They're free, but that doesn't mean these applications lack power. Created by people who welcome help and improvements to their work, many of these programs are superior to commercial software.
Open Source is where Firefox got its start, for example. But there's plenty of great, free Open Source software beyond Firefox.
Here's
20 Top Open Source Favorites. Their sophistication and power will surprise you; you'll find everything from a universal instant messaging program to powerful multimedia and graphics tools, security software, and beyond.
GimpshopGimpshop is an exceedingly powerful Photoshop lookalike that has far more features than you, or most people you know, will ever use. If you're looking to touch up photos, or something far more sophisticated, like work in multiple layers, it has the tools you need. There are also numerous effects and filters, the ability to easily create color gradients, and plenty more. The program is based on a long-time Open Source favorite, GIMP, but has more fit and polish, and a Photoshop-like identity.
Download - http://plasticbugs.com/?page_id=294InkscapeIf you're looking for a graphics program that lets you create illustrations and graphics like Illustrator does, then give Inkscape a try. It includes a surprisingly powerful set of tools for creating graphics from scratch, or for editing existing graphics or photographs. You'll find numerous drawing tools, the ability to create layers and combine them, and more. The program supports the standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format as well as many others. It imports files from .jpg, .png, .tif and others, and exports to numerous vector-based formats and .png.
Download - http://www.inkscape.org/MiroIs there some video format that your current media player can't handle? Then try Miro, which will play every video format you've ever heard of, and many you've never heard of as well. That may be the least of its features, though. Where this player really shines is in its capability to find and play videos. You'll be able to subscribe to video RSS feeds, podcasts, and video blogs, download and save videos from YouTube, find TV shows, and play high definition, full screen videos. You can even download BitTorrent files from directly within it.
Download - http://www.getmiro.com/download/MediaCoderIf you need to convert media files between formats, shrink files with little quality loss, extract audio from video files, or manage multimedia in other ways, this is the program for you. It'll convert file formats, giving you a great deal of control over the output. So, for example, if you have a file that you'd like to convert so it can be played on a portable media player, MediaCoder will do the trick. It can also save you plenty of hard disk space by shrinking media files. There are also lots of extensions you can download that expand the program's capabilities, such as make it easy to transcode files for specific media players.
Download -http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/download.htmAudacityThis is the program to get if you need to record or edit audio. To record, using the program is a breeze, but if you're going to do audio editing, you'll need to devote a bit of time to it. You'll be able to combine tracks, cut audio out of tracks, import audio from multiple formats, create audio mixes, add all kinds of cool special effects, edit ID3 tags, and more. You'll also be able to generate specific tones, and even create background white noise on command.
Download - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/Media Player ClassicDo you feel that most media players have become overblown applications that need to be slimmed down to their basics--just playing media? If so, this is the program for you. It looks and works much like an earlier, classic version of Windows Media Player, way back in the days when it was a simple, svelte program. In fact, there's not even an installation program; just double-click the file and it runs. Despite its simplicity, it's a great program. It will play just about any kind of media file you can throw at it, and will even play DVDs.
Download - http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303HandBrakeGot a DVD that you want to turn into MPEG-4 format so that you can store it on your hard disk, or make a backup to disc? Then you'll want HandBrake. It grabs video from a variety of sources, including a DVD and a DVD image, and grabs audio from sources as well, including MPEG audio tracks. You'll then be able to output a digital file in a variety of formats, including MPEG-4, AVI, OGM for video, or AAC, MP3, and Ogg Vorbis for audio. There are some very nice extras in here, such as being able to select individual DVD chapters, grabbing subtitles, and more. You get plenty of control over your recording, including selecting the bit rate, maximum file size for video, and bit rate and sample rate for audio.
Download - http://handbrake.m0k.org/?page_id=8RogueScannerThink your home or small office wireless network is safe? This free program is a great way to find out. Run it on a PC attached to your network via Ethernet. (The program won't work in Windows Vista, so you'll need Windows XP.) When you run it, it immediately does a network scan, finding the wireless and wired devices attached to it. For each device, it lists the unique MAC address (a kind of serial number), the IP address, the manufacturer if it can figure it out, and model number if it can find that. It also tells you what kind of device it is, such as a router, printer, PC, and so on. And it will also flag any suspect devices it finds. Simply compare the information it finds to what you know of your network. If there are any wireless devices connected that you don't know about, you may have an intruder.
Download - http://www.networkchemistry.com/products/roguescanner.phpClamWin Free AntivirusIf you want a clean, mean piece of antivirus software that does just one thing--protect against viruses--you'll want this program. It has a small footprint, and doesn't take up much system resources. It will scan your entire hard disk at once for viruses and spyware, or can scan individual files and folders. It also includes a Microsoft Outlook add-in to remove virus-infected attachments automatically from your e-mail. The program has one drawback, though: It doesn't include real-time virus protection.
Download - http://www.clamwin.com/content/view/18/46/FileZillaFTP transfer is the simplest way to transfer files between PCs, or between a PC and a server. It's especially useful for transferring large files, because ISPs often block e-mail attachments over a certain size. FileZilla has just about every FTP feature you need. It's a breeze to set up and edit new FTP connections.The interface is particularly easy to use, so that you can easily navigate external FTP servers and your local hard drive, and transfer files between them. You can also use multiple simultaneous connections to speed up file transfers.
Download - http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=21558TrueCryptDo you have files that you want to keep safe from prying eyes? Then you need this program. It lets you create special, encrypted volumes on the fly, and then place files in those volumes. It uses powerful encryption technology to keep them safe. This program differs from just about any other encryption program you've used, because of the unique way it creates volumes and protects data. When you save a file to an encrypted volume, you're actually saving it to RAM, rather than to disk, making it even more difficult for anyone to view the volumes or files. When you turn off your PC, the files become inaccessible, but are encrypted and stored on disk. When you turn your PC back on, you have to remount the volume and type in a password for them to be visible to you again.
Download - http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php7-Zip7-Zip offers you considerable power over compressed archive creation and extraction, including several different archive formats and compression methods and levels, and lets you create encrypted, password-created archives. The interface is quite configurable, and can even create a two-pane view, which is rare in archiving programs.
Download - http://www.7-zip.org/AbiWordIf you've got straightforward word processing chores, including inserting and handling images, you'll want this freebie. It features a simple, straightforward interface; you won't need to spend hours trying to wrangle your way through ribbons or multi-level menus. What you need is right in front of you: simple icons and menus line the top of the page, with no clutter. You'll most likely be surprised by the amount of features this free word processor packs in. For example, it handles mail merges; will insert pages numbers, date and time; supports other auto text functions; and has some very nice tools for handling tables. Use this program enough, and you'll find that it's not just a money-saver, but a time-saver as well, because of its utter simplicity.
Download - http://www.abisource.com/download/DOSBoxIf you're a retro kind of guy or gal, you've likely been frustrated by your inability to play old DOS-based games. DOS is long gone from Windows--dosthe command prompt inside Windows isn't truly DOS anymore. Many old games simply won't run from the Windows command prompt. They need true blue DOS. You can't buy DOS any more, but you can get the free DOSBox, which does a great job of emulating it. Install and run the program, then run any DOS game--or DOS application, for that matter--inside it. When you run DOSBox, it automatically sets any sound-system related variables, so that your sound system will work properly with your old games.
Download - http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/download.php?main=1&begaming_website_session=cf08526e49457212ddf5159d624b2a49eMuleContrary to popular belief, not all file-sharing clients are filled with adware or spyware. This file-sharing program lets you search for, download, and share files with others. It's exceedingly popular, and so there are a vast number of files available to you. In fact, it's the most downloaded file of all time from the Open Source site SourceForge.net. It has all the features you'd expect in a file-sharing client, including some very nice logging and reporting. Note that some firewall programs will block this program from making an Internet connection, so make sure to configure your firewall to give it access.
Download - http://www.emule-project.net/home/perl/general.cgi?l=1&rm=downloadAresHere's another P2P file-sharing program, and although it's not as popular as eMule, many people will find it easier to use. The interface is cleaner than eMule's, it's easier to figure out how to search for files and download them, and it also will download files using BitTorrent, which is probably the most popular file-sharing protocol today. Also useful is that the program includes a built-in media player, as well as chat capabilities and a built-in Web browser.
Download - http://aresgalaxy.sourceforge.net/FeedReaderThis very good, simple RSS reader does everything you want a reader to do--it makes it simple to subscribe to feeds, manage your feeds, download podcasts, and more. Particularly helpful is that it includes an auto discovery feature that will find feeds on any Web page, and subscribe you to them. This reader has plenty of extras as well, such as keyboard shortcuts, the capability to search through all of your feeds, and support for running the program from a USB flash drive. Note that this version of FeedReader is Open Source, but there is a newer version, which is freeware, but not Open Source.
Download - http://www.oldapps.com/FeedReader.phpK-MeleonMost of the world is familiar with the Open Source browser Firefox. But Firefox isn't the only Open Source browser out there. K-Meleon is a return to the days of lean, mean browsers. It's fast and lightweight, so won't take up much memory, and loads pages quickly. The browser is built on top of the Gecko engine, which Mozilla uses for Firefox. It gives you all the features you've come to expect in a modern browser, including tabbed browsing, and some nice extras as well. The browser can also be customized easily.
Download -http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/download.phpStellariumWhether you're a hard-core astronomy buff, or are just a part-time stargazer, you'll find something in this astronomy program for you. It displays whatever celestial objects you want, including stars, planets, nebulae, and constellations, and will display the sky in various grids and from different points of view. Click on any object to get details about it. Celestial objects move across the sky; you can have them move in excruciatingly slow real-time, or else speed them up. Overall, this is a beautiful and visually arresting program. It will draw pictures of the constellations, label them, and even let you change whether you want to see the night sky in darkness, or with some ambient light.
Download - http://www.stellarium.org/PidginPidgin is a simple universal messenger that lets you communicate with multiple IM networks from a single client. You'll be able to connect to AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN, ICQ, and many others. Also useful is that you can also get access to plenty of free plug-ins, including ones that can store a history of your IMs, store notes about buddies, and other handy functions. You may have heard of this program under a different name; until recently it was called GAIM.
Download - http://pidgin.im/pidgin/download/Do you have any favourite Open Source products to add to this list? Feel free to post them here!!
I hope you all find this useful.
