Sunday, November 21, 2010

Software : In Depth: 25 of the best free PC apps to download

Software : In Depth: 25 of the best free PC apps to download

In Depth: 25 of the best free PC apps to download

Posted: 21 Nov 2010 04:00 AM PST

The internet is an ocean of freeware apps that can be both overwhelming and confusing. How do you know which is best? What happens if you download one and it turns out to be malware?

Fear not, computing enthusiast, because PC Plus is here to allay those fears and guide you through the deluge. Here, we'll give you the lowdown on 25 of our top freeware applications.

If these aren't already on your PC, you should be asking yourself why not.

1. Firefox

We kick off with Mozilla's flagship Firefox, the internet browser that everybody with a clue is using. Its constant updates and wealth of extensions that let you expand the app's functionality to epic proportions are a massive plus.

Firefox

Built-in features include its private browsing function, the Awesome Bar for finding sites in seconds and session restore for loading the same websites and tabs after a crash. Now really is the time to ditch Internet Explorer.

2. TeamViewer

The crucial disadvantage of having an understanding of computers can be that you're the go-to person for your entire family when they're in need of IT support. It can be especially tricky to provide advice over the phone when you're not able to see the problem in front of you.

The solution is to install TeamViewer and share the desktop of the person who's asked for your advice, so you can interact with it and discover any issues they're having difficulty with.

It has the ability to work behind firewalls and there's even an app called TeamViewer Web Connector for accessing remote desktops from within your internet browser.

3. Skype

You'll want to tell the world about your finely-tuned PC and its collection of superb apps – or, at the very least, your close family. What better way to do this than with the power of Voice-over-IP in the form of Skype?

Friends on the other side of the globe will be easily contactable by voice or video, and you won't have to pay your gluttonous telephone provider a penny when calling other Skype users. As well as all this, you'll also have access to some incredible offers when calling landlines.

4. ZoneAlarm Free Firewall

Once you've got online with Firefox, finding yourself some protection from the various foreign bodies that roam free on the internet should be a priority.

That protection will come in the form of a firewall – think of it as a virtual shield against hackers and other baddies – and ZoneAlarm is at the top of its game when it comes to preventing all the unsafe code that hurtles down your copper cabling.

5. Panda Cloud Antivirus

In the unlikely event one of said foreign bodies evades your firewall and sets up camp on your hard disk, you'll want another line of defence – a secondary row of ramparts, if you will.

Virus-searching and purging are top of the agenda, and Panda Cloud Antivirus does that in a novel way, by storing definitions on a remote web server in the cloud, saving you the hassle of regular heuristic additions.

6. Trillian

So you don't have a microphone or webcam? That's no problem, because we have the solution for you: instant messaging from Trillian.

You'll be able to type out conversations using your trusty keyboard on a number of different networks, including Astra, Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo. If you grow tired of this, there's also video and audio functionality, so Trillian certainly has all your bases covered.

7. Orbit Downloader

While chatting to a long-distance friend, there's a good chance the conversation will stumble onto the topic of music. But if your chum posts a URL to a track recommendation then you'll want to save it to your hard disk with a program more reliable than your default internet connection.

With Orbit, the power to download tunes from services including MySpace, YouTube, Imeem, Pandora and Rapidshare is at your fingertips.

8. TrueCrypt

It's always important to encrypt your files, including any of your recent downloads. With TrueCrypt, it's possible to secure your entire partition or create a virtual encrypted disk.

Either way, in the unlikely event of an adversary attempting to force you to reveal your encryption password, you have plausible deniability because of the lack of signature in the random data.

9. Evernote

Life is complicated and keeping tabs on everything can make you become reliant on reminders scrawled on Post-it notes. This isn't very efficient, and using your computer to help is a great solution.

Evernote is the king of productivity and you should definitely consider using it to help you get things done. You can plan your next trip, keep a record of your favourite wine, store a file of anything great you've seen in the shops and want to buy, and organise everything so that you can find it in double-quick time.

10. Sumatra PDF

Like it or loathe it, thanks to Adobe the PDF is here to stay. Fortunately, you don't have to use the company's own unwieldy Reader application for viewing files.

There are very usable lightweight alternatives that just open the files and don't do the kind of song and dance that eats up your resources. Sumatra PDF is one of these and, best of all, it's portable – so you can carry it around on a USB stick for use whenever it's needed.

11. PrimoPDF

You don't have to blow the trust fund on an expensive desktop publishing tool when freeware applications can achieve the same goal.

All you need is a copy of the very popular OpenOffice.org for layout purposes, along with this handy add-on, and you're able to save out PDFs through a dropdown menu.

12. Paint.NET

Graphics applications that are both free and feature-rich are few and far between, but they do exist. Paint.NET is a case in point.

It contains functionality to rival commercial products, such as layers, special effects, unlimited history and a whole host of powerful tools, including Gradient, Magic Wand, Clone Stamp, Zoom and Recolour. If you fancy expressing yourself without a huge outlay, then it's one to download.

13. 7-Zip

Even with our zippy modern broadband technologies, files can still become corrupt, which is why it's advisable to use archiving software as a kind of wrapping paper. Not only does it help to further decrease the size of the document, but it also gives you a heads-up if something's wrong, whereby extraction is impossible.

7-Zip supports a myriad of formats, including ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI and many more, preventing you from being hamstrung when somebody sends you an archive with an obscure extension.

14. uTorrent

There are many clients available that you can use to download files from the BitTorrent network. Unfortunately, the majority are clunky and like to inhabit a large memory footprint.

uTorrent is not one of these. It uses less than 6MB of memory when running and the executable is only 220kB in size, which means that now there's a lightweight way to access the wealth of content available – most of it legal, some of it... not so much.

15. ImgBurn

Gone are the days when you had to fork out cash for writing data onto an optical disc. Now you can burn your files onto CD, DVD, HD DVD and Bluray for free.

ImgBurn has everything you'd expect from a utility of this type, including several modes for performing different tasks, such as reading a disc, building an image from your files, writing an image file to disc and verifying that it's 100 per cent readable.

There's also a Discovery feature for checking the quality of the burns your drive is producing. ImgBurn supports a wide variety of image, audio and video file formats.

16. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

It's good practice to be on guard against adware, which antivirus suites can sometimes overlook. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware minimises the risk of your computer and its data being infected with worms, trojans, rootkits, diallers, spyware and malware.

17. CCleaner

You might be surprised how clogged with binary filth your hard disk becomes over long periods of time. CCleaner sweeps away temporary files, cookies and any other cobwebs that might be slowing down your PC. Best of all, it often takes less than a second to run.

18. Revo Uninstaller

You may be under the impression that using Windows' built-in routines for removing software is sufficient, but it's not as thorough as it could be. Revo Uninstaller, on the other hand, clears everything associated with a program from your hard disk.

19. FBackup

When PCs crash, there's often data loss. If you're not backed up, this can lead to a great deal of anguish. Make sure you duplicate everything of importance onto a secondary drive, using a tool such as FBackup, for use in the event of a hard disk catastrophe.

20. Recuva

When you delete a file, it isn't necessarily purged forever and there's always a possibility that it can be recovered if you've culled it by mistake. With Recuva, you can resurrect those files you've deleted in Windows from your Recycle Bin, your camera's flash card or an MP3 player.

21. VirtualDub

Looking to undertake some simple video editing? Then we've found the tool for you. VirtualDub can capture video and process it, but its interface isn't so complicated that it requires a manual as thick as your fist to understand it. There are also plenty of third-party filters available.

22. AutoGK

VirtualDub has video editing locked down, but its drawback is the limited export options. AutoGK supports DVDs; MPEG2, such as DVB capture; MPEG1 sources and AVI/DV. Compress footage to DivX or Xvid for small-sized backups of a similar quality to the originals.

23. Songbird

If iTunes were an animal, it would be a warthog because of its slow pace. You'll be happy to hear that a usable alternative is available. With Songbird, you can build smart playlists, purchase and download music and rip your CDs. There's even support for the latest smartphones.

24. RealPlayer SP

RealNetworks has been quiet for some time – and after its nagging, ad-heavy software of days gone by, it possibly needed to be. But it's back with a remarkably slick offering: RealPlayer SP can download web video, trim it and rip out the audio.

25. VLC Media Player

When this app was released, it immediately consigned Windows Media Player to its grave. The reason? VLC's support for pretty much every video format imaginable. Gone are the days when you had one player for one video file type and another player for a different type.
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