Tools and freebies!

I've been thinking about doing this for some time...there are tons of great freeware apps and websites out there that you can use to do just about anything. OK, maybe not anything...but a lot.

I've really gotten excited recently about open source and freeware apps, and I've compiled this list of my favorites. Most of these I use frequently, and some are just really handy to keep around for when you'll need them.

Remember, ALL OF THESE ARE FREE!


On-line services/apps:

• Let's start with my most-used online app: Gmail. I use this as my main e-mail client (besides my work address), and it has a lot of great features for on-the-go folks. It's fast, has plenty of room for storage, and I can get to it from any machine with Internet access. I'm always telling folks with ISP e-mails to use something like Gmail. When you change ISP's, you lose your e-mail address, but with an independent e-mail app like Gmail you don't have that problem. To become a Gmail power user, try this list of tips. (If you don't have a Gmail account and would like one, just let me know. I've got tons of invites I haven't used yet.) A bonus with Gmail is the built-in chat client where you can chat with other Gmail users. (Or you can install the Gtalk app and do the same thing).
  

• Keeping with Google products, I also use their Calendar for all my scheduling needs. Michelle and I share our calendars with each other and often send each other invites to events, so we can keep track of everything that's going on in our busy lives.
  

• Yet another Google product: Google Spreadsheets. A newer service, this allows me to create spreadsheets online and collaborate with other folks (or simply allow them to view them). I make out a schedule in spreadsheet format for our band at church, and let all the band members have access to view it online. Instead of sending out a "corrected" spreadsheet every week with changes, they can go online and view the most recent version at any time.

• I wish Google had a word processor app as well, but they don't (yet). For now, I use Writely to create and collaborate on word processor documents. You'll need to create a free account, but they won't spam you.

• Gliffy is a web-based Visio-like diagram maker. It doesn't have a lot of features or symbols yet, but it's good for a quick, simple diagram. (Works similar to Google Spreadsheets and Writely above.)
  

• del.icio.us is great for storing and tagging all of your favorite places on-line. It's so much more than that, though. I used to save every neat website into my browser Favorites, but that got so bloated I couldn't find anything. Now I just chunk everything cool I come across into del.icio.us (via their browser buttons or this Firefox extension) and tag it. Save stuff or find new stuff on their front page. If you've already tried it out, then go here or here to learn about becoming a power user. (My del.icio.us username is 'bluesfella' if you want to see any of my bookmarks.)
  

• Flickr is a great place to host your pictures, or find great shots from around the world. You can also do some pretty neat stuff with them (see bennage.com for an example of Flickr's neat little badge, or go here for some fun tools).

• If you need to remotely control your home PC, I haven't found anything better than LogMeIn.com so far. Install a small service on your home PC, then from any web browser you can log into your machine and control it as if you were sitting there. It also handles multiple monitors very well. Some of the extra features (like file transfer) cost money, but the free version is all I need. To get around the file transfer limitation, I log into my PC, bring up Gmail, and mail the file to myself.
  

• You can also use this guide to UltraVNC to setup a free one-click VNC server you can e-mail to a family member that needs you to fix their machine remotely. I would use LogMeIn.com (see above) for a permanent solution, but this seems like a good one-time fix.
  

• Need to send a file to someone that's too big for e-mail? Try either SendThisFile.com or GigaSize.com.
  

Installable apps:

• The number one, most important, "you-need-to-use-this" app is Firefox. More secure and just better all-around than Internet Explorer. If you are still on IE, switch now...you won't regret it. (Current Firefox users need to watch this for amusement.)

• I use three different computers regularly (home PC, work PC, and laptop), so I like my Firefox bookmarks to be the same across the board. I use Foxmarks to keep them updated. If I add or delete a bookmark on any of my machines, the changes are duplicated to my other machines within minutes. Combine this with del.icio.us, and you'll never lose a favorite!

• Don't have Microsoft Office, but need an Office suite? Try OpenOffice.org. It's a free, downloadable Office suite with a ton of features. I've just now started using it, but I haven't yet found anything I can't do that I could in MS Office. And it's compatible with your current Office documents.
  

• With all of these sites and services that require their own logins, you should use a password manager to keep them safe and secure. You should never use the same username/password at multiple sites, but that can get pretty confusing after a while. Try KeePass, it's an Open Source password safe. You put all of your username/password combos in here, assign one master password, then lock it down.

• Speaking of security, if you have sensitive information that you want to keep secure, there is a PGP alternative called TrueCrypt. I haven't used it yet, but all the reviews I've seen so far look good. (And it's free, PGP is not.)

• CCleaner is a good program for cleaning your machine of temp files, cookies, and other detritus that collects on your system over time. I wouldn't use their registry cleaner (there are better programs out there for that), but I use the main features pretty often to clean up the dust...

• For free virus software, I've used both AVG and AntiVir. I think I like AVG a little better, but it's a toss-up as to which one protects your system best. Do some Google searches and you can find lots of comparisons between the two.

• For spyware problems, I use a combination of Windows Defender (which protects in real-time), Ad-Aware, and Spybot Search and Destroy. Be sure to keep the definitions updated on each of these products, and run them regularly. Combined with a better browser (FireFox!) and good virus protection, these apps will help keep you a little safer.
  

• If you are still using Outlook Express for e-mail, you really should try Thunderbird. Just like Firefox vs. IE, Thunderbird has more features and is more secure than Outlook Express. I use it occasionally to check my work e-mail from home.

• Have a CD or DVD burner, but don't have/don't like the pay-for-use burning software out there? I use CDBurnerXP Pro. Works great.

• Need an FTP client? Try FileZilla.

• Foxit is a smaller, faster, and lighter PDF reader. In my experience, it works much faster and better than Acrobat's reader. Less bloated, too!

• Need a good media player that will play most types of media without giving you constant codec errors like Windows Media Player does? VLC is the player for you. If you have a video file that won't play in whatever media player you have now, give it a shot.
  

• If you want to do some hard-core photo editing or artwork and you can't afford Photoshop, try GIMPShop or Paint.NET.
  

• Irfanview is a very fast image viewer...also has a few editing features and a batch edit mode that I use to resize large batches of images at once.
  

• I've just started using Picasa to keep track of all the pictures on my hard drive(s). I've got literally tons of them, and this app helps me keep track of them, get rid of duplicates, etc. The tagging feature is nice, too. (And it's from Google!)
  

• For a cool 3D modeling tool, try Blender. I haven't used this one myself yet, but I've heard it's pretty good.

• TurboCASH is a free app for managing personal finances. (Jeremy uses GnuCash, but it's not available for Windows users.)

• Audacity is a great sound editor, if you like that sort of thing.
  

• I love BitTorrent, and only use Azureus as my download manager. It's got more features than you probably need, but I love it. There are a lot of simpler BitTorrent clients out there (like the standard no-frills BitTorrent downloader) if you don't need the extra features.
  

Have an iPod?

• Yamipod is a freeware app that you can use to bypass iTunes. You can also copy music to and FROM your iPod.

• I've been using SharePod to so the same thing, but the developer hasn't been able to keep up with the iPod's newest features. It still works great on my non-video iPod, and it's the app I still use today.

• For iPod photos and newer, you can use iPod-directions to download photo maps to your iPod.

• You can find lots of cool portable apps for iPods and memory sticks at portableapps.com. Portable versions of OpenOffice, Firefox, Filezilla, etc. Lots of cool stuff that you can run right from your iPod/memory stick. Quite a few of the programs I mentioned in this post are available as a portable app here.
  

• Even more portable apps can be found here and here.

• Once you have all of those portable apps on your iPod, you can use the Remora USB launcher to launch all of your apps and favorites. Looks pretty slick.

If this isn't enough for you, you can find much more exhaustive lists of free software here, here, here, and here.

And if you want to get serious about free software, you might want to look at the Free Software Foundation.

Add your comments and let me know the free apps you use most, especially if they aren't on this list. I will try and add more as I come across them.