Free, powerful Windows programs

Here are some of my favorite Open Source Software programs that are available on both Linux and Windows - open and for free. Try it - delete it if you dont like or keep it an be happy

If you are still not convinced, or want more information about the advantages of Open Source Software, please have a quick look at this website here that explains “why to make the move” towards Open Source Software, be it on Windows or Linux.

If you are looking for a open source alternative for a specific program, check out osalt.com - a very useful website that offers an overview of Open source replacements for proprietary software.

Office & Productivity:
• OpenOffice - a very powerful complete office suite, based on StarOffice. Fully MS Office compatible, build-in PDF print functionality and much more. An enhanced version is OxygenOffice - it contains additional cliparts, templates and fonts and goes far beyond everything MS Office offers.

  

• PDF Printer - a nice tool that, once installed, allows you to “print” directly into a PDF file instead of your printer from every application. Extremely useful, if you do not use OpenOffice (which can natively export to PDF format)
• AbiWord - a slick and fast text processor, complete enough for all the typical requirements for a wordprocessor. There a many plugins available to enhance the functionality on a modular basis. Can import and export Word-Files.
• The Gimp - Photoshop-like Swiss Army knife for image manipulation of all kind. Extremely powerful program, can be used even in professional environments for most tasks of professional image manipulation.
• Inkscape - a very powerful page layout program comparable to Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, Coreldraw or Xara.
• TurboCash - Powerful and adaptable accounting software · Multi-lingual · Country Specific Accounts · Fully featured · Full Stock Control · XML Export and Import · T-Account Viewer · Advanced Search Engine · Easy Backup/Restore · VAT/GST Accounting
• 7-Zip - an archive utility like WinZip, but faster and without any license restriction for free commercial use. Very fast, supports nearly all compression and archive formats that you can think of. Integrates perfectly into Windows Explorer, very much like WinZip.

Internet:

• Firefox - the famous, secure and stable web browser. Slick and fast, superior in every aspect to MS Internet Explorer.

  

• Thunderbird - E-Mail client, with many features. If you do not trust Outlook (and you shouldn’t), try this superb E-Mailer

  

• GAIM - a multi protocol instant messanger (IM), compatible to the most open (Google Talk, Jabber) and proprietary formats (ICQ, AOL Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, even MSN Messenger)
• Mozilla - a complete Internet suite, consisting of the famous Mozilla browser (formerly known as Netscape), an E-Mail client, HTML-Editor and a news-reader.
• NVU - a very powerful and convenient WYSIWYG-Webpage-Editor, well suited for beginners that want to setup a webpage without knowing too much about HTML. Comparable to Dreamweaver.
• EasyPHP - a complete package that even allows beginners easily to set up their own secure webserver (Apache), using the mighty PHP-Scriptlanguage (no fear - you dont need to know any commands) and the famous MySQL database together with the convenient PHPMyadmin Interface that allows the setup with a few mousecklicks, all on one CD.
• OpenWengo - forget Skype, go OpenWengo! OpenWengo is a free OpenSource Internet phone software that allows you to place phone calls using the SIP standard to other SIP software users and to public phone networks. In addition, and here it beats the ***** out of Skype, you can talk to many Instant Messenger users (MSN, AOL, Yahoo etc.!!!!). Wengo, the company behind OpenWengo is a subsidiary of the group neufcegetel, a french telecom carrier, so expect a very professional and powerful software. Rate for calls to landlines in Europe is 1 Cent a minutes, VAT included, Internet calls are free, of course.

Multimedia:

• VideoLanClient (VLC) - the most powerful media player on earth. There is virtually NO codec/format unknown to this player. Plays DVD, movies, sound files, internet streams etc. in nearly all open and proprietary formats. Nothing comes close to this media player - forget about Windows Mediaplayer!
  



• MPlayer - also a very powerful and versatile Mediaplayer that plays nearly all open and proprietary formats. There are highly optimized versions for specific CPUs (AMD-64, AMD Athlon, VIA etc.) available.
• MediaPortal - MediaPortal is an open source Media Center application ideal for turning your PC / TV into a very advanced Media Center. MediaPortal allows you to listen to your favorite music & radio, watch and store your videos and DVDs, view, schedule and record live TV as a digital video recorder and much much more.

A compilation of some of the best free programs can be obtained as a CD here, at the OpenDisk projekt.

You may also check out the Looplist, another list of free, but very good programs for Windows, maintained by the UbuntuLinux community. Or go to the OSSwin project pages on Sourceforge, they have the largest collection of free open source programs for Microsoft Windows.