12 Essential Free Apps for Windows

12 Great Free Apps from Ou

Lately I have been on a free software kick. It's kind of a hobby of mine. Finding what I consider to be essential applications that help make life easier as a Windows user. Just recently I stumbled across a blog entry on ZDNet by George Ou, their former Technical Director. Interestingly, he lost his job on March 26th due to corporate restructuring. As a testament to his wisdom, he listed 12 essential Windows apps that he includes on every system he builds, and all of them are free. I couldn't agree more. Here is that complete article: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=989

Included in his list (along with excellent screen shots) are:
  1. uTorrent
  2. Skype
  3. Paint.NET
  4. Infra recorder
  5. Dr. Divx
  6. FastStone Photo Resizer
  7. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack
  8. IZArc
  9. CCleaner
  10. Autoruns
  11. Process Explorer
  12. AVG Antivirus Free Edition

If you just want to jump through George's image gallery for each app, go to this site. I can honestly say that I have used 8 out of 12 of these, and I can vouch that they are essential. IZArc, FastStone Photo Resizer, Autoruns and Process Explorer are all somewhat new to me, and most of what they do can be found in other utilities that I have used. However, everything on this list is solid, malware-free, and highly recommended by computer techs worldwide. This list is in no particular order, but if there are some here that you have not tried, you really should. If you build a new system, or have one built for you, including all of these above applications would pretty much have you set for quite a while. All you would need is a good audio/video converter and an Office suite. But that's just my opinion. I'm always heavy on the multimedia apps. Please post a comment on which of these you liked best. Happy downloading.

Comments

  1. Tina PuntigamApril 16, 2008 at 5:37 PM

    Hey, Mark! Great blog. I was wondering, what is really the difference between Skype and MSN messenger for video chat? My family and I currently use MSN Messenger, because it's easy and free. I know that skype is free, but is it easier or better video/audio quality?

    Thanks! Christina Puntigam

    ReplyDelete

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