• Best freeware and open source Best Desktop Tools and Office

1. OpenOffice.org free productivity suite *****

2. AbiWord Free Word processing *****

3. PrestoNotes Desktop Notes

4. TurboNotes - Sticky notes

5. StyckyPad - Sticky notes

6. Stickies - Sticky notes

7. DBDesigner Database

8. CutePDF Writer PDF Software

9. GanttProject 2.0 project management

10. AceMoney Lite Financial Management

11. Grisbi 0.5.7 personal finance manager

12. NeoMem Personal Information Manager

13. Programmers Notepad 2.0.6.1 text editor with special features for coders

14. Notepad++ Notepad Replacement

15. Notepad2 1.0.12 text editor

16. o3find 0.82 Full Text Search for OpenOffice.org documents.

17. ConvertAll 0.3.1 Unit Conversion program

18. Wikidpad 1.1.6 Wiki-like notebook

19. TreeLine 0.14.1 Free Word processing

20. Tinyspell Spelling Tools

21. Wordweb Thesaurus*****

22. TheSage Thesaurus*****

23. ReplaceEm Text Tools

24. PagePlus SE - Free Desktop Publishing Software

25. Hyperwords *****

26. Wikipedia -the best site around

27. Google Desktop

28. Yahoo! Desktop Search

29. Copernic Desktop Search 1.63

30. WriteBoard Create, edit, and share documents in your browser

31. Groove Virtual Office Online file-sharing and collaboration tool

32. dotWidget 1.0

33. iColorFolder 1.4.2***** Change the color of your folders

34. BB4Win Shell replacement

35. A43 File Management Utility Replace explorer

36. Brico Packs Desktop enhancement*****

37. CursorXp Freeware****

38. WindowsBlinds Free version****

39. BootSkin Freeware****

40. ThemeManager Freeware version****

41. LogonXp****

• Best Browsers - Best Email clients - Best FTP - Proxy-P2P- Best News readers

1. Firefox *****

2. Avant ****

3. Maxthon*****

4. Opera *****

5. Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 *****

6. Pegasus Mail

7. FileZilla 2.2.18 ftp

8. SmartFTP 2.0.995.3 ftp

9. Hmailserver 4.1.1-Build-140

10. HTTrack Website Copier 3.40 -offline browser utility

11. FlashGot -downloader

12. Privoxy -web proxy*****

13. Tor - anonymous Internet communication system*****

14. LimeWire p2p

15. Bittorrent p2p

16. FolderShare (Windows) sharing

17. Flickr *****

18. Feedreader ****

19. GreatNews Rss Reader

• Best Antivirus Best Firewall Best Adware/Spyware Popups

1. AVG free (antivirus)*****

2. Avast (antivirus)****

3. Bitdefender 8 Free Edition(antivirus)

4. ClamWin Free AntiVirus 0.88

5. Comodo AntiVirus

6. AntiVir PersonalEdition

7. ZoneAlarm free (firewall)*****

8. Comodo Personal Firewall

9. Ashampoo Firewall free

10. Sunbelt Kerio (firewall)(after 30 days becomes freeware)

11. Outpost Firewall (firewall)

12. SoftPerfect Personal Firewall

13. Jetico Firewall

14. GRC Shields Up

15. All-in-One Secretmaker

16. Comodo AntiSpam

17. Lavasoft Ad-aware *****

18. Spybot *****

19. Windows defender ****

20. SpywareBlaster****

21. Trend Micro HouseCall

22. HijackThis 1.99.1

• Best Online Antivirus scanners

1. BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan (requires ActiveX)

2. Computer Associates eTrust Antivirus Web Scanner

3. Freedom Online Virus Check

4. F-Secure Online Virus Scanner

5. Kaspersky Online Scanner (scanner requires ActiveX)

6. McAfee FreeScan

7. Panda ActiveScan

8. RAV Antivirus (scans a file)

9. Symantec security and virus checks (scanner requires ActiveX)

10. Trend Micro HouseCall (requires use of a setup program for Netscape browsers)

11. Virus Total (scans a file)

12. Pc Pitstop *****

• Best Web based mail

1. Gmail ****

2. Yahoo Mail *****

3. MSN Hotmail ***

4. AIM Mail ****

5. Inbox Mail *****

6. MyWay Mail**

7. Fastmail***

8. 30gigs**

9. HushMail

10. Walla Mail

11. Goowy Mail

• Best Burning Software

1. CDBurnerXP Pro

2. Deep Burner

3. BurnAtOnce

4. ImgBurn

5. DVD Shrink

6. LC ISO Creator

7. Daemon Tools CD disk image virtual drive

• Best Graphics

1. GIMP 2.2.10*****

2. Paint.NET 2.6*****

3. Blender 2.41 *****

4. Inkscape 0.43 *****

5. PhotoFiltre *****

6. PhotoPlus 6****

7. DrawPlus 4 - Free Graphic Design and Vector Drawing Software

8. 3DPlus 2 - Free 3D Animation and modeling Software

9. IrfanView

10. PhotoVista Panorama

11. Tux Typing 2 1.5.3

12. Fast Stone Capture - image capture

13. Fast Stone Photo Resizer

• Best Html Editors - Best CSS Editors - Best PHP

1. Nvu 1.0 *****

2. HTML-Kit*****

3. Cascade DTP

4. Dev-PHP IDE

5. DHE Editor

6. WebPlus 6 - Free Web Site Design & Publishing Software

7. Alleycode

8. TopStyle Lite 3.10****

9. 1stPage HTML Editor

10. PhpDesigner 2006

• Best Blog desktop publishers

1. Qumana

2. Windows Live Writer

3. BlogDesk

• Best Sound - Best Video- Best Music Organizers

1. Audacity 1.2.4b Free sound editor *****

2. Gungirl Sequencer 0.3.1 Sequencer

3. Hydrogen 0.9.4-svn Advanced Drum Machine

4. wxMusik 0.4.2.2 An open-source, cross-platform multimedia player and library.

5. VirtualDub 1.6.14 VirtualDub is a video capture/processing utility

6. MusikCube 1.0RC2 Music “library” application similar to iTunes

7. CoolPlayer build 215 Audio Player similar to Winamp

8. Media Player Classic 6.4.9.0 Media Player Classic is an all-in-one video player

9. Foobar2000 Media player

10. Audiograbber Rip music from cd

11. iTunes Player/Organizer

12. Yahoo! Music Jukebox

13. Kristal Audio Engine

14. Pandora Listen music online

15. Audiri Listen music online

• Best Calendars - Best Organizers

1. Chaos Manager Organizers

2. Google Picasa Photo organizer

3. Fast Stone Image Viewer ( browser,converter,editor)

4. Rainlendar 0.22.1 Calendar

5. Yahoo Calendar

6. Chandler calendar

7. Yahoo Widgets

8. Ta-Da List

9. Del.icio.us bookmarking

10. SyncNotes

11. FreeMind -mapping

12. Furl bookmarking

13. XnView organizer

• Best IM and Telephony

1. Trillian Basic

2. Skype

3. QNext

4. Google Talk

5. Gaim

6. Miranda IM

7. Yahoo! Messenger

8. MSN Messenger

• Best Blogging tools

1. WordPress*****

2. Blogger ****

3. LiveJournal

4. Xanga Classic

5. Blogsome

6. Typolis

• Best System Tools

Tweak,repair,delete recover,view, manage your Windows

1. Advanced Windows Care (tweak, repair and fix windows errors)

2. RegToy - tweak and manage xp

3. TuneXP - system tuneup*****(all in one speedup)

4. PCTuner 6.2.8 - pc tunning

5. Optimizer XP - tweaks and speeds up slow computers

6. TweakUI - computer tweaking

7. X-Setup -last free version -tweaking

8. Safe Xp - tweaks various security and privacy settings in XP

9. Freecommander 2004 -file manager

10. Cacheman- memory management

11. PC Inspector File Recovery

12. WinDirStat 1.1.2 disk usage statistics

13. Virtual Magnifying Glass v2.36 screen magnification

14. TaskSwitchXP 2.09

15. Startup Control Panel -startup

16. Advanced Disk Cleaner disk cleaner

17. Process Explorer -system monitoring

18. Eraser -secure deletion

19. Driver Cleaner drive cleaning

20. Starter-startup management

21. Autoruns-startup management

22. CPU-Z system information

23. Undelete recover lost files

24. XP Syspad Windows system utility

• Archive

1. 7-Zip 4.32 file archiver

2. Izarc file archiver

3. ZipGenious file archiver

4. TUGZip file archiver

• Encrypt

1. TrueCrypt 4.1 encryption

2. AxCrypt 1.6.2.3 encryption

3. Cryptainer LE disk encryption

4. KeePass 1.04 password storage

• Registry

1. Registry Commander -reg. editor

2. Erunt -reg tools

3. TweakNow RegCleaner Standard

4. RegClean

5. Regseeker -reg cleaner****

6. Regcleaner reg cleaner ****

7. NTREGOPT -registry optimization

8. CCleaner 1.27.260 - Crap Cleaner *****- reg cleaner, disk cleaner ,uninstaller

• Backup, Defragment,Syncronize,Unlock,Indentify

1. WinDriversBackup - driver backup

2. FullSync 0.9.1 file synchronization and backup

3. Comodo BackUp

4. SyncBack - backup

5. Replicator v3.3.4 backup

6. HDClone Freee Edition -move content from your hard drive

7. PageDefrag - defragmentation tool

8. IObit SmartDefrag - one of the best freeware defrag. tools

9. Diskeeper Lite 7 (last freeware version)

10. GMail Drive 1.0.9

11. Free Download Manager

12. Unlocker

13. SendToAny SendTo menu enhancement

14. Unknown Devices - Hardware identifier

• Web Tools

1. Joomla (cms)

2. XOOPS (cms)

3. Php Wiki

4. Blog CMS

5. MODx (cms)

6. Drupal (cms)

7. JetBox (cms)

8. Simple Machines Forum

9. Php Shop

Office

OpenOffice - office suite
PC Suite 602 - office suite
AbiWord - text editor
Atlantis Nova - text editor
Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer - power point files viewer
Adobe Reader - pdf reader
Foxit PDF Reader - pdf reader
PDFCreator - create pdf documents
Doc Convertor - document convertor
Convert - unit convertor
Converber - unit convertor
Sunbird - calendar/organizer
EssentialPIM Free - calendar/organizer
PhraseExpress - speed up your writing
ATnotes - create notes on the desktop

Archive managers

7-Zip - compression program
IZArc - compression program
TugZIP - compression program
CabPack - compression program
Universal Extractor - extract files from any type of archive

Internet

Firefox - web browser
Internet Explorer- web browser
Maxthon - web browser
Opera - web browser
Avant Browser - web browser
Thunderbird - email client
PopTray - check for emails
Free Download Manager - download manager
FlashGet - download manager
WellGet - download manager
Download Master - download manager
WGET - commandline download manager
HTTrack - offline browser
WebReaper - offline browser
Yeah Reader - RSS reader
GreatNews - RSS reader
RSSOwl - RSS reader

P2P

µTorrent - torrent client
Azureus - torrent client
BitComet - torrent client
ABC - torrent client
BitTornado - torrent client
eMule - p2p client
SoulSeek - p2p client
Shareaza - p2p client
DC++ - Direct Connect network client
PeerGuardian - IP blocker

Chat

Miranda - chat client
MSN Messenger - chat client
Yahoo Messenger - chat client
QIP - chat client
Gaim - chat client
JAJC - chat client
HydraIRC - IRC client
Talkative IRC - IRC client
IceChat - IRC client
Skype - VOIP client
Google Talk - VOIP client
VoipStunt - VOIP client
Gizmo - VOIP client
Wengo - VOIP client

Security

AVG Free - antivirus
Avast Home Free - antivirus
AntiVir PersonalEdition - antivirus
BitDefender Free - antivirus
ClamWin - antivirus
CyberDifender - Internet Security Suite
Ad-aware - anti-spyware
Spybot: Search & Destroy - anti-spyware
Windows Defender - anti-spyware
SpywareBlaster - anti-spyware
Spyware Terminator - anti-spyware
Tootkit Reveaker - rootkit detection utility
Winpooch - system protection
HiJack Free - system protection
HighJackThis - hijackers detector and remover
Kerio Personal Firewall - firewall
Sygate Personal Firewall - firewall
ZoneAlarm - firewall
AxCrypt - file encryption
Simple File Shredder - securely delete files
PuTTy - SSH client
KeePass - password manager
LockNote - password manager
nPassword - password manager
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer - identify security misconfigurations

Network

Hamachi - VPN client
RealVNC - remote control
UltraVNC - remote control
Ethereal - local area network administration
The Dude - network administration
Wireshark - network administration
Angry IP Scanner - IP scanner
IP-Tools - IP scanner
Free Port Scanner - IP scanner
NetMeter - network bandwidth monitoring

Servers

FileZilla - FTP client
FileZilla Server - FTP server
EFTP - FTP client/server
XAMPP - integrated server package of Apache, mySQL, PHP and Perl
WAMP - Apache, PHP5 and MySQL server

Audio

Foobar2000 - audio player
WinAmp - audio player
1by1 - audio player
JetAudio - audio player
XMPlay - audio player
Xion - audio player
Apollo - audio player
MediaMonkey - music organizer
The GodFather - music organizer
dBpowerAMP - audio converter
Audacity - audio converter
WavePad - audio converter
Kristal Audio Engine - audio editor
Exact Audio Copy - CD ripper
Audiograbber - CD ripper
CDex - CD ripper
Mp3 Tag Tools - tag editor
Mp3tag - tag editor
Taggin’ MP3 - tag editor
Monkey’s Audio - APE compressor/decompressor
mpTrim - mp3 editor
WavTrim - wave editor
EncSpot Basic - analyse mp3 files

Video

Windows Media Player - audio/video player
VLC - video player
Media Player Classic - video player
MV2Player - video player
CrystalPlayer 1.95 - video player
Zoom Player - video player
GOM Player - video player
viPlay - video player
DSPlayer - video player
VirtualDub - video editor
CamStudio - video screen recording
AviSplit - Avi splitter
Video mp3 Extractor - rip audio from video files
Free iPod Converter - convert all popular video formats to iPod video
MediaPortal - turning your PCinto a Media Center
The FilmMachine

Image

Gimp - image editor
PhotoFiltre - image editor
Paint.net - image editor
ArtRage - image editor
Artweaver - image editor
IrfanView - image viewer
Picasa - image viewer
XnView - image viewer
FastStone Image Viewer - image viewer
FuturixImager - image viewer
Easy Thumbnails - create thumbnails from images
JoJoThumb - create thumbnails from images
iWebAlbum - create web photo albums
JAlbum - create web photo albums
3D Box Shot Maker - design quality box shot
FastStone Capture - screen capture
WinSnap - screen capture

3D

Blender3D - 3D renderer
3Delight Free - 3D renderer
SketchUp - 3D modeling
Maya Learning Edition - 3D modeling

Developers

AutoIt - task automation
SciTE4AutoIt3 - text editor for AutoIt
AutoHotkey - task automation
PHP Designer - PHP editor
Notepad++ - text editor
ConTEXT Editor - text editor
PSPad - text editor
FoxEditor - text editor
Crimson Editor - source code editor
Elfima Notepad - text editor
Notepad2 - text editor
Nvu - HTML editor
Alleycode - HTML editor
BlockNote - web page editor
Weaverslave - web page editor

CD/DVD

DeepBurner - CD/DVD burner
CDBurner XP Pro - CD/DVD burner
BurnAtOnce - CD/DVD burner
Express Burn - CD/DVD burner
Zilla CD-DVD Rip’n’Burn - CD/DVD burner
ImgBurn - ISO, BIN burner
Daemon tools - virtual CD/DVD
DVD Decrypter - DVD ripper
DVD Shrink - DVD ripper
Nero CD-DVD Speed - CD/DVD info and quality test

Codecs

GSpot - codec information
AC3Filter - audio codec
Xvid - video codec
QuickTime Alternative - video codec
Real Alternative - video codec
K-Lite Codec Pack - all codecs

System Ulilities

CCleaner - system cleaner
xp-AntiSpy - OS setup
jv16 Powertools - system utilities
XP SysPad - system monitoring utility
What’s Running - process guard
Registrar Lite - registry editor
WinIPConfig - replacement for “ipconfig.exe” and “route.exe”
Unlocker - file eraser
Eraser - secure file eraser
Undelete Plus - file recovery
freeCommander - file manager
ExplorerXP - file manager
Duplicate File Finder - find all duplicate files
Ant Renamer - file renaming
ReNamer - file renaming
Icons From File - icos extractor
Chaos MD5 - MD5 generator
HashTab - MD5, SHA1 and CRC-32 file hashes
Rainlendar Lite - desktop calendar
Weather Watcher - weather firecast
Subtitle Workshop - subtitles editor
Ant Movie Catalog - movie organizer
Disclib - CD organizer
Dexpot - virtual desktops
DriveImage XML - create partition images
MozBackup - backup and restore bookmarks, etc.
SyncBack - system backup
Atomic Cock Sync - syncronize your clock
Citrus Alarm Clock - alarm clock
TaskSwitchXP - Alt-Tab replacement
Launchy - application launcher
allSnap - make all windows snap
Sysinternals Tools - various system tools
StrokeIt - mouse gestures
Net Profiles - create profiles of your network settings
ResourceHacker - view, modify, rename, add, delete
Java Runtime Environment - java for Windows

UI Enhancements

RocketDock - application launcher
AveDesk - desktop enhancer
IconPhile - customize windows’s system icons
CursorXP Free - change mouse cursors
MacSound - volume control
LClock - Windows Longhorn clock
Y’z Dock - application launcher
Y’z Shadow - shadow effect to the windows
Y’z Toolbar - change the toolbar icons in Explorer and Internet Explorer
Taskbar Shuffle - rearrange the programs on the taskbar by dragging
Visual Task Tips - thumbnail preview image for each task in the taskbar
Badges - put badges on any folder or file
Folderico - change icons of the folders
Folder Marker - mark your folders
Folder2MyPC - add favourite locations to My Computer
Microsoft TweakUI - system settings
BricoPacks - shell packs
ShellPacks - shell packs
Tango Shell Patcher - shell patcher
XPize - GUI enhancer
Vista Transformation Pack - complete visual style
Vista Sound Scheme - Windows Vista sound scheme
Royale Theme - visual style

Hardware monitoring/Benchmarking

CPU-Z - cpu information
CrystalCPUID - cpu information
Central Brain Identifier - cpu information
Everest - system information
SiSoft Sandra - system information
SpeedFan - hardware monitor
Memtest86 - memory test
PowerMax - HDD test
3Dmark 06 - 3D game performance benchmark
Aquamark - performance benchmark
rthdribl - 3D benchmark
Fraps - 3D benchmark, fps viewer and screen recorder
Prime 95 - cpu benchmarking
SuperPI - cpu benchmarking
CPU Rightmark - cpu overclock
Core Temp - cpu temperature
ATiTool - video overclock
ATI Tray Tools - Radeon tweaker
aTuner - GeForce and Radeontweaker
RivaTuner - video overclock
Nokia Monitor Test - monitor adjustmets
UDPixel - fix dead pixels

Games

123 Free Solitaire - solitaire games collection
Arcade Pack - classic arcade games
Live For Speed - online racing simulator
Enigma - puzzle game
Freeciv - multiplayer strategy game
Tux Racer - race down steep, snow-covered mountains

Education

SpeQ Mathematics - mathematics program
Dia - diagram creation program
Google Earth - explore the world
NASA World Wind - 3D virtual globe
Celestia - explore the space
Stellarium - planetarium

Miscellaneous

nLite - Build your own custom Windows disk.
VirtualPC - create virtual machines
grabMotion - webcam capture
iDailyDiary - simple page-for-a-day diary
Pivot Stickfigure Animator - create stick-figure animations
Wink - create presentations
Scribus - professional page layout
FreeMind - midn mapping software
Windows Live Writer - WYSIWYG blog authoring