Our list of the best freeware and open source software
Do you really want to pay for software if you can get equally useful and powerful packages for free?
These are some of the best software utilities that we've come across and they are all available for downloading - free of charge!
Web browsers
Internet Explorer has become such a target for malicious exploits that it is now a major security risk. These alternatives pose much less of a security risk and are equally competent.
- Mozilla Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
- Opera: http://www.opera.com/
Email clients
- Mozilla Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird
Search toolbars
Search toolbars allow users to do web searches without having to go first to the home page of a search engine.
- Yahoo Toolbar: http://toolbar.yahoo.com/ie
- Dave's Quick Search Deskbar: http://www.dqsd.net/
- Google Desktop: http://toolbar.google.com/deskbar/
To protect yourself from malicious exploits, it is no longer enough just to run an anti-virus package. You should seriously consider additional browser and email protection against spam, adware, spyware and trojans.
Spam filters
- Mailwasher: http://www.mailwasher.net
- xTerminator: http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/xterminator.htm
- POPFile: http://popfile.sourceforge.net/old_index.html
Anti-virus software
- AVG Anti-Virus: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
- Avast: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
- AntiVir: http://www.free-av.com
- BitDefender: http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html
Adware/spyware removers
- WindowsDefender: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
- Ad-Aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
- Spybot: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Browser protection utilities
- SpywareBlaster: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
- SpywareGuard: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
Firewalls
- Kerio: http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm
- ZoneAlarm: http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
- Sygate: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/sygatefw.html
- Safety.Net: http://www.netveda.com/consumer/safetynet.htm
Trojan scanners and removers
- Ewido: http://www.ewido.net/en/
Software suites
TheOpenCD is a collection of high quality free and open source software. The programmes run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such as word processing, presentations, e-mail, web browsing, web design, and image manipulation.. Many of these freebies substitute admirably for expensive commercial products.
- TheOpenCD: http://theopencd.org
Desktop search utilities
- Yahoo Desktop: http://desktop.yahoo.com
- Google Desktop: http://desktop.google.com
Image viewers
Image viewers can typically read and display up to 400 types of graphic files and convert any of these to over 50 formats. Pictures are displayed very quickly and these may be viewed full screen, as slideshows or thumbnails.
- IrfanView: http://www.irfanview.com/
- FastStone: http://www.faststone.org
Download services
Looking for more? Try these services for the downloading of thousands of freeware and shareware software.
- Tucows: http://www.tucows.com/
- Download.com: http://www.download.com/