Links to Free Software
Need legitimate, free, clean, easy to use software for your home or small business?
Looking for a specific program? We’ve collaborated with Google on a custom Windows Freeware Search Engine! Enter your search term in the field below:
You can also browse through the following hand-picked linked sites:
Each of these links will take you to a website that in turn will have information about many different free and open-source software programs, as well as links from which to download them. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about a particular piece of software, or if you need a program to do a specific task but aren’t sure what to get.
NOTE: Some free software licenses stipulate home or personal use only - read the license agreements and let your conscience be your guide…
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“What’s the best tool for the job?” Lifehacker’s Adam Pash presents their “best of the best”…
Bleeping Computer is a community devoted to providing free original content, consisting of computer help and tutorials, in such a way that the beginning computer user can understand. There is a long list of Freeware Replacements For Common Commercial Apps posted in their forums.
FreewareGeeks.com is about freeware and the ideals for which free software stands. They download, install and TEST every program before listing it. All freeware is 100% spyware and virus free.
The Area404.nl website has a long list of freeware applications called Windows freeware that doesn’t suck! Definitely worth a look…
The Windows Guides blog has a huge list of freeware programs that completes all your needs without spending a penny. Here’s all of their freeware links - this is a great site!
Clif, author of the Clif Notes Newsletter has made available a page entitled One Stop Shopping for Free Security Software. As he says, “the best things in life are still free…”
The Portable Freeware Collection - This site is dedicated to the collection and cataloging of Windows freeware that can be extracted to any directory and run independently without prior installation. These can be carried around on a memory stick / USB flash drive, or copied / migrated from PC to PC via simple copying of files. Hence the term portable freeware. See also John Haller’s PortableApps.com, PortableAppZ, Pendriveapps.com, and App-Stick.
Mark Wagner recently blogged about Lesser Known Windows Freeware and came up with a great list in the process.
A Windows XP Freeware Guide - This superbly written and researched page is part of Andrew K.’s Optimize Guides series. This guide will show you the better freeware applications for Windows XP. Why are you paying hundreds of dollars for software that you can get for free?
100 Open Source Downloads is an excellent series of pages on the IT Management website. Their list reflects the growing vitality of the open source ecosystem.
xtort.net features a Complete Freeware Collection - a collection of choice freeware applications which, when combined, make for a computer software package to meet any and all of your day to day software needs.
The Great Software List - Please note that this page does contain some payware/donationware apps. This list is of such high quality that we felt we’d be remiss in not including it here. Even though we love free software, there are programs and applications out there that are truly worth paying for.
Here’s a list of 50 Free Windows Apps from the Everything Hurts blog.
Rob Dunn’s Confessions of a freeware junkie blog has a great home computer freeware list that is regularly updated. We agree with Rob’s picks, which is why they’re linked here!
The A Modest Construct blog maintains a comprehensively categorized ever-growing list of open-source and free software for the Windows platform.
PC World magazine offers their Spring 2007 list of 101 Fantastic Freebies. Want to make your PC more productive, secure, informative, and entertaining? These downloads and services will do the trick–and they don’t cost a dime. In addition, they also review 15 Great Free Utilities You’ve Never Heard Of, plus, from January 2008, 14 Fantastic Freeware Finds. In March, 2008, they featured another article on 101 Fantastic Freebies including both online services and downloadable software, plus an article entitled Free and Cheap Software That Outdoes the Big Guys.
PC Magazine’s 01/31/2007 issue lists their picks for the best free software. Not 1, not 10, but 78 tried-and-true apps hand-selected by their hard-working editors. They followed that up on 02/08/2008 with another great free software list. Sometimes, you do get what you don’t pay for.
Computer Shopper Magazine has collected 50 of the best freeware apps conveniently grouped in five different categories. These 50 top freeware applications will do everything from improving your PC’s performance to helping you create killer crossword puzzles.
Qleeq is an open source and freeware software directory. They link to many popular programs.
Mohawke’s Best of the Best Free and Open Source Software Collection - This is yet another outstanding collection of links to great freeware and comes highly recommended.
103 Free Security Apps for Mac, Windows and Linux - Keep your computer and wallet safe with these free security apps for every platform.
101 Shareware and Freeware Programs Every Nerd Needs. How can a person limit juicy downloads to 101 freeware and shareware choices? Tough calls, but the tools below are ones that every nerd needs, or at least should ponder. Many freeware choices are open source, and the shareware all offer trial offers.
winAddons.com is a news, reviews and freeware site. They list their Top 300 Freeware programs, along with descriptions.
FreewareList.net has a huge assortment of programs that are updated daily. Their sitemap shows just how large their assortment of freeware applications is.
AXCEL216/MDGx has a page of freeware links. Not to mention all of the other good stuff on the site!
FreewarePlanet offers information on programs and authors, with links to author sites and downloads. Other software sites are linked so you can read their reviews of listed programs. Lost/abandoned freeware programs are linked as well.
CastleCops is a community which promotes education and health in online security and privacy. They maintain an outstanding wiki page that contains lists of security, privacy and maintenance freeware for Windows.
100 Downloads - This site has the best of the best - if you’re running Windows, just about anything else you could ever want or need in the way of software can be found here!
BearWare listings are some of the best freeware and open source programs available.
The eConsultant - Extremely useful free utilities that do specific jobs really well and save time and money. Check out their Open Source section as well.
Gizmo’s 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities - There are a lot of great freeware products out there. Many are as good or even better than their commercial alternatives. This list features Gizmo’s personal pick of the “best of the best.”
AumHa Freeware Portal - When Microsoft MVP Jim Eshelman and his associates recommend it, it is truly world-class!
Concise Freeware - The best freeware, Firefox extensions, online services & special sites. Find the best freeware and the best sites around. Enhance your computer by making it faster, safer and more providing.
The Pricelessware list is a compilation of software collected through a yearly vote by the participants of the “alt.comp.freeware” newsgroup. It is a list of what people have voted as “the best of the best in freeware”.
TinyApps - Are you a minimalist? Are you using an older computer that’s limited on hard drive space? Do you like small and efficient, without a lot of bells and whistles? If so, TinyApps is a guide to very small software for your PC. Virtually all of the programs listed here are free of charge and for use under Windows.
Listible’s most popular freeware for Windows.
The Freeware Wiki is a place for you to look for great freeware that’s been tried and reviewed by people just like you. The only bad software you will find here is always part of a warning to stay away from it. If you like, you can post your own reviews here. Be sure to check out Clif’s Newsletter as well!
30 Essential Pieces Of Free (and Open) Software for Windows: Thirty pieces of software that are the cream of the crop of open source software for Windows. Not only is every piece of it free, almost all of them directly replace expensive software packages.
Open Source Windows is a simple list of the best free and open source software for Windows showcasing the best, most important, and easiest to use. The Ubuntu LoopList is similar.
The TTCS OSSWIN CD is a compilation of Free/Open Source software for Windows 98SE/Me/2000 and XP operating systems. This compilation offers a web based interface for you to easily browse the over one hundred programs on the CD. Each program’s webpage contains a short description, a screenshot, its key features, useful program related links and a link to download/install the program. This is the best (and most up-to-date) compilation of this type that we’ve seen yet! A similar, but not as up-to-date compilation is The OpenDisc collection.
This page provides instructions on how to burn .iso files to a CD using any of the popular CD burning programs. An invaluable resource!
