Freeware roundup (windows)
There is a lot of great freeware out there, and these programs are the ones you should have on every computer you own.
1. Mozilla Firefox
With great add-on capabilities and a good feature set, this browser wins in my opinion. While it may not be the fastest, the add-ons make up for it. You can block ads, change appearances, block flash/javascript, sync bookmarks and history, and even download youtube videos.
2. Paint.net
Fantastic image editor with most of the functions of photoshop elements. Add a bit of awesome sauce and there you go.
3. Audacity
Record a podcast, a song, or whatever you want.Audacity is an opensource audio editor that is very easy to use, although to export MP3s you have to download the LAME MP3 codec (also free). Audacity won’t do m4a or wma formats, only WAV or MP3 which is kind of annoying.
4. VLC Media player
Utilitarian media player. Very small size (17MB). Plays EVERYTHING I have thrown at it so far + CDs/DVDs, Capture cards, and network streams.
5. Open Office
Microsoft office clone that is also opensource. Has all the cool stuff like spreadsheets, word processing, slideshows, databases, math calculations. Large download (around 120MB)