September 23, 2011

Best Windows Software from MakeUseOf

The authors of MakeUseOf.com have compiled a list of best Windows applications and they appear below.



avast! Free Antivirus
Expect great all-around protection against viruses and trojans.  Download
AntiVir Free Version
Lightweight and solid. Good ratings. Worth looking into.  Download
AVG Antivirus Free Edition
Not as good as Avast or Avira but with considerably less bloat. The most popular free antivirus.  Download
Microsoft Security Essentials
Simple, lightweight and competent protection suite.  Download
Comodo Internet Security
Free security suite, includes both a firewall and anti-virus protection.  Download



Spybot S&D
Detects and removes spyware. Compliments anti-virus apps.  Download
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware
Easy-to-use, simple, and effective anti-malware application.  Download
IObit Security 360 Free
Advanced malware & spyware removal utility.  Download
Threatfire
Real-time antispyware protection. Lightweight and memory sparing.  Download
Superantispyware
Lightweight scanner to detect and remove spyware, adware, trojans, and other threats.  Download



PC Tools Firewall Plus 6
Powerful firewall capable of providing excellent protection.  Download
Comodo Firewall (standalone)
Long been considered one of the best free firewall tools available.  Download
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall
Provides the best overall firewall protection for advanced users.  Download
Online Armor Free
All of the normal features of a firewall and more.  Download
Ashampoo FireWall Free
Very easy to use and navigate. For intermediate users.  Download



Auslogics Disk Defrag
Simple, reliable and quite fast. A must-have free PC tool. Considered no.1 by many.  Download
Defraggler
Another excellent defrag tool. Portable. From the same guys behind hugely popular CCleaner.  Download
IObit Smart Defrag
Extremely easy to use. Works continuously in the background.  Download



Recuva
Very effective in restoring deleted files. Extremely popular.  Download
FreeUndelete
No frills, just focused on the zen of file recovery.  Download
ADRC Data Recovery Software
The Renaissance Man of free data recovery. Not as popular as Recuva but still has its own fans.  Download



Revo Uninstaller Free
Fast and very effective at uninstalling just about anything. Popular choice for the purpose.  Download
IObit Uninstaller
New kid on the block. Gaining popularity. Boasts a bunch of features not found on other uninstallers.  Download
Absolute Uninstaller
Less popular than the other two but probably the simplest to use one.  Download



Mozy
Incredibly smart, highly secure, set-it-and-forget-it backup solution. Backups data to web.  Download
FBackup
Backup files and documents, personal settings and plugins.  Download
Todo Backup
Able to backup the entire operating system, program settings, browser data, emails and other data.  Download
Clonezilla
Live CD to completely clone your hard drive.  Download
SyncBack Freeware
Selective synchronisation, local and remote backup to an FTP server.  Download
FreeFileSync
Open source folder comparison and sync tool. Optimised for speed and usability.  Download
CopyTo Synchronizer
Wide set of options for backing up, updating, and synchronizing files.  Download



Glary Utilities
Includes over 15 useful tools. Been recommended by MakeUseOf several times!  Download
CCleaner
Scores high points all around. The most popular choice at the moment. Not as many features as in others.  Download
IObit Toolbox
The amount of system maintenance tools included in this free app is truly staggering.  Download
Soluto
Speed up Windows boot time by removing unnecessary apps from startup. Very effective.  Download
IObit Advanced SystemCare Free
One-click approach to help protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC.  Download



Google Chrome
The fastest, minimal design browser now with extension support.  Download
Firefox
More than 6,000 add-ons for every possible feature. The most customisable browser to date.  Download
Safari
Designed to emphasize browsing. Also features extensions.  Download
Opera
The “fastest and most advanced” browser available today.  Download



Thunderbird
Increasingly popular. One of the best email clients for Windows.  Download
Postbox Express
A simple, yet powerful, new email application for Windows.  Download
Google Notifier
Alerts you when you have new Gmail messages.  Download



Skype
The most popular cross-platform VoIP application. Must-have for everyone online.  Download
Pidgin
Easy-to-use, cross-platform, multi-protocol chat client. Supports all major chat programs.  Download
Digsby
An alternative multi-protocol instant messaging app. Cross-platform. Extremely popular.  Download
Trillian Astra
Popular multi-protocol instant messaging client.  Download



Paint.NET
Strong candidate as a potential substitute for Photoshop for beginner/intermediate users.  Download
FastStone Image Viewer
One of the best image viewer, converter & editor bundles.  Download
IrfanView
The Swiss Army knife of image viewers/editors. Extremely popular.  Download
Google Picasa
Powerful photo manager software from Google. Includes 1-click photo retouching features. Easy online photo sharing.  Download
GIMP
Very capable graphic editor with Photoshop-like features. Often labeled as free Photoshop alternative.  Download
PhotoScape
Another good free photo editing application.  Download



foobar2000
Highly customisable advanced audio player for Windows.  Download
Songbird
A popular music player based on Mozilla’s code. Includes plugins.  Download
Audacity
Very popular open source software for recording and editing sounds.  Download
iTunes
Music player and video library organiser. Hosts the iTunes Store.  Download
MediaMonkey
Full-featured music player and music collection organiser.  Download
Winamp
Well-known, lightweight, small-footprint media player.  Download
CopyTrans Manager
Alternative iPod manager app. Sync and transfer music & files to iPod, iPhone, iPad.  Download



VLC Media Player
Extremely popular cross-platform app that plays almost any video file.  Download
Handbrake
Open source, cross-platform, multithreaded video transcoder and converter.  Download
VirtualDub
Open-source and portable video editor.  Download
Media Player Classic
Replica of WM Player. Includes only the most basic controls. Plays many formats.  Download
Freemake
Free video converter & DVD burner that’s easy to use.  Download
Format Factory
Multifunctional media converter. Supports MP4, AVI, WMV, FLV, SWF, RMVB and lots more.  Download
KMPlayer
Highly customisable, multi-format video player.  Download



FileMenu Tools
Customise the context menu of Windows Explorer. Add customised commands, utilities.  Download
FreeCommander
Free file browser and Explorer replacement. Two-pane browsing, secure file deletion.  Download
TeraCopy
Copy and move files at maximum speed. Pause and resume file transfers.  Download
EASEUS Partition Master
All-in-one partition manager. Create, resize and merge partitions.  Download
Unlocker
Kills or unlocks unresponsive programs or system processes.  Download
TreeSize Free
Shows you where your precious hard drive space has gone to.  Download
DropIt
Tiny, flexible tool to automate sorting and filing data files and folders. Portable version available.  Download



LibreOffice
Microsoft Office alternative. Open source professional productivity and office suite.  Download
Dropbox
Must-have for everyone. Sync folder with docs to web or other PCs / Macs. Share documents.  Download
Notepad++
Popular open source text editor. Favoured by many, including programmers.  Download
FoxIt Reader
Really light alternative to Adobe Reader. Open PDF files.  Download
doPDF
Easily convert documents and pictures to PDF from any Windows program with two clicks.  Download
PDF Xchange viewer
Desktop and portable PDF viewer. Lightweight and fast.  Download
Nitro PDF Reader
Read, create PDFs. Extract content, annotate and fill PDF forms.  Download
OpenOffice
A popular free alternative to Microsoft Office.  Download
PDFTK Builder
Free graphical interface version of PDFTK. Merge, split, decrypt, encrypt, watermark PDF files.  Download



Fences
Provides rectangular containers for your desktop to visually organize your icons. Handy!  Download
Rainlender
Very easy to use and lightweight calendar for your Windows desktop.  Download
Evernote
Save your ideas on the go and instantly take notes. Access notes from anywhere. Highly recommended!  Download
VirtuaWin
Gives you multiple virtual desktops to organize your workflow. Highly customisable.  Download
Launchy
A powerful keystroke based program launcher. Replaces the Start button.  Download
Send to Toys
Enhances the Send To system menu. Personalise and configure the Send To menu content.  Download
Dexpot
Create virtual desktops to separate different running apps. Comparable to Spaces on Mac OS X.  Download
Q-Dir
Free multi-pane file manager to save you time. Portable version available.  Download
ClipX
Tiny, free clipboard history manager. Access up to 1024 items in your clipboard’s history.  Download



7-zip
Takes care of most of your extracting/compression needs.  Download
Universal Extractor
With over 50 supported file formats, Universal Extractor is superb.  Download
IZArc
One archive utility to rule them all. Supports almost all formats.  Download



ImgBurn
CD/DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray burning application. Also, lets you create image files from CDs and DVDs.  Download
CDBurnerXP
The most popular free alternative to Nero Burning ROM. Burn CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs.  Download
bitRipper
Back-up your DVDs as AVI files or Mpeg to your hard drive. Excellent backup tool for DVDs.  Download
CDex
Open-source digital audio CD extractor. Saves CD tracks as MP3′s.  Download
DuBaron CD2ISO
A great tool to extract ISO images from CDs or DVDs. Very simple and easy to use.  Download
Virtual CloneDrive
Mount a virtual drive to open and playback ISO image files (CD/DVD images).  Download
DVDShrink
The easiest and one of the better free DVD ripping and backup tools.  Download
Exact Audio Copy
The most accurate and error-free audio CD extractor.  Download
DVD Flick
Easy-to-use DVD creation software. Subtitles, menu support.  Download



uTorrent
Speedy, efficient, and free. The most popular BitTorrent client.  Download
Deluge
An awesome but unappreciated cross-platform BitTorrent client.  Download
YouTube Downloader HD
Downloads YouTube videos with just a few clicks of the mouse button.  Download
PeerBlock
Control/block your PC’s communication with ad or spyware servers. Secures P2P activities.  Download
Free Download Manager
Open source download accelerator and manager. Increase download speeds and resume broken downloads.  Download



LastPass
Secure plugin to store and synchronise passwords across browsers.  Download
TrueCrypt
Free open-source, cross-platform disk encryption software. Encrypt and hide sensitive files.  Download
TeamViewer
Request remote technical assistance. Zero setup required.  Download
PortableApps Suite
A collection of useful portable apps. Carry the apps with you wherever you go on a thumbdrive.  Download
Sticky Password
Free password and identity manager. Browser add-on for automatic form-filling.  Download
KeePass
Free, open source, lightweight and easy-to-use password manager.  Download
LiberKey
Suite of over 300 free portable apps in a sleek graphical user interface.  Download
Hiren’s BootCD
All-in-one bootable CD providing an alternate boot environment to troubleshoot Windows problems.  Download
Eraser
Advanced security tool to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive.  Download
iPrint
Print multiple pages on each sheet of paper, delete unwanted pages. Lowers printing costs.  Download


Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-windows-software