I don't know about program.. but I certainly can't live without google... google map... google earth.. all those cool stuff.
All of these are freely downloadable and most are open source: Firefox - If you aren't using it, you are behind the times . . . SciTE - SciTE is an open source text editor that includes all sorts of great features for both programmers and non-programmers alike. Download it from here: http://gisdeveloper.tripod.com/scite.html Thunderbird - Firefox's compliment for email Spybot S+D - anti-spyware Lavasoft Adaware - anti-spyware Spyware Blaster - spyware prevention Really Slick Screensavers - these are some great open source screensavers that show off cool OpenGL effects WinHTTrack - this program allows you to download an entire website to be offline - it gives you lots of customization options as well. I use it for whenever I need all of the content from some site with lots of files, or for getting a site when I might not be able to get on the web later 7-zip - an open source compression program that can handle zip, rar, tar, gzip, and a bunch of other formats. It's fast, easy to use, and very featureful. It also has its own zip format if you want to use it. PDF Creator - an open source PDF spooler - this installs as a printer (like the Acrobat Distiller), and you can just "print" a document to it and voila, it's a PDF. This is infinitely useful! Azureus - my favorite torrent program - open source, runs on java QCD - a music player - it's probably not as user friendly or customizable as winamp, but I prefer it GIMP - an open source graphics editing program. It's not up to the level of photoshop, but it's really pretty darned good. I use it all the time. Irfanview - this is a basic image viewer with some small editing features. It's really easy to use, and has lots of useful features in a well-presented manner. Great for photos. GAIM - it's an open source IM program, like trillian or miranda, but better, IMO. It will connect to all the major networks (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, etc.), and is just flat out, easy to use. Folding @ Home - Folding @ Home is a distributed computing platform that uses your idle CPU cycles to fold proteins in the fight against cancer and other diseases. It doesn't impact machine performance at all, because it only executes code when the computer is idle. Google Earth - Satellite images of the earth stitched together - has to be seen to be believed. Abiword - a very small, very fast, very easy to use word processor. I use it a lot, because it's so simple. It's open source, and cross-platform, which is a huge bonus for me. Filezilla - an open-source FTP client - the best out there, IMO -- it can handle all sorts of different formats and such. It also has an FTP server available if you want to run your own FTP on windows. Putty - Putty is an SSH client for connecting to Linux/Unix machines. It's essential for me, but not for most folks. CloneCD - Lately, I don't use this much, but it's my preferred CD copier. EAC - Exact Audio Copy - THE way to rip CDs to FLAC, Ogg, MP3, or whatever you want. A lot of great stuff (and a lot of the above) can be found at: http://www.theopencd.org
Vengeance and Jeff, would you be so kind as to describe what each less common program you have listed does? I know the more known ones like Adaware and Putty and FireFox do, but what are the other tools? Seriously speaking now, I I can't seriously live without DVDShrink.org in conjunction with ROXIO CD Copier. The combo allows me to "back up" my DVDs, then record them. Photoshop would be my close 3rd for organizing and retouching my photos, followed by DreamWeaver MX to deal with websites with which I work.
I just updated that section up there. For your photos, I'd check out GIMP, Irfanview, or Photoshop elements. Photoshop is awesome, but it's sort of overkill for something as simple as just organizing and retouching photos. Photoshop Elements may be exactly what you are looking for.
