30 free pieces of software for Windows

This list comes from The Simple Dollar, a personal finance blog. Most of the software on this list could replace, to a large extent, a commercial and/or proprietary equivalent. For example, of the items on the list, I use Firefox to browse the web (instead of Internet Explorer), FileZilla as an FTP client (take your pick as to which client this replaces - WS_FTP and CuteFTP are two off the top of my head), OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office (it's not perfect, but for what I use office suite software for, it's definitely adequate), VLC Media Player instead of Windows Media Player (admittedly this is because I don't have any music or videos encumbered with Microsoft DRM) and Freemind is an excellent mind mapping program that is very easy to use.

The list isn't perfect however. It lists Gnucash for personal finance although there isn't an official Gnucash build for Windows. There is a link to how to build it on Windows down in the comments, but gaaagh, I'm a geek but I don't have the time right now to be that much of a geek - perhaps try Buddi instead?)

I'd also recommend GanttProject over GanttPV but that comes down to personal taste. I also use Avast! antivirus instead of ClamWin, but Avast! is only gratis, not libre, so I can see the reasoning there.

All up though, it's a good list. There's a lot of good software on there and many program worth checking out.

Originally found via Lifehacker [permalink]