto-adjust. What's more, Microsoft serves up histogram adjustment,
panorama creation, and photo-CD burning.
Browsers
Flock
www.flock.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux Another browser
based on Mozilla, Flock emphasizes interaction with social networks and
services. It also accepts many add-ons from the Firefox browser.
Maxthon
www.maxthon.com
Windows Replace IE or Firefox (but still
use their rendering engines) with this highly customizable, multilanguage,
tabbed beauty.
Opera
www.opera.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux | MobilePossibly
the nimblest and most usable of all the browsers available, Opera did tabs first
and still does them best. Added usability features like Speed Dial and Tab
Preview keep popping up in new versions.
Prism
labs.mozilla.com
Windows | MacOS | LinuxPrism is a
site-specific browser, meaning you simply load a Web app (Gmail, for instance)
and let it run like any other application on the desktop.
Browser Add-Ons
DownThemAll
www.downthemall.net
Windows | MacOS | LinuxYou don't have to
download one item at a time from a Web page anymore. DownThemAll manages batch
downloads, splitting files into pieces so they arrive faster.
Foxmarks 2.0
www.foxmarks.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux Foxmarks can
synchronize your Firefox bookmarks across multiple PCs, even multiple
operating
Googlepedia
code.google.com/p/googlepedia
Windows | MacOS | Linux In Firefox,
Googlepedia loads the most relevant Wikipedia entry it finds alongside your
Google
search
Google Toolbar
toolbar.google.com
Windows | MacOS | LinuxThe toolbar
brings Google's search and other functionality directly to IE or Firefox. It
offers extras like auto fill, spell-checking, and one-click RSS feed
subscriptions.
Greasemonkey
www.greasespot.net
Windows | MacOS | LinuxAdd this
extension to Firefox and then extend it again with thousands of scripts that
change the appearance and functions of almost any Web site.
IE7Pro
www.ie7pro.com
WindowsAdds a load of extras to IE7,
including control over tabs, spell-checking, ad blocking—even Greasemonkey-esque
scripts (see above).
IE Tab
ietab.mozdev.org
WindowsDo you prefer Firefox but still
need to look at some sites in IE? IE Tab will load a site in a Firefox tab using
the IE rendering engine.
ScribeFire
www.scribefire.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux This Firefox
add-on sets up an interface for instant blogging on just about any blog system.
Tab Mix Plus
addons.mozilla.org
Windows | MacOS | LinuxTake total
control of how tabs work in Firefox. Adjust how they look, revive those you
closed by accident, send tabs to new browser windows-essentially any tab action
you can imagine.
Zotero
www.zotero.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux Zotero makes it
easy to keep track of all your research on the Web, including how to cite it in
future reports.
Games/Fun
Eyezmaze.com's Grow
www.eyezmaze.com
Web | Flash It's not a single game but a
series that involves choosing "growing" items that are added to an online
environment.
Geni.com
www.geni.com
Web | Flash Share your genealogy with
everyone in the family. They can contribute more individual profiles until your
family tree is complete.
Google Earth
earth.google.com
Windows | MacOS | LinuxFly over familiar
terrain or foreign lands with Google Earth, a searchable database of satellite
images and geographical data—even images of the heavens. You can go a step
further with all sorts of downloadable, gee-whiz applications from scientists,
media outlets, and other third-party
Google Maps
maps.google.com
Web | Mobile This interactive mapping
tool goes beyond driving directions. View destinations in Street View,
Satellite, or Terrain modes; check traffic updates; or look up info on nearby
businesses.
Kongregate
www.kongregate.com
Web | Mobile Only 2,598 free games (as
of this writing) to keep you busy online? Bring 'em on.
Second Life
www.secondlife.com
Windows | MacOS This 3D virtual world
has hundreds of thousands of denizens. Access is free, but you'll pay a bit if
you want to get some real estate, or even fancy clothes for your avatar.