Thanks Zaren for starting this thread. I'm a great fan of freeware. Here are some of my favourites:
Photography-related
1. Noiseware (
http://www.imagenomic.com) - My favourite noise reduction tool, since I shoot at ISO 1600 all the time. In fact I like it so much I've just upgraded to the Standard edition for the batch processing function. Everything fully auto, gives great results.
2. Picasa2 (
http://picasa.google.com/) - What I like is that it allows you to scroll through all the images on your hard disk without having to open individual folders. Useful if you're searching visually for one particular picture.
3. Jalbum (
http://jalbum.net/) - Allows you to build customised and very slick-looking online photo albums. If you don't have a web-hosting site, you can even allow the program to run your computer as a server, to share your photos online with your friends and family.
4. Panorama tools (
http://www.all-in-one.ee/~dersch/) - Photoshop plugin that allows you to add or subtract fisheye and other types of distortion, as well as stitch panoramas. Very powerful and versatile, takes some learning to use. Not as user friendly as, say, Canon Photostitch software. But fantastic for controlling distortion effects.
Small but useful utilities
1. Emeditor free (
http://www.emeditor.com/modules/download2/) - I've been using this as a replacement to the standard Windows txt editor for umpteen years. A lot more powerful and customisable, yet small and compact. Not sure what the latest version looks like, I still have my original install from a very long time ago.
2. Syncback freeware (
http://www.2brightsparks.com/downloads.html#freeware) - Allows you to backup and/or synchronize files between two folders. You can choose exactly what action to take and schedule incremental backups to take place when the computer is not in use. I schedule it to backup all the data files which have been changed onto a second hard disk in my computer. Not the same as ghosting, but close. I also use it to sync data between portable storage and the hard disk when I am transferring data. Very fast.
3. FPexpress (
http://mde1.np.edu.sg/maths/downloads/download.htm) - Back when Microsoft still gave stuff away for free, they released Front Page Express, which is a basic WYSIWYG HTML editor. Very useful for small jobs, clean code, does not add chunks of rubbish like Word or OpenOffice does. For those who want to draw up web pages but don't want to learn HTML, this is the best! Works just like a word processor.
4. Free download manager (
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/) - Very useful for downloading large files (eg freeware!). Works as advertised, you get your download very fast. Some sites don't like it, but works on most sites.
5. Taskbar shuffle (
http://www.freewebs.com/nerdcave/taskbarshuffle.htm) - Very nifty little utility that does exactly what it says. I work with at least 5-6 windows open all the time, and I like to keep my most commonly used task bar buttons on the left. This utility allows me to shift the task bar buttons anywhere I want - just drag them right or left. The Windows default is to make them appear in order of when the tasks were launched. Can't live without this utility.
6.
Google desktop (
http://desktop.google.com/) - Just downloaded and installed this a couple of days ago, and it has already proven very useful. Indexes your hard disk, and allows you to search for any file. Now I don't have to rack my brain to remember which folder I kept which file in. I like the fact that a search box is available by pressing Ctrl key twice. No need to first launch a browser window. The gadgets are cute, but clutter the desktop - I've turned them off.
7. Really slick screensavers (
http://www.reallyslick.com/) - I got bored of the usual screensavers and found this free collection. Really cool. My favourite is Plasma - it's the default screensaver on all my computers.
8. Wavepad (
http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/masters.html) - A sound editor that allows you to edit sound files visually. Very useful for chopping segments out of wav files or mp3 files. Can also do some adjustments to the sound to "clean it up". There's another software from the same authors called Recordpad that allows you to record music from audio sources. Very good also, but not freeware (trial period). I've used these two to digitally immortalise my old cassette tape collection.
Bible software
1. e-Sword (
http://www.e-sword.net/) is a fantastic resource, allowing you to study the Bible alongside many powerful commentaries and dictionaries. The user interface is very friendly and intuitive, and there is a pop-up box when you hover over a word or verse reference, so you can read the verse without even clicking the mouse. They also have a version available for Pocket PC.
2. The Online Bible (
http://www.onlinebible.net/) is an older resource. I've been using it since the days of MS-DOS but they have now come up with a Windows version, of course. The interface is definitely showing its age, being based on old DOS way of doing things. It also does not have Mathew Henry's exhaustive commentary (only the concise version). Its strength, however, is that it has a Bible Theme Index, which is based on the Thompson Chain Reference Bible. It also has a built-in cross-referencing function, based on the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, which is very easy to use, as all the verses appear on a separate plane, so you can easily browse through those verses.
