Favorite and Best Software List
by Stephen Schmidt, steve@czmyt.com

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This is a list of my personal favorite software and services.  Those programs marked "personal favorite!" are ones that I install and frequently use on my main desktop computers or those of my clients.  This list includes other highly-rated software and services too.  When I am setting up a new computer for myself or a client, I go through this list to figure out what software to install on it.  I have chosen to focus this list on software that works with Microsoft Windows, so I have omitted dozens of Linux-based programs that I frequently use in my work as a computer consultant.  This list also omits software development programs that are meant mostly for computer programmers.

Click on one of these categories to jump directly to it.

ANTI-SPYWARE

• Windows Defender, free, personal favorite!
  Anti-spyware program purchased by Microsoft, made available for free for Windows XP, and bundled with Windows Vista.
  http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
  2007-02-20: Arguably the best free anti-spyware program.
   
• WebRoot Spy Sweeper, $$, personal favorite!
  The consistently highest-rated anti-spyware program.  New edition available that includes built-in anti-virus software from Sophos.
  http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/spysweeper
   
• HijackThis, free, personal favorite!
  Detailed analysis of startup programs, running programs, etc.
  http://www.merijn.org
   
• A-Squared, free
  Free anti-spyware program that has a very wide-ranging definition of what constitutes spyware.
  http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free
  2007-02-20: Generally good but identifies some legitimate software like UltraVNC as spyware.
   
• Blacklight, free
  Finds malicious rootkit programs that secretly monitor your computer usage and abuse your Internet connection.
  http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight
   
• Ad-Aware SE Personal, free
  One of the original (and free) anti-spyware programs.
  http://www.lavasoft.com
   
• Spybot Search & Destroy, free
  One of the original (and free) anti-spyware programs.
  http://www.spybot.info
   

ANTI-VIRUS

• AVG Free Edition, free, personal favorite!
  Excellent anti-virus program free for non-commercial use.
  http://free.grisoft.com
  2007-04-07: My personal favorite free anti-virus program.
   
• avast! Home Edition, free, personal favorite!
  Excellent anti-virus program free for non-commercial use.
  http://www.avast.com
  2007-04-07: Was my favorite anti-virus program for a while but it interferes with programs that use Macrovision copy protection.
   
• Norton AntiVirus, $$, personal favorite!
  One of the best commercial anti-virus programs.
  http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=is&pvid=nav2007
  2007-04-07: Probably the best anti-virus software if your computer is prone to tricky virus infections.  Also includes anti-spyware and elementary firewall, worm, and intrusion detection software.
   
• AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic, free
  Another good, free anti-virus program.
  http://www.free-av.com
   
• Symantec Security Scan, free, service, personal favorite!
  Online scan to detect but not repair viruses and spyware.
  http://security.symantec.com
   
• Trend Micro HouseCall, free, service, personal favorite!
  Online scan to detect AND repair viruses and spyware.
  http://housecall.trendmicro.com
  2007-04-07: Requires that you use a Web browser that supports ActiveX controls or Java: Microsoft Internet Explorer works best.
   

ASTRONOMY/PLANETARIUM

• Celestia, free, personal favorite!
  Free space simulation program that lets you explore the universe in 3D.
  http://www.shatters.net/celestia
   
• Hallo Northern Sky (HNSKY), free, personal favorite!
  Planetarium program for Windows that simulates the night sky from the perspective of the planet Earth.
  http://www.hnsky.org/software.htm
   
• Open Universe, free, personal favorite!
  Similar features to Celestia in that you can move throughout the universe instead of being limited to seeing the night sky from the perspective of the planet Earth.
  http://openuniverse.sourceforge.net
  2007-05-03: This program used to be named Solar System Simulator (Ssystem).
   
• Stellarium, free
  Planetarium program that features realistic images by mixing sky views with earth terrain pictures.
  http://www.stellarium.org
  2007-05-03: I like this program, but dislike the fact that it only runs in full-screen mode, unlike 99% of Windows programs.
   
• WinStars, free and $
  Similar to Stellarium in that it combines pictures of the horizon on Earth with sky views.  Add-ons to the basic program cost money.
  http://www.winstars.net/english/index.html
   

BLOGGING

• Google Blogger, free, service
  Web-based blog-publishing service.
  http://www.blogger.com
   
• LiveJournal, free, service
  Web-based blog-publishing service.
  http://www.livejournal.com
   
• TypePad, $/month, service
  Create blogs with a more professional and polished appearance.
  http://www.typepad.com
   

BOOK VIEWERS

• TomeRaider, $$, personal favorite!
  Versions available for Windows and handheld computers.  Web site has 4,000 eBooks available for it, including an older, complete version of the English-language Wikipedia.
  http://www.tomeraider.com
   

CD/DVD UTILITIES

• DAEMON Tools, free, personal favorite!
  Mounts files that contain CD and DVD disc images, simulating the insertion of a physical disc into an optical drive.
  http://www.daemon-tools.cc
  2007-02-20: Includes support for mouting image files of copy-protected CDs.
   
• Nero Burning ROM, usually free, personal favorite!
  Reads and writes CDs and DVDs.
  http://www.nero.com
  2007-02-20: Some version of Nero is packaged with most CD and DVD drives.
   
• MagicISO, $30, personal favorite!
  Similar to Nero Burning ROM is that its emphasis is on non-copy-protected discs.
  http://www.magiciso.com
  2007-04-07: There are other very similar programs like PowerISO, UltraISO, and WinISO.
   
• Exact Audio Copy, free, personal favorite!
  Rip audio CD tracks to audio files; copy audio CDs; write audio CDs from audio files.
  http://www.exactaudiocopy.de
  2007-04-07: Provides the best support of any program for working with audio CDs.
   
• DVD Decrypter, free, personal favorite!
  Reads and writes DVDs, including ones with all but the latest copy protection schemes.
  http://www.doom9.net
   
• DVD Shrink, free, personal favorite!
  Create DVDs that contain parts of another DVD; shrink large DVDs to fit on smaller discs by selectively dropping frames.
  http://www.doom9.net
   
• DVD 43, free, personal favorite!
  Decrypts DVDs and removes audio CD protection on the fly in the background as the disc is read by other programs.
  http://www.dvd43.com
   
• AnyDVD, $40
  Similar to DVD 43 in many ways.
  http://www.slysoft.com
   
• DVDFab, $$
  Easy to use program for copying any video DVD.
  http://www.dvdfab.com
  2007-05-01: Supports the latest copy protection schemes.
   
• 1Click DVD Copy Pro, $80
  Similar to DVDFab.
  http://www.lgsoftwareinnovations.com
   

COLLABORATION

• See Microsoft Office Groove in Office Suites.
   
• Yahoo! Groups, free, service, personal favorite!
  Public or private service for creating mailing lists, sharing files, creating shared databases, uploading pictures, etc.  Great for coordinating personal and business projects among a group of people.
  http://groups.yahoo.com/
   

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

• Entellium, $$/user/month, service
  Web-based CRM service.
  http://www.entellium.com
   
• Netsuite, various, service
  Web-based CRM service.
  http://www.netsuite.com
   
• Salesforce.com, $$$/year, service
  Web-based CRM service.
  http://www.salesforce.com
   

DATABASE

• Microsoft SQL Server, $$$$, personal favorite!
  Microsoft's premier department- and enterprise-wide database management system.
  http://www.microsoft.com/sql/default.mspx
   
• See Microsoft Office Access in Office Suites.
   
• See OpenOffice.org Base in Office Suites.
   
• Caspio Bridge, $/MB, service
  Online database service.
  http://www.caspio.com
   
• eCriteria, $/month, service
  Online database service.
  http://www.ecriteria.com
   
• Intuit QuickBase, $$$/month, service
  Online database service.  Define your own database.  Includes over 60 pre-defined business applications.
  http://www.quickbase.com
   

DESKTOP PUBLISHING

• See Microsoft Office Publisher in Office Suites.
   
• Microsoft Digital Image Suite, $$, personal favorite!
  Create greeting cards, banners, etc.
  http://www.microsoft.com/products/imaging/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=003
  2007-04-07: This program used to be named Microsoft PictureIt! Publishing.
   
• Open Clip Art Library, free, service, personal favorite!
  Web-based archive of user-contributed, public domain clip art images.
  http://www.openclipart.org
   

DESKTOP SEARCH

• Windows Desktop Search, free, personal favorite!
  Excellent full-text indexing and desktop search program from Microsoft.
  http://desktop.msn.com
  2007-04-07: My personal favorite program for the full-text indexing and search of e-mail messages and files.
   
• Copernic Desktop Search, free
  Another good desktop search program with some features that the others don't have.
  http://www.copernic.com
   
• Google Desktop, free
  Just like the Google Web search service, but indexes and searches for e-mail and files on your computer and local area network.  Has serious problems detecting when to reindex e-mail and files.
  http://desktop.google.com
  2007-04-07: Sidebar, widgets, Web browser toolbar, file indexing and search: Too much stuff in one product, but some people really like that.
   
• X1 Desktop Edition, $$
  More complete edition of what you can get for free from the Yahoo! Desktop Search program.
  http://www.x1.com
   
• Yahoo! Desktop Search, free
  Based on the X1 Desktop Search software.  Yahoo! and free X1 editions of this program do not allow you to index and search files stored on a network drive, which is a major drawback.
  http://desktop.yahoo.com
   

DESKTOP UTILITIES

• TweakUI, free
  Several miscellaneous Windows XP utilities from Microsoft.
  http://www.microsoft.com
   
• ChangerXP, free
  Set the picture that shows for Windows startup, the login screen, your desktop, Internet Explorer background, and/or screensaver.  Make those pictures changes automatically.
  http://www.nihuo.com
   
• Filmloop, free
  A photo ticker that scrolls pictures across your screen.
  http://www.filmloop.com
   
• MSN Screensaver, free beta
  A screensaver that displays your pictures, current date/time, news, weather, and/or RSS feeds.
  http://screensaver.msn.com
   
• SphereXP, free beta
  Replace the standard two-dimensional Windows dektop with a unique three-dimensional interface.
  http://www.hamar.sk/sphere
   
• Windowblinds, free and $$
  Customize all aspects of the Windows desktop.
  http://www.stardock.com
   

DICTIONARIES

• Oxford English Dictionary, $$$, personal favorite!
  The very best by far!
  http://www.oed.com
  2007-07-01: Only the most recent version of this program worls with Windows Vista.
   
• See also the Encyclopedias category.
   

DISK UTILITIES

• WinDirStat, free, personal favorite!
  See a graphical picture of the folders and files occupying hard disk space.
  http://windirstat.info
  2007-02-20: Has good file management features built in.
   
• Norton Ghost, $$, personal favorite!
  Copy the contents of a hard disk partition between different sized disk drives or into a file on another disk or the network.
  http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost10
   
• Norton PartitionMagic, $$, personal favorite!
  Change the size of the partitions on a hard disk without wiping out the files on existing partitions.
  http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=sp&pvid=pm80
  2007-07-16: Microsoft Windows Vista has some disk management features that let you shrink and expand partitions.
   
• Diskeeper, $30
  Improve hard disk performance by defragmenting files so that they reside on contiguous regions of the hard disk.
  http://www.diskeeper.com
   

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT

• PaperPort, $$, personal favorite!
  Organize, find and share digital documents.  Suitable for individual use only.  Comes free with many scanners.
  http://www.nuance.com/paperport/
   
• OmniPage, $$$, personal favorite!
  Perform optical character recognition to convert scanned images of documents into text and numbers.
  http://www.nuance.com/omnipage/professional
   
• Alfresco, free and $$$$
  Enterprise-class document management, workflow automation, collaboration, records management, knowledge management, Web content management and imaging.
  http://www.alfresco.com
   
• KnowledgeTree, free and $$$$
  Enterprise-class document management system.
  http://www.knowledgetree.com
   

DOMAIN NAME SERVICES

• DNS Stuff, free, service, personal favorite!
  Web-based service that provides a variety of information about domain names (like czmyt.com) and IP addresses (like 24.132.120.98).
  http://www.dnsstuff.com
  2007-04-07: One of their most important lookups will tell if an IP address that hosts an e-mail server is listed as a source of spam by any known blocklist.
   
• Go Daddy, $$, service, personal favorite!
  Register a domain name like czmyt.com and handle domain name service for your domains.  Offers a wide range of domain name registration, Web site hosting, e-mail and other services.
  http://www.godaddy.com
   
• DynDNS, free and $$, service
  Provides dynamic domain name service, so you can map a machine name like www.czmyt.com to an IP address that is subject to frequent change.  Also provides robust static domain name services for a price, so you can map machine names to IP addresses that are not subject to frequent change.
  http://www.dyndns.com
  2007-04-29: Their free dynamic DNS service will not work for people whose dynamic IP address does not change enough!  For example, Comcast Cable only changes your IP address when you hookup new cable modems or hookup new equipment directly to an existing cable modem.
   
• Network Solutions WHOIS, free, service, personal favorite!
  Find out information about who own domains, what their name servers are set to, etc.
  http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
   
• Alexa Internet, free, service, personal favorite!
  Find out about the popularity of Web sites, which are the most popular Web sites, etc.
  http://www.alexa.com
   

E-MAIL CLIENTS

• See Microsoft Office Outlook in Office Suites.
   
• Mozilla Thunderbird, free
  E-mail client for POP and IMAP-type accounts.
  http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird
   
• Outlook Express, free with Windows, personal favorite!
  Excellent client program for POP and IMAP-type e-mail accounts and newsgroups.
  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/oe
   
• See SeaMonkey in Web Browsers.
   
• See Opera in Web Browsers.
   

E-MAIL SERVERS

• Zimbra, free
  Open source alternative to Microsoft Exchange e-mail and collaboration server.
  http://www.zimbra.com
   

E-MAIL SERVICES

• Exchange My Mail, $10 per mailbox per month, service, personal favorite!
  Hosted Microsoft Exchange e-mail accounts that support synchronizing e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks between multiple PCs and smartphones.
  http://www.exchangemymail.com
   
• Gmail, free, service, personal favorite!
  Google's Web-based e-mail service offering.
  https://mail.google.com
  2007-04-28: This is my personal favorite, even though it is not that much better than Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail in my opinion.  Also, I only use Web-based e-mail services for testing my real e-mail accounts.
   
• Yahoo! Mail, free, service
  Yahoo!'s Web-based e-mail service offering.
  http://mail.yahoo.com
  2007-04-28: Thought by some to have the most sophisticated (best) user interface of the bunch.
   
• Hotmail, free, service
  Microsoft's Web-based e-mail service offering.
  http://www.hotmail.com
  2007-04-28: Considered by most to be the worst of the major online e-mail providers, especially because of their poor spam prevention.
   
• AOL Mail, free, service
  AOL's Web-based e-mail service offering.
  http://mail.aol.com
   

E-MAIL SPAM FILTERS

• SpamPal, free
  http://www.spampal.org
  2007-04-07: I personally prefer the combination of Postini (a Web-based anti-spam service) and Microsoft Outlook's Junk E-Mail features.
   

ENCRYPTION

• PGP Desktop Professional, $200, personal favorite!
  Complete encryption suite for e-mail, files, virtual disk drives and whole disks.  PGP Desktop Home edition also available.
  http://www.pgp.com/products/packages/desktop_pro/index.html
  2007-07-01: They finally have a version in which the Whole Disk encryption program works with Windows Vista.
   
• PGP Whole Disk Encryption, $150, personal favorite!
  Encrypt the hard disks attached to your computer.
  http://www.pgp.com/products/wholediskencryption/index.html
  2007-07-01: They finally have a version in which the Whole Disk encryption program works with Windows Vista.
   
• PGP International, free, personal favorite!
  E-mail, file and virtual drive encryption for free.
  http://www.pgpi.org
   
• TrueCrypt, free
  Virtual drive encryption program.
  http://www.truecrypt.com
   
• BitLocker Drive Encryption, free with Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate edition
  Whole-disk encryption like PGP Whole Disk.
  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/bitlocker.mspx
   
• See also the File Compression category.
   

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

• Wikipedia, free, service, personal favorite!
  Available online or in TomeRaider (http://www.tomeraider.com) format.
  http://www.wikipedia.com
   
• Encyclopędia Britannica, $$, personal favorite!
  Computer program with the full text and pictures from the printed edition that costs over $1,000.
  http://www.eb.com
  2007-07-01: Only the most recent version of this program works with Windows Vista. That version is hard to use because it still has some serious bugs (it doesn't refresh when it should so you cannot see what you are typing and where the control are).
  2007-02-20: Windows-based version doesn't work too well because of poorly-implemented Java-based retrieval program.
   
• Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium, $$, personal favorite!
  Symbolic math program, graphing calculator program, various learning tools, Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia content, kids encyclopedia, etc.
  2007-07-15: I don't like the encyclopedia interface as well as I did the interface for earlier versions of Microsoft Encarta.  I wish that there was a way to get to all of the yearbook articles for a year.
   
• Encarta, $$, personal favorite!
  Started with content from the Collier's Encyclopedia.
  http://www.microsoft.com/products/encarta
  2007-04-07: I especially like the yearbook articles.
  2007-02-20: Started with content from Collier's Encyclopedia.
   
• See also the Dictionaries category.
   

FAVORITE/BEST SOFTWARE LISTS

• 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities, The, free, service, personal favorite!
  Comprehensive list of the best few programs in each of 46 categories.
  http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
  2007-04-07: Receive access to their Extended Best-ever Freeware Utilities page by subscribing to their newsletter.
   
• File Hippo, free, service
  Web site that lists the best free software with a small amount of commentary on each program.
  http://www.filehippo.com
   
• Open Source Alternative, free, service, personal favorite!
  Interesting site that lists free alternatives for popular non-free software programs.
  http://www.osalt.com
   
• The OSSwin project, free, service
  List of good open source software programs that run under Windows.
  http://osswin.sourceforge.net
   
• File Ratings, free, service, personal favorite!
  Ranks the most popular files being downloaded on the Internet.
  http://www.fileratings.com
   
• The Linux Alternative Project, free, service
  Interesting site that lists free Linux-based alternatives for popular non-free software programs.
  http://www.linuxalt.com
   
• 100-downloads, free, service
  "The top 300 free downloadable programs for Windows XP."
  http://100-downloads.com
   
• Free Software List from Chi3 Hacklab, free, service
  Interesting list of free software programs for Windows and other operating systems.
  http://www.chi3.org/en/software.html
   
• Freeware Genius, free, service
  Only lists the best software that is completely free.
  http://www.freewaregenius.com
   
• FreewarePlanet, free, service
  Only lists free software.
  http://www.freewareplanet.net
  2007-07-15: Probably lists too much software, some of which is not the best.
   
• Mohawke's Best of the Best Free and Open Source Software Collection, free, service
  It is what the title says.
  http://www.digitaldarknet.net/thelist
   

FAVORITE/BEST WEB SITES

• The Webware 100 Awards: The 100 best Web 2.0 Sites and Services, free, service, personal favorite!
  List of the best 100 "Web 2.0" sites and services.
  http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100.html
   
• Make Use Of, free, service
  "Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips."  "web applications | cool tools | tricks | soft reviews"
  http://www.makeuseof.com
   
• Populair.eu, free, service
  "Where do you get all those cool crazy hot fresh new links from?"
  http://www.populair.eu
   
• popurls, free, service
  "popular urls to the latest web buzz"
  http://popurls.com
   
• THEWEBLIST.net, free, service
  "what people are clicking on today"
  http://theweblist.net
   

FAXING

• Symantec WinFax, $$$, personal favorite!
  Status of this product is uncertain since Symantec discontinued it in mid-2006.
  http://www.symantecstore.com/antivirus/winfax-pro-f.htm
   

FILE BACKUP & STORAGE

• SyncBack, free and $$
  Backup, restore, synchronize, copy, send and transfer files.
  http://www.2brightsparks.com
   
• Mozy Online Backup, free and $$, service
  Inexpensive online backup service.
  http://mozy.com
   
• iBackup, $/GB, service
  Backup, store and access files remotely.
  http://www.ibackup.com
   
• Iomega iStorage, $/GB, service
  Backup, store and access files remotely.
  http://www.iomega.com/na/products/istorage.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=26891301&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=26890319&bmUID=1178431078280
   
• Xdrive, $/GB, service
  Backup, store and access files remotely.
  http://www.xdrive.com
   

FILE COMPRESSION

• ZipGenius, free, personal favorite!
  Like WinZip and PKZip Windows but with better support for reading files that use compression methods other than Zip.
  http://www.zipgenius.it
   
• SecureZip, free for now, personal favorite!
  File compression and encryption with strong Microsoft Outlook integration.
  http://www.securezip.com
  2007-04-27: This will only be a personal favorite as long as it's free.  From PKWare, the company that originally created the Zip compression method.
   
• WinZip, $$
  Very similar to ZipGenius and SecureZip.
  http://www.winzip.com
   
• 7-Zip, free, personal favorite!
  Usually achieves very good compression compared to other similar programs.
  http://www.7-zip.org
  2007-04-07: All Windows versions of this program seem very buggy except for the command line (7za.exe) version!
   
• SBC Archiver, free
  Features strong encryption and very good compression, especially on multimedia files that usually don't compress very much.
  http://www.geocities.com/sbcarchiver
   

FILE MANAGERS

• ExplorerXP, free
  Enhanced replacement for the Windows Explorer program.
  http://www.explorerxp.com
   
• Directory Opus, $$
  Sophisticated replacement for the Windows Explorer program.
  http://www.gpsoft.com.au
   

FILE SHARING

• eMule, free, personal favorite!
  Peer-to-peer file sharing program.
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/emule
  2007-02-20: Currently one of the better peer-to-peer file sharing programs; supports the top two file sharing networks.
   

FILE SYNCHRONIZATION

• BeInSync, free
  Synchronize files between different computers.
  http://www.beinsync.com
   
• SmartSync, $35, personal favorite!
  Synchronize files between different computers.
  http://www.smsync.com
  2007-02-20: My personal favorite program for synchronizing large numbers of files between computers.
   

FILE TRANSFER

• FileZilla, free, personal favorite!
  Excellent file transfer protocol (FTP) client AND server.
  http://filezilla.sourceforge.net
   
• Download Accelerator Plus (DAP), free, personal favorite!
  Helps improve the process of download files from the Internet through your favorite Web browser.
  http://www.speedbit.com
   
• You Send It, free, service
  Send files up to 100MB in size via a Web-based service.
  http://www.yousendit.com
  2007-04-07: You will be spammed by them after signing up for an account: Either use an e-mail address you don't care about or add them to your blocklist.
  2007-02-20: I recommend using Internet Explorer with this Web site.
   
• MailBigFile, free, service
  Send files up to 100MB in size via a Web-based service.
  http://www.mailbigfile.com
   

FILE UTILITIES

• Unlocker, free
  Unlocks files that cannot be renamed or deleted because Windows Explorer says that they are in use.
  http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker
   
• File Shredder, free
  Guaranteed deletion of files that stops them from being undeleted.
  http://www.handybits.com/shredder
   
• XXCopy, free
  Supercharged replacement for the standard DOS and Windows XCOPY file copying command.
  http://www.xxcopy.com/index.htm
  2007-04-28: Has some features that overlap with File Synchronization-type programs.
   

FONTS

• Abstract Fonts, free, service
  Over 11,000 free fonts.
  http://www.abstractfonts.com
   
• Better Fonts, free, service
  Over 10,000 free fonts.
  http://betterfonts.com
   
• Fontica, free, service
  6,800 free fonts and counting.
  http://www.fontica.com
   

FORM DESIGN/FILLING

• See Microsoft Office InfoPath in Office Suites.
   
• See Adobe Acrobat in PDF Document Tools.
   

GAMES FOR KIDS

• Cartoon Network Free Games, free, service, personal favorite!
  More than 160 online Flash-based games for kids.
  http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/games/index.html
   
• PBS Kids Games, free, service
  Online Flash-based games for kids based on PBS Kids TV shows.
  http://pbskids.org/games
   
• Nick Jr. Playtime Games, free, service
  Online Flash-based games for kids based on Nick Jr. TV shows.
  http://www.nickjr.com/playtime/cats/games/index.jhtml
   
• Club Penguin, free and paid versions, service
  Kid-friendly virtual world wth games.
  http://www.clubpenguin.com
   
• Flash Games.net, free, service, personal favorite!
  Over 3,000 free Flash-based games for older kids.
  http://www.flash-game.net
   

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

• Microsoft Streets & Trips, $$, personal favorite!
  Print street maps and plan trip routes.
  http://www.microsoft.com/streets/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=002
   
• Microsoft MapPoint, $$$, personal favorite!
  Business-oriented version of Microsoft Streets and Trips that lets you plot geographic data.  I recommend Streets and Trips instead if you only need to print maps or plan routes.
  http://www.microsoft.com/mappoint/default.mspx
   
• Google Earth, free, personal favorite!
  Satellite maps of the whole world.
  http://earth.google.com
   
• NASA World Wind, free
  Similar to Google Earth in some ways but with an emphasis on longer-range views of the planet earth from different satellites and other sources.
  http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov
  2007-05-03: See also the large collection of downloadable data here http://www.worldwinddata.com.
   
• Home Planet, free, personal favorite!
  Astronomy, space, and satellite tracking program for Windows whose main view is a flattened map of the Earth.
  http://www.fourmilab.ch/homeplanet/homeplanet.html
  2007-05-03: Shows which parts of the Earth are covered by sunlight and which are in darkness, similar to the Geochron wall clocks.  Has the ability to view stars like the other astronomy programs but it's not obvious how to do that!
   

HARDWARE SUPPORT

• iRotate, free, personal favorite!
  Rotate the Windows desktop screen 90, 180 or 270 degrees.  Works great with various Samsung flat-panel displays that can rotate 90 degrees to give you a full-page display.
  http://www.entechtaiwan.com
   
• UDPixel, free
  Program that helps to locate and fix LCD screens with dead pixels.
  http://udpix.free.fr
   
• SpeedFan, free
  Detect the temperature of computer components and detect and change computer fan speeds.
  http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php
   
• Notebook Hardware Control, free
  Easily control the hardware components of your Notebook.
  http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc.htm
   
• Sveasoft Talisman, $20/year, personal favorite!
  Upgrade the software in Linksys, D-Link and other routers to add several features including wireless bridge, wireless mesh, power boost, etc.
  http://www.sveasoft.com
   
• Default Password List, free, service
  List of the default passwords for various hardware devices.
  http://www.phenoelit-us.org/dpl/dpl.html
   
• Default Router Passwords, free, service
  List of the default passwords for all brands of network routers.
  http://www.routerpasswords.com
   

IMAGE EDITING

• PhotoPlus, free
  Raster (photo/picture) image editing program.
  http://www.freeserifsoftware.com
   
• GIMPshop, free
  Raster (photo/picture) image editing program.
  http://www.plasticbugs.com
   
• Corel Paint Shop Pro, $$, personal favorite!
  Raster (photo/picture) image editing program.
  http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1155872554948
  2007-04-07: I still like early versions of this program because they are more capable than Microsoft Paint but less complicated than Adobe Illustrator.
   
• See OpenOffice.org Draw in Office Suites.
   
• Creature House Expression, free
  Vector (drawing) image editing program like Adobe Illustrator.
  http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/previous/expression3_home.aspx
   
• Google SketchUp, free, personal favorite!
  3D sketching program.
  http://sketchup.google.com
   
• Meez, free, service
  Create animated 3D digital personas for export to Web profiles, blogs, etc.
  http://www.meez.com/home.dm?
   

IMAGE MANAGERS

• Picasa, free, personal favorite!
  My current favorite; does it all: Organizes photos and videos; built-in photo and video viewer; watched folders for changes; comes with screen saver for viewing photos; etc.
  http://www.picasa.com
   
• Preclick Silver Photo Manager, free
  Organize, print, and apply common fixes to your digital photos.
  http://www.preclick.com
   
• Photo Story, free
  Create slide shows from digital photos.
  http://www.microsoft.com/photostory
   

IMAGE PROCESSING

• ImageMagick, free, personal favorite!
  Command-line tools for creating, editing and transforming images.  Can be used for the batch processing of several images at one time.
  http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php
   
• Image Robot, $$, personal favorite!
  Provides a graphical interface with step-by-step wizard to convert, resize, resample, and otherwise process several digital image files at one time.
  http://www.jasc.com
  2007-04-07: Now part of Corel Paint Shop Pro?
   
• Adobe DNG Converter, free
  Converts the RAW files from 113 different cameras into Adobe's open-standard DNS (Digital Negative) RAR format.
  http://www.adobe.com
   
• Exposure, $$$
  Adobe Photoshop plug-in that mimicks the looks of various classic film types.
  http://www.alienskin.com
   
• Fluid Mask, $$$
  Isolates the subject of a picture from the background.
  http://www.vertustech.com
   
• Machine Wash Image Filters I, II and III, $$ each
  Degrade photos in various realistic ways.
  http://www.misterretro.com
   
• Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP, free
  Thumbnails, previews, prints, and displays metadata for RAW images from specific Nikon and Canon cameras.
  http://www.microsoft.com
   
• Photozoom Professional, $$$
  Enlarges digital photos by increasing the pixel count with greater control than is provided by most image editing programs.
  http://www.benvista.com
   
• Rawshooter Essentials 2005, free
  Program for viewing, correcting, and converting RAW format image files.
  http://www.pixmantec.com
   
• Sharpener Pro, $$$
  Adobe Photoshop plug-in that sharpens images for printing at a specific size.
  http://www.nikmultimedia.com
   

INSTANT MESSAGING/TELEPHONY

• Windows Live Messenger, free, personal favorite!
  Latest version of Microsoft's instant messaging (IM) software.
  http://get.live.com/messenger/overview
  2007-02-20: Changes names more than any other program on earth!
   
• Trillian Basic, free
  Instant messaging program that works with all of the major services including AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger.
  http://www.ceruleanstudios.com
   
• Vonage, $$, personal favorite!
  Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephone network and PC-based PC-to-phone calling.
  http://www.vonage.com
  2007-04-28: Just like conventional telephone service in many ways except that the calls are routed via your high-speed Internet connection.  I will highly recommend them until the day that Verizon sues them out of business!
   
• AT&T CallVantage, $$, service
  VoIP service similar to Vonage.
  http://www.att.com/callvantage
   
• Skype, free and $$
  Instant messaging, PC-to-PC voice communications, and PC-to-phone calling (for a price).
  http://www.skype.com
   
• Google Talk, free
  Instant messaging with Voice-over-IP (VoIP) PC-to-PC voice calling features.
  http://www.google.com/talk/
   
• ChatZilla, free
  Mozilla Firefox add-on application that is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/16
   
• See SeaMonkey in Web Browsers which includes an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client.
   
• Tubes, free and $-$$/month
  Similar to Microsoft Groove: Create secure, synchronized lists of files with other people.
  http://www.tubesnow.com
  2007-07-15: You are probably better off using Microsoft Groove if you have it as part of Microsoft Office since there is never any per-month charge for using Groove.
   

MATHEMATICS/COMPUTER ALGEBRA

• Maxima, free, personal favorite!
  Symbolic math program.  Clone of MACSYMA.  Smarter than your average college math student!
  http://maxima.sourceforge.net
  2007-07-16: This program seems to install and run under Windows Vista.  I ran the install program as administrator, which I do for most install programs, and when I first ran it, I received a firewall warning so I chose the unblock option.
  2007-07-01: The Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor flags this program as being incompatible with Windows Vista.
   
• Axiom, free, personal favorite!
  Comprehensive computer algebra system like Maxima.
  http://wiki.axiom-developer.org
   
• SAGE, free
  Another computer algebra system that combines Maxima with several other open source math programs.
  http://www.sagemath.org
  2007-05-01: Sage would probably be a personal favorite if it ran natively under Windows instead of requiring that you use the Cygwin environment.
   
• Mathematica, $$$
  Graphically-oriented symbolic math program.  Defines the category for PC-based programs.
  http://www.wolfram.com
   
• Maple, $$$
  Graphically-oriented symbolic math program.
  http://www.maplesoft.com
   

MEDIA PLAYERS

• Winamp, free, personal favorite!
  Best program that plays audio files in any format.  Has limited support for playing videos.
  http://www.winamp.com
   
• Lyrics Plugin, free, personal favorite!
  Excellent add-on program for Winamp and Windows Media Player that shows the lyrics for the currently playing song.
  http://www.lyricsplugin.com
  2007-07-15: Seems to have a slightly better than 50% success rate at finding the lyrics for dozens of random songs that I played.
   
• VLC media Player, free
  Plays all kinds of audio and video files.
  http://www.videolan.org/vlc
   
• Full Motion Viewer, $$, personal favorite!
  Slow-motion video viewer.
  http://www.f-m-v.com
  2007-04-07: Buggy, weird interface, irreplaceable one-of-a-kind program.
   
• PowerDVD, usually free, personal favorite!
  DVD player that comes bundled with most DVD drives.
  http://www.cyberlink.com
   
• iTunes, free, personal favorite!
  Essential program for synchronizing audio to your iPod.
  http://www.apple.com/itunes
   
• DivX Player, free, personal favorite!
  Player for DivX-encoded movies.
  http://www.divx.com
   
• Juice, free
  Organize podcasts the way RSS readers organize RSS feed and the way e-mail programs organize e-mail messages.
  http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net
  2007-04-07: This program used to be named iPodder.
   
• TiVoToGo, free, personal favorite!
  Transfer TiVo TV programs to your desktop or notebook for viewing; access music and pictures on your TiVo unit.
  http://www.tivo.com/4.9.4.1.asp
  2007-07-01: This program still does not work with Windows Vista.
  2007-04-07: This program is also called TiVo Desktop.
   

MEDIA TOOLS

• Audacity, free, personal favorite!
  Excellent audio editing program for slicing, dicing, splicing, and applying special effects to audio tracks.
  http://audacity.sourceforge.net
   
• Accusplit, $$
  Splits an AVI or MPEG-1 video clip into smaller, independently-playable clips.
  http://members.cox.net/accusplit_support/index.htm
   
• RM Recorder and WM Recorder, $$
  Records streaming audio and video from RealMedia and Windows Media respectively.
  http://www.applian.com
   
• Steadyhand, $$
  Removes the shaking from handheld video footage.
  http://www.goodervideo.com
   
• Video Cleaner, $$
  Converts video clips to the universal DV format.
  http://www.riverpast.com/en/prod/videocleaner/index.php
   
• Video Converter, $$
  Converts video clips between a wide range or formats.
  http://www.xilisoft.com/video-converter.html
   
• Videora Conversion Tools, free
  Convert videos between different formats.
  http://www.videora.com
   
• Windows Movie Maker, free
  Video editing software available for free for Windows XP and comes pre-installed with Windows Vista.
  http://www.microsoft.com/moviemaker
   

NETWORK FIREWALLS

• Comodo Firewall Pro, free, personal favorite!
  My current favorite firewall.  Block unsolicited incoming network access and unwanted outgoing network access.
  http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com
   
• ZoneAlarm, free, personal favorite!
  This was my personal favority for a long time, but the free version is more limited than the free Comodo Firewall.
  http://www.zonelabs.com
   
• Outpost Firewall Pro, free
  Another good free firewall program.
  http://www.agnitum.com
   
• Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall, free
  Another good free firewall program.
  http://www.kerio.com
   
• Sygate Personal Firewall, free
  Another good free firewall program.
  http://www.sygate.com
   
• Leak Test, free, service
  Determine if your firewall blocks outgoing connections.
  http://www.grc.com
   

NETWORK SECURITY

• OpenVPN, free, personal favorite!
  Free virtual private network (VPN) software for Windows, Linux, etc.
  http://openvpn.net
  2007-07-15: Not easy to configure but quite excellent if you can get it working correctly.
   
• LogMeIn Hamachi, free
  Zero-configuration virtual private network (VPN) software.  Create a virtual, encrypted channel between two computers via the Internet.
  http://www.hamachi.cc
  2007-07-15: The free version of this program is too limited to be very useful (for example, it cannot be run as a Windows service, meaning that the computer must be logged in for the software to be enabled) and the paid version is pretty expensive ($60 per year per computer).
   
• NMAP, free, personal favorite!
  Scan computers and networks for open ports.
  http://insecure.org/nmap
   
• Shields Up, free, service
  Scan your public IP address for accessible ports.
  http://www.grc.com
   
• Wireshark, free, personal favorite!
  Analyze network traffic and find out what it means.
  http://www.wireshark.org
  2007-04-07: This program used to be named Ethereal.
   
• TCPView, free
  See all of the network communications happening on your computer.
  http://www.sysinternals.com
   
• Nessus, free
  Network vulnerability scanner.
  http://www.nessus.com
   
• Metasploit Project, free
  Software and info for network penetration and exploit testing.
  http://www.metasploit.com/
   
• Languard Network Security Scanner, $$$
  Scans an entire network for hundreds on known vulnerabilities.
  http://www.gfi.com
   
• NetStumbler, free
  Detects wireless networks.
  http://www.netstumbler.com
   
• Ferret, free
  Wireless network data sniffer gathers and presents info from local broadcasts.
  http://www.erratasec.com/ferret.html
   
• Aircrack-ng, free
  Wireless network 802.11 WEP and WPA-PSK key cracking program.
  http://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php
   

NETWORK UTILITIES

• SpeedTest.net, free, service, personal favorite!
  Test high-speed Internet connection speed.
  http://www.speedtest.net
  2007-04-27: Great selection of available locations worldwide to test against.
   
• Broadband Reports Tools, free, service, personal favorite!
  Test high-speed Internet connection speed, line quality, etc.
  http://www.dslreports.com/tools
  2007-04-15: Their Sun Java-based speed tests are the only ones that appear accurate when run remotely through programs like Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Connection, pcAnywhere, etc.
   
• SpeakEasy Speed Test, free, service
  Another good Internet connection speed test.
  http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest
   
• MyWanIP, free, service
  Determine the IP address of your dynamic IP address Internet connection.
  http://www.mywanip.com
   
• Project IP, free, service
  Information about your IP address, Web browser, etc.
  http://projectip.com
   
• Spiceworks, free
  Inventory software and hardware on network; run an IT helpdesk; monitor network for trouble; etc.
  http://www.spiceworks.com
   
• Network Magic, free
  Network information and configuration utility.
  http://www.networkmagic.com
   

NEWS & INFORMATION

• MSNBC, free, service, personal favorite!
  Free Web-based news from the MSNBC cable news channel, Newsweek, and The Washington Post newspaper.
  http://www.msnbc.com
  2007-07-16: MSNBC has the best news formatted for small devices like smartphones.
   
• CNN, free, service
  Free Web-based news from the CNN cable news channel.
  http://www.cnn.com
  2007-07-16: They still do not have a good version of their service for smartphones that I can find.
   
• New York Times, free, service
  Free Web-based news from The New York Times newspaper.
  http://www.nytimes.com
  2007-07-16: Free registration required.
   
• newsmap, free, service, personal favorite!
  Very unique graphical presentation of currently important news stories taken from Google News.
  http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm
  2007-07-16: I really like this graphical presentation of the news, but the emphasis that they place on stories does not seem to match the other US-based news services.
   
• Yahoo! Alerts, free, service, personal favorite!
  Sign up to receive a variety of news, breaking news, and other types of alerts via e-mail.
  http://alerts.yahoo.com
  2007-06-18: I really like this free service!  It's one of my all-time favorites!
   
• Accuweather, free, service, personal favorite!
  Free weather forecasting from the premier weather forecasting company.
  http://www.accuweather.com
   
• IMDB, free and $$/month, service, personal favorite!
  The Internet Movie Database: Detailed info about movies, TV shows, entertainment people, etc.
  http://www.imdb.com
   

NOTE TAKING

• See Microsoft Office OneNote in Office Suites.
   
• EverNote for Windows, free
  Collects and stores all of your digital data, indexing them and making them searchable.
  http://www.evernote.com
   

OFFICE SUITES

• Microsoft Office, $$$, personal favorite!
  The current gold-standard in office suites.  Professional Enterprise version includes the following programs:
  
  • Outlook (e-mail)
  • Word (word processing)
  • Excel (spreadsheet)
  • PowerPoint (presentations)
  • Access (database)
  • Publisher (desktop publishing)
  • Groove (collaboration/instant messaging)
  • InfoPath (form design and filling)
  • OneNote (note taking)
  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx
   
• OpenOffice.org, free, personal favorite!
  Excellent free office suite.  Includes the following productivity programs:
  • Writer (word processing)
  • Calc (spreadsheet)
  • Impress (presentations)
  • Base (database)
  • Draw (diagrams and drawing)
  • Math (mathematical equation editor)
  http://www.openoffice.org
   
• Zoho Office Suite, free, service
  Online/hosted office productivity software suite.
  http://www.zoho.com
   
• ThinkFree Office, free, service
  Online/hosted office productivity software suite.
  http://www.thinkfree.com
   
• HyperOffice, $/month/user, service
  E-mail, document management, calendar, project management and collaboration.
  http://www.hyperoffice.com
   
• Google Docs & Spreadsheets, free, service
  Google's online/hosted office suite currently includes word processing, spreadsheet, mail, calendar, and notebook programs.
  http://docs.google.com
  2007-05-05: The hosted word processor service used to be named Writely.
   
• MS Office Live, free beta, service
  Build a Web site, get e-mail, create an intranet.  Includes project manager and contact manager.
  http://officelive.microsoft.com
   

OFFICE UTILITIES

• Clipboard Recorder, free
  Better than the multiple-clipboard feature of Microsoft Office.
  http://www.lw-works.com
   
• Snagit, $$
  Screen capture, scrolling window content capture, Web page images capture, etc.
  http://www.techsmith.com
   
• Crosseyes, $$
  Provides a "reveal codes" pane in Microsoft Word to help you determine settings that are affecting the appearance of your document.
  http://www.levitjames.com
   
• Rapid-PI, $$
  Equation editor that is much better than the one that comes with Microsoft Office.
  http://www.rapid-pi.com
   
• Wordpipe, $$/$$$
  Search and replace text and codes across multiple Word documents; replace images; other similar features.
  http://www.datamystic.com
   
• ASAP Utilities, unknown
  Provides easy access to 300 Excel features.
  http://www.asap-utilities.com
   
• Power Utility Pak, $$
  Provides 120 utilities and functions for Excel users.
  http://www.j-walk.com/ss
   
• Attensa for Outlook, $$/year
  Displays RSS feeds within Microsoft Outlook.
  http://www.attensa.com
  2007-05-27: Not sure that this program is needed since Outlook 2007 can handle RSS feeds natively.
   
• Youperform, $$
  Create appointments by sending an e-mail; insert boilerplate text similar to Insert Signature; etc.
  http://www.yousoftware.com
   
• Bells and Whistles for Outlook, $$
  Similar to Youperform.
  http://www.emailaddressmanager.com
   
• Memo to Me, free and $$, service
  Receive e-mail messages to remind you of your calendar events.
  http://www.memotome.com
   

OPERATING SYSTEMS

• Fedora Project, free, personal favorite!
  Linux incubator project sponsored by Red Hat.  Includes world-class server software of every type.
  http://fedora.redhat.com
   
• openSUSE, free
  Linux incubator project sponsored by Novell.  Includes world-class server software of every type.
  http://www.opensuse.org
   
• OpenSolaris, free
  Unix software from Sun Microsystems.
  http://www.opensolaris.org
   
• DistroWatch, free, service, personal favorite!
  Web site that reviews all of the versions of Linux and Unix that are available.
  http://distrowatch.com
   

OUTLINING

• MaxThink, $$, personal favorite!
  Outline editing program with some unique features to help you brainstorm, organize ideas, think more clearly, etc.
  http://www.maxthink.com
  2007-04-27: Microsoft Word includes some Outline editing features, though Word does not include the unique outline organization features that make MaxThink special.
   

PAYROLL

• PayCycle, $$/month, service
  Online payroll service.
  http://www.paycycle.com
   
• QuickBooks Payroll, various $, service
  Online payroll service.
  http://wwwpayroll.com
   
• SurePayroll, unknown $, service
  Online payroll service.
  http://www.surepayroll.com
   

PDF DOCUMENT TOOLS

• Adobe Acrobat, $$$, personal favorite!
  Create Adobe PDF documents; slice, dice, and annotate documents; create fillable forms, etc.
  http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat
  2007-07-01: This program is now very expensive considering the cheaper alternatives from other companies like Nitro PDF.
   
• Adobe Reader, free, personal favorite!
  Lets you view Adobe PDF files.
  http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
   
• PDFCreator, free, personal favorite!
  Print anything to the PDFCreator printer and this program creates an Adobe PDF document from it.
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator
  2007-07-01: This program still does not work with Windows Vista.
   
• Nitro PDF Professional, $$, personal favorite!
  Cheaper version of Adobe Acrobat with a Microsoft Office 2007-like ribbon toolbar interface.
  http://www.nitropdf.com
  2007-06-30: Beautiful interface.  This is currently the best replacement for Adobe Acrobat.
   
• Jaws PDF Desktop Suite, $$
  Cheap program that has some features of Adobe Acrobat.
  http://www.jawspdf.com/desktopsuite/index.html
   
• CutePDF, free and $$
  Free program like PDFCreator and cheap program that has some features of Adobe Acrobat.
  http://www.cutepdf.com
  2007-06-30: The interface is awkward if you're used to Adobe Acrobat or Nitro PDF.
   
• Foxit, free and $$
  Free program like Adobe Acrobat Reader and cheap program that has some features of Adobe Acrobat.
  http://www.foxitsoftware.com
  2007-06-30: Their PDF Page Organizer program has some features of Adobe Acrobat but the interface is awkward.
   
• Pdf995, free and $
  Free (ad-supported) and cheap programs similar to PDFCreator.
  http://www.pdf995.com
  2007-04-07: The free version of this program displays a pop-up banner ad each time you start it.  The paid version costs only $9.95.
   

PERSONAL FINANCE

• Quicken, $$, personal favorite!
  Keep track of your bank and investment accounts, download financial transaction data, print checks, etc.
  http://www.intuit.com
   
• TurboTax, $$, personal favorite!
  Prepare your federal and state income tax returns.
  http://turbotax.intuit.com
   
• VersaCheck Check Printing, $$, personal favorite!
  Prints blank checks that can be filled out using Intuit Quicken or Quick Books.
  http://www.g7ps.com
   
• PayPal, $, service, personal favorite!
  Allows you to accept credit card payments for products and services that you sell, send money to people using just their e-mail address, etc.
  http://www.paypal.com
   

PERSONALIZED HOME PAGES

• iGoogle, free, service, personal favorite!
  Create a custom home page by adding bookmarks, news, calendar, clock, quotes, etc. to it, then view that same home page in all Web browsers on all of your computers.
  http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en
  2007-04-07: This service used to be named Google Homepage.
   
• Netvibes, free, service
  Currently the most popular customizable home page/personal portal.
  http://www.netvibes.com
  2007-04-27: Has no API so people outside the company cannot add kinds of content other than those objects provided by the company.
   
• Pageflakes, free, service
  New but very popular personalizable home page/portal Web site.
  http://www.pageflakes.com
   
• Protopage, free, service
  Yet another personalized home page Web site that is very popular.
  http://www.protopage.com
  2007-04-27: Has no API so people outside the company cannot add kinds of content other than those objects provided by the company.
   
• Start.com, free, service
  Yet another personalizable home page to which you can add all kinds of custom content.
  http://www.start.com
  2007-04-27: Unfortunately, it only seems to work with Internet Explorer and Firefox.  Probably because it's from Microsoft.
   

PRESENTATIONS

• See Microsoft Office PowerPoint in Office Suites.
   
• See OpenOffice.org Impress in Office Suites.
   
• Ovation, $$
  Companion software to PowerPoint brings broadcast quality effects and transitions to PowerPoint presentations.
  http://www.adobe.com/motion/
   

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

• Visual Basic, $$$, personal favorite!
  Now an aging program replaced by Microsoft Visual Studio.Net.
  http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/ph/2971?sid=49
   
• Microsoft Visual Studio, $$$, personal favorite!
  Microsoft's premier program development software.
  http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/default.aspx
   
• Microsoft Developer Network, $$$, personal favorite!
  All of the documentation for developing programs that run under Windows.
  http://msdn.microsoft.com
   
• InstallShield Express, $$$, personal favorite!
  Installation creator program: Create a .MSI file that will install a Windows program along with its required support files and settings.
  http://www.installshield.com
   
• Microsoft Visual Studio Express Editions, free
  Free limited editions of Microsoft's Visual Studio program development tools, along with basic training on how to write programs for Windows and the Web.
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/beginner
   
• ASP.Net AJAX, free
  Free framework from Microsoft that provides advanced user controls for interactive Web pages.
  http://ajax.asp.net/default.aspx?tabid=47
   
• ConnectionStrings, free, service, personal favorite!
  Details on the connection strings required to connect your programs to databases and other data sources.
  http://www.connectionstrings.com
   
• Advanced Installer, free
  Installation creator program: Create a .MSI file that will install a Windows program along with its required support files and settings.
  http://www.advancedinstaller.com
   
• Inno Setup, free
  Installation creator program: Create a .MSI file that will install a Windows program along with its required support files and settings.
  http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php
  2007-07-15: Like any Windows installation creator program, can be used to install documents and other application files.
   
• nullsoft scriptable install system, free
  Installation creator program: Create a .MSI file that will install a Windows program along with its required support files and settings.
  http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page
   

RECRUITING

• H3, unknown $, service
  Online recruiting service.
  http://www.h3.com
   
• Jobster, unknown $, service
  Online recruiting service.
  http://www.jobster.com
   
• Linkedin, $$/month, service
  Online recruiting service.
  http://www.linkedin.com
   
• Monster.com, unknown $, service
  Online recruiting service.
  http://www.monster.com
   

REMOTE COMPUTER CONTROL

• UltraVNC, free, personal favorite!
  pcAnywhere clone.  Single-click software available for help desk type remote support.
  http://www.uvnc.com
   
• Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Connection, free, personal favorite!
  Access a Windows machine remotely without the actual screen showing the terminal session.
  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/default.mspx
  2007-04-07: Client software comes preinstalled with Windows XP and Windows Vista. Available free for Windows 2000. Server comes preinstalled with Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Media Center and certain Windows Vista editions.
   
• LogMeIn Free, free, service
  Access PCs remotely via a Web browser-based program.
  http://www.logmein.com
   
• Symantec pcAnywhere, $$$, personal favorite!
  Not the first, but defined the category for a long time.
  http://www.symantec.com/smb/products/overview.jsp?pcid=cli_mgmt&pvid=pca12
   
• PuTTY, free, personal favorite!
  Telnet and ssh program for remote console access to Linux and Unix computer systems.
  http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
   

SMARTPHONES

• Google Maps for Smartphones, free, personal favorite!
  Streaming road maps, streaming satellite maps like Google Earth, and real-time traffic data for your Windows Mobile-based smartphone.
  http://www.google.com/gmm
  2007-07-13: The current version still fails to show the street names for short streets and courts.
  2007-05-05: Go to its Web address using Internet Explorer on your smartphone then click on the Download Maps link and follow the instructions.
   
• MSN Live Search, free
  Similar to Google Maps for Smartphones but not quite as easy to use.
  http://mobile.msn.com
  2007-05-06: Go to its Web address on your smartphone then click on the Search Download link and follow the directions.
   
• ActiveSync, free, personal favorite!
  The essential program for synchronizing e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, favorites, and media files between Windows Mobile smartphones/PDAs and desktop/notebook computers.
  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/activesync/default.mspx
   
• Verizon Wireless VZAccess Manager, $15/month, personal favorite!
  Use your Verizon Wireless smartphone as a cellular modem to connect your notebook computer to the Internet from anywhere.
  http://www.vzam.net
  2007-04-30: Works with either a USB cable or a Bluetooth adapter, but I find it much easier to use the USB cable because Windows XP frequently loses the settings for Bluetooth adapters that are not built into the notebook.
   
• MSNBC Mobile, free
  Program to retrieve content from MSNBC that performs some pre-fetching to make browsing faster on phones.
  http://www.msnbc.com
  2007-05-25: Not a complete pre-fetch caching program like AvantGo.
   
• AvantGo, free and $/month
  Select info sources that interest you, then the program will download news stories from those services so that you can view them offline.
  http://www.avantgo.com
  2007-05-25: I used to really like this service but now I do not think that it is too useful considering that most smartphone users have unlimited data plans that provide always-on connectivity.
   
• Opera Mobile, free trial beta
  Web browser for smartphones that is much more capable and buggy than the built-in (Mobile) Internet Explorer.
  http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/products/
  2007-05-25: Currently a buggy program that will freeze your phone when you retrieve large Web pages or pictures.  This program is probably not worth paying for when they start charging for it.
   
• Mysaifu JVM, free
  The only free Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for Windows Mobile-based smartphones.
  http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~dat/java/project/jvm/index_en.html
  2007-05-25: Still a beta version; not yet working well enough that can run various free Java games that I downloaded.
   
• Motorola Q Application Catalog, free, service
  List from Motorola of the best applications for their Q phone.
  http://direct.motorola.com/ENS/q-application-catalog.asp?Country=USA&language=ENS&productid=30419
  2007-06-18: See what Motorola thinks are the most important applications for the Q.
   

SPREADSHEETS

• See Microsoft Office Excel in Office Suites.
   
• See OpenOffice.org Calc in Office Suites.
   

SYSTEM CLEANING

• CCleaner, free, personal favorite!
  Removes temporary files that accumulate on any Windows computer.
  http://www.ccleaner.com
   
• PC Decrapifier, The, free, personal favorite!
  Removes the trial programs and other unwanted software that the large computer companies like HP and Dell pre-install on the new computers they sell.
  http://www.pcdecrapifier.com
   
• nLite, free
  Customize the installation of Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista.
  http://www.nliteos.com
   

SYSTEM UTILITIES

• OpenSourceMark, free, personal favorite!
  Comprehensive benchmark suite made up of dozens of real-world computer tasks.
  https://sourceforge.net/projects/opensourcemark
  2007-07-15: The following tests do not seem to work when these benchmarks are run under Windows Vista: Alpha Blend, Alpha Dots, Lorenz Attractor, N-Body, N-Body OpenGL, Random Dots, and Maze Threads.
   
• Belarc Advisor, free
  Builds a detailed profile of installed hardware and software, missing Windows updates, and other system information.
  http://www.belarc.com/free.download.html
   
• Sysinternals, free, personal favorite!
  A series of small advanced utility and system information programs for Windows.
  http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx
  2007-04-13: One really useful utility program named filemon monitors and displays file system activity in real-time.
   
• Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools, free
  A set of small and very useful utility programs that work on Windows XP as well as Windows 2003 Server systems.
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en
  2007-05-01: See also the updated tools that are available here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/reskit/tools/default.mspx) and selected chapters from the Windows XP Resource Kit available here (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/default.mspx).
   
• AnalogX, free
  Several unique utilities in the following categories: audio, network, programming, system and MP3.
  http://www.analogx.com
   
• Drive Key Boot Utility, free
  Create a bootable flash drive that can start a computer.
  http://tinyurl.com/kaytz
   
• Remote Reboot, free, personal favorite!
  Remotely restart or shutdown the computers on your local area network.
  http://www.intelliadmin.com/Downloads.htm
  2007-04-13: Requires that you know the username and password for a Windows account on the computer that has administrative privileges.
   
• Futuremark Benchmarks, free and $$$
  Download basic versions of the benchmarks used by many computer magazines.
  http://www.futuremark.com/download
   

SYSTEM/FILE RECOVERY

• Emergency Boot CD (EBCD), free, personal favorite!
  Create an emergency rescue disc that can reset passwords in all versions of Windows except for Windows Vista.  Disc includes some other helpful rescue type utility programs.
  http://ebcd.pcministry.com
  2007-05-04: This program has not been updated since 2004 but it is still the best password reset program for all versions of Windows except for Vista.
   
• Offline NT Password and Registry Editor, free
  Is the only program that will reset passwords for Windows Vista users, as of April 2007.
  http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd
   
• ophcrack, $$$ to $$$$
  Guess most Windows account passwords.  Live CD image must be burned to a CD-ROM disc before it can be used.
  http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
  2007-04-07: The dictionary files that allow this program to actually guess passwords are very expensive.  Unless you actually need to know the current password, use one of the password reset programs to remove the current password then use Windows to set a new one.
   
• File Scavenger, $50
  Recover deleted files that have not been purposely "shredded."
  http://www.quetek.com
   
• EasyRecovery Professional, $$$ to $$$$
  Data recovery, file repair, and disk diagnostic program.
  http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecoveryprofessional
   
• BartPE, free
  Helps you build a bootable Windows CD-ROM or DVD from the original Windows installation/setup CD that is suitable for PC maintenance tasks.
  http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder
   
• SystemRescueCd, free
  Linux system on a bootable CD-ROM for repairing Windows systems and recovering data after crashes.
  http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page
   
• Ultimate Boot CD, free
  Run computer diagnostics from this boot CD or a USB memory stick.
  http://www.ultimatebootcd.com
   
• Ultimate Boot CD for Windows, free
  A bootable CD for Windows that boots Windows and is based on Bart's PE.
  http://www.ubcd4win.com
   

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

• c|net News.com, free, service, personal favorite!
  Good online source for daily technology news headlines.
  http://news.com.com
   
• SlashDot, free, service, personal favorite!
  "News For Nerds. Stuff That Matters." (To nerds. Like me.)
  http://www.slashdot.org
  2007-04-27: It's true: Slashdot is probably the best place to find out what software, services, products and issues matter most to people who work in the technology field.
   
• PC Magazine, $$/year, service, personal favorite!
  Very good overall source for technology news and product reviews.
  http://www.pcmag.com
  2007-04-07: I read the printed magazine and seldom visit their Web site.
   
• PC World Magazine, $$/year, service, personal favorite!
  More novice-oriented product reviews and how-tos than PC Magazine.
  http://www.pcworld.com
  2007-04-07: I read the printed magazine and seldom visit their Web site.
   
• Laptop Magazine, $$/year, service, personal favorite!
  I like this magazine because it focuses on laptop computers, cell phones, and other mobile devices.
  http://www.laptopmag.com
  2007-04-07: I read the printed magazine and never visit their Web site.
   
• Maximum PC Magazine, $$/year, service, personal favorite!
  Focuses on high-end performance and gaming computer equipment.
  http://www.maximumpc.com
  2007-04-07: I read the printed magazine and never visit their Web site.
   
• Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine, $$/year, service, personal favorite!
  Not a very slick nor useful publication but they try to cover smartphones in detail.
  http://www.pocketpcmag.com
  2007-04-07: I skim the printed magazine and never visit their Web site.
   
• iTWire, free, service, personal favorite!
  Excellent online coverage of global technology issues from this Australian Web site.
  http://www.itwire.com.au
  2007-06-18: I agree with practically every story they write.
   
• The Register, free, service, personal favorite!
  Excellent online coverage of global technology issues from this UK Web site.
  http://www.theregister.com
  2007-06-18: I usually agree with their viewpoint.
   
• The Inquirer, free, service, personal favorite!
  Excellent online coverage of global technology issues from this UK Web site.  Started by one of the co-founders of The Register after he left that publication.
  http://www.theinquirer.net
  2007-06-18: I usually agree with their viewpoint.
   
• InfoWorld News, free, service
  Good source of online coverage for technology news, similar to CNet News but more oriented towards technology professionals.
  http://www.infoworld.com/news/?source=nav_NEWS
   
• Gizmodo, free, service
  "The Gadget Guide. So much in love with shiny new toys, it's unnatural."
  http://www.gizmodo.com
  2007-06-18: If you like gadgets, you will like their coverage of them.
   
• Crave, free, service
  Gadget-focused news from Cnet; very similar to Gizmodo.
  http://crave.cnet.com
   
• The Green Head, free, service
  "Finds cool new stuff."  Another gadget-focused Web site.
  http://www.thegreenhead.com
   
• Crypto-Gram Newsletter, free, service, personal favorite!
  Free monthly computer security newsletter from security expert Bruce Schneier.
  http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram.html
   
• US-CERT Mailing Lists, free, service, personal favorite!
  Mailing lists available from the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team.
  http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/signup.html
   

TEXT EDITING

• Vim, free, personal favorite!
  Windows and DOS version of the UNIX vi text editor.  Not as good as other NotePad replacement programs for the average user.
  http://www.vim.org
   

VIRTUAL MACHINES & SOFTWARE

• Cygwin, free, personal favorite!
  Run many useful UNIX and Linux programs under Windows.  Combine advanced UNIX/Linux scripting shells like bash, C shell, etc. with DOS commands like XCOPY, etc.
  http://www.cygwin.com
   
• Microsoft Virtual PC, free, personal favorite!
  Run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer.
  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx
   
• VMWare, free
  Create, edit and run virtual machines.
  http://www.vmware.com/products/free_virtualization.html
  2007-05-04: The free VMware Converter converts physical machines into virtual machines.  Also download pre-installed and pre-configured applications that run in a virtual machine.
   
• Software Virtualization Solution, $$$
  Isolate installable Windows programs to avoid conflicts between them, make it easy to move them between computer systems, etc.
  http://www.altiris.com
  2007-04-07: Recently purchased by Symantec.  Will they make this great technology available to small business users for a reasonable price?  Hope so.
   
• PortableApps Suite, free
  Collection of pre-configured portable applications that are most frequently run from a memory stick device.
  http://portableapps.com/suite
   

VIRTUAL MEETINGS

• GoToMeeting, $$/month, service
  Similar to WebEx but cheaper.
  http://www.gotomeeting.com
   
• Microsoft Office Live Meeting, cents/minute, service
  Similar to WebEx Meeting Center but not as good.
  http://www.livemeeting.com
   
• WebEx Meeting Center, $$/month, service
  Whiteboarding, video conferencing, VoIP, etc.
  http://www.webex.com
   

VIRTUAL PBX

• Asterisk, free, service
  A virtual phone system that routes all calls to a cell phone or home office phone and can be controlled via the Web.
  http://www.asterisk.org
   
• GotVMail, $$ to $$$/month, service
  Another virtual phone system that routes all calls to the specified phone number.
  http://www.gotvmail.com
   
• Onebox, $$/month, service
  Another virtual phone system that routes all calls to the specified phone number.
  http://www.onebox.com
   
• VirtualPBX, $/month, service
  Another virtual phone system that routes all calls to the specified phone number.
  http://www.virtualpbx.com
   

WEB BROWSERS

• Mozilla Firefox, free, personal favorite!
  Nearly as compatible as Microsoft Internet Explorer but contains lots of security holes too.
  http://www.getfirefox.com
   
• Opera, free, personal favorite!
  Web browser, e-mail client, BitTorrent file downloader.  Not nearly as compatible as Microsoft Internet Explorer but also very infrequently compromised by security problems.
  http://www.opera.com
   
• Internet Explorer, free with Windows
  Microsoft's Web browser program that comes with all versions of Windows.
  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx
  2007-04-07: Slow and riddled with bugs is the general concensus.
   
• SeaMonkey, free
  Web-browser, advanced e-mail and newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and HTML (Web page) editor.
  http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey
  2007-04-07: This program was named Mozilla Application Suite, and then Netscape Navigator Suite before that.
   
• Safari, free
  Apple's Web browser now available for Microsoft Windows.
  http://www.apple.com/safari
  2007-06-17: Use it to build "applications" for the Apple iPhone.
   
• Torpark, free, personal favorite!
  Anonymous (but very slow) Web browsing based on the FireFox Web browser.
  http://www.torrify.com
   
• Flock, free
  The social Web browser based on Firefox.
  http://www.flock.com
   

WEB BROWSING EXTENSIONS

• Adobe Flash Player, free, personal favorite!
  Essential browser add-in for playing Flash content.
  http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&promoid=BIOW
   
• Adobe Shockwave Player, free, personal favorite!
  Essential browser add-in for playing Shockwave content.
  http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download
  2007-04-07: Test that both Flash and Shockwave are installed by going to this page: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome.
   
• Sun Java Runtime Environment, free, personal favorite!
  Run Java applications inside and outside of your Web browser.
  http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp?locale=en&host=java.com
  2007-05-04: Verify that it's installed correctly by going to this page: http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp.
   
• StumbleUpon, free, personal favorite!
  Toolbar for Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox that finds Web pages based upon your interests.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138
  2007-07-01: This is really neat, until it runs out of Web pages to recommend.
  2007-06-22: I really like this service for finding new, interesting Web sites!
   
• AdBlock Plus, free, personal favorite!
  Mozilla Firefox add-on that blocks ads on Web sites.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865
   
• AdBlock Filterset.G Updater, free, personal favorite!
  Mozilla Firefox add-on that periodically downloads a set of rules for AdBlock or AdBlock Plus that blocks most ads on Web sites.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1136
   
• Image Zoom, free, personal favorite!
  Mozilla Firefox add-on right-click menu lets you easily change the size of images displayed on any Web page.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/139
   
• ColorfulTabs, free, personal favorite!
  Mozilla Firefox add-on that randomly sets a color for the open Web page tabs.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1368
  2007-06-22: Very handy way to help you remember which tab is which when you have several open.
   
• Download Statusbar, free, personal favorite!
  Mozilla Firefox add-on that displays file download status on the browser's status bar instead of in a separate window.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/26
   
• Slogger, free, personal favorite!
  Mozilla Firefox add-on that captures a complete log of your Web browsing activity, or selectively saves complete copies of the current Web page at the press of a button.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/143
   
• Google Toolbar, free, personal favorite!
  Toolbars for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox that make searching easier, have pop-up blockers, perform on-the-fly word translation, fill out forms, etc.
  http://toolbar.google.com
  2007-07-16: I like the Google Toolbar but do not like their desktop search or sidebar tools.
   
• Web Developer, free
  Add-on for Mozilla Firefox that adds a toolbar with various Web page developer tools.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60
   
• Forecastfox, free, personal favorite!
  Mozilla Firefox add-on that retrieves weather forecasts from AccuWeather and displays them on the Web browser status bar.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/398
  2007-06-18: Not too useful now that you can display complete forecasts on your personalized home page.
   
• Glubble, free
  Mozilla Firefox extension that creates a safe Web browsing and Web search environment for kids under 12 years of age.
  http://www.glubble.com
   
• Google Firefox Extensions, free
  See the Firefox extensions written by Google.
  http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/index.html
   
• Hyperwords, free, personal favorite!
  Mozilla Firefox add-on right-click menu that makes every word on the page interactive: lookup definitions, follow a link, lookup on Google or Amazon, etc.
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1941
   
• International Color Consortium Version 4 Test, free, service
  Can your Web browser handle the ICC version 4 profile?
  http://www.color.org/version4html.xalter
  2007-07-15: Of the current top four browsers, only Safari passes this test.
   
• Roboform Pro, $$
  Fills Web forms with recorded passwords and other info.
  http://www.siber.com
   

WEB PAGE ANNOTATION

• Yahoo! MyWeb, free
  Annotate Web pages and save search results.
  http://myweb.yahoo.com
   

WEB PAGE EDITING

• Microsoft SharePoint Designer, $$$, personal favorite!
  Both Microsoft Expression Web and this program have superceded FrontPage.
  http://support.microsoft.com/ph/2514
   
• Nvu Web Page Editor, free
  A WYSIWYG ("What you see is what you get") Web page editor similar to Microsoft FrontPage/Expression Web.
  http://www.nvu.com
   
• See SeaMonkey in Web Browsers.
   

WEB SEARCH

• Google, free, service, personal favorite!
  The undisputed leader in Web search.
  http://www.google.com
   
• Google Products, free, service
  See the other software and services that Google has made available.
  http://www.google.com/options/
   
• Google Labs, free, service
  See some of the software that Google is developing.
  http://labs.google.com
   

WEB SITE LOG FILE ANALYZERS

• AWStats, free, personal favorite!
  Excellent, free program for analyzing the log files produced by Web servers.
  http://awstats.sourceforge.net
   

WEB SITE MONITORING SERVICES

• Basic State, free, service
  Monitors your Web site and alerts you if it becomes unavailable.
  http://basicstate.com
   
• Jaekmonitor, free, service
  Monitors your Web site and alerts you if it becomes unavailable.
  http://www.jaeksoft.com/jaekmonitor.html
   

WEB SITE TEMPLATES

• Open Designs, free, service
  Free Web design templates.
  http://opendesigns.org
   
• Open Source Web Design, free, service
  Free Web design templates.
  http://www.oswd.org
   
• PixelMill, $$, service
  Thousands of Web site templates of all kinds available for sale.
  http://www.pixelmill.com
   
• TemplateMonster, $$ to $$$$, service
  Thousands of Web site templates of all kinds available for sale.
  http://www.templatemonster.com
  2007-04-27: One unique feature is that they will stop selling a specific template if you pay the "unique" price for it.
   

WIDGETS/SIDEBARS

• Yahoo! Widgets, free
  All kinds of little applications that you can place on your desktop, like current weather, clock, news headlines, etc.  I prefer to see this kind of stuff on my personalized home page.
  http://widgets.yahoo.com
  2007-04-07: Formerly named Konfabulator before Yahoo! bought it.
   
• Desktop Sidebar, free
  It is what the name says.
  http://www.desktopsidebar.com
   
• See Google Desktop in Desktop Search.
   
• See Vista Transformation Pack and Vista Customization Pack in Windows Vista Upgrade.
   

WIKIS

• SocialText, $$/month
  Wikipedia-inspired business wiki hosted service, hardware device, or source code software.
  http://www.socialtext.com
   
• ViaWiki, $/month, service
  Web-based hosted wiki service.
  http://www.viawiki.com
   
• JotSpot, $/month, service
  Web-based hosted wiki service.
  http://www.jotspot.com
   
• WikiMatrix, free, service, personal favorite!
  Comparison of wiki-type collaboration software products.
  http://www.wikimatrix.org
   

WINDOWS VISTA UPGRADE

• Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, free, personal favorite!
  See what you need to do to upgrade your computer from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/upgradeadvisor
   
• Vista Transformation Pack, free
  Make your Windows XP computer look and behave like Windows Vista.
  http://www.windowsxlive.net/?p=361
  2007-04-07: This program makes a lot of changes to your Windows XP computer, so you might want to consider using the System Restore feature after you uninstall it.
   
• Vista Customization Pack, free
  Make Windows XP look and act like Windows Vista.
  http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/Shell-Replacements/Vista-Customization-Pack.shtml
   
• Alt-Tab Replacement Power Toy, free
  Make the Alt-Tab list of running programs work the same way in Windows XP that it does in Windows Vista.
  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads
   

WORD PROCESSING

• See Microsoft Office Word in Office Suites.
   
• See OpenOffice.org Writer in Office Suites.
   

• 100-downloads (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• 1Click DVD Copy Pro (CD/DVD Utilities), $80
   
• 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities, The (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service, personal favorite!
   
• 7-Zip (File Compression), free, personal favorite!
   
• Abstract Fonts (Fonts), free, service
• Accusplit (Media Tools), $$
• Accuweather (News & Information), free, service, personal favorite!
• ActiveSync (Smartphones), free, personal favorite!
• Ad-Aware SE Personal (Anti-Spyware), free
• AdBlock Filterset.G Updater (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• AdBlock Plus (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Adobe Acrobat (PDF Document Tools), $$$, personal favorite!
• Adobe DNG Converter (Image Processing), free
• Adobe Flash Player (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Adobe Reader (PDF Document Tools), free, personal favorite!
• Adobe Shockwave Player (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Advanced Installer (Program Development), free
• Aircrack-ng (Network Security), free
• Alexa Internet (Domain Name Services), free, service, personal favorite!
• Alfresco (Document Management), free and $$$$
• Alt-Tab Replacement Power Toy (Windows Vista Upgrade), free
• AnalogX (System Utilities), free
• AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic (Anti-Virus), free
• AnyDVD (CD/DVD Utilities), $40
• AOL Mail (E-Mail Services), free, service
• ASAP Utilities (Office Utilities), unknown
• ASP.Net AJAX (Program Development), free
• A-Squared (Anti-Spyware), free
• Asterisk (Virtual PBX), free, service
• AT&T CallVantage (Instant Messaging/Telephony), $$, service
• Attensa for Outlook (Office Utilities), $$/year
• Audacity (Media Tools), free, personal favorite!
• AvantGo (Smartphones), free and $/month
• avast! Home Edition (Anti-Virus), free, personal favorite!
• AVG Free Edition (Anti-Virus), free, personal favorite!
• AWStats (Web Site Log File Analyzers), free, personal favorite!
• Axiom (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), free, personal favorite!
   
• BartPE (System/File Recovery), free
• Basic State (Web Site Monitoring Services), free, service
• BeInSync (File Synchronization), free
• Belarc Advisor (System Utilities), free
• Bells and Whistles for Outlook (Office Utilities), $$
• Better Fonts (Fonts), free, service
• BitLocker Drive Encryption (Encryption), free with Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate edition
• Blacklight (Anti-Spyware), free
• Broadband Reports Tools (Network Utilities), free, service, personal favorite!
   
• c|net News.com (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• Cartoon Network Free Games (Games for Kids), free, service, personal favorite!
• Caspio Bridge (Database), $/MB, service
• CCleaner (System Cleaning), free, personal favorite!
• Celestia (Astronomy/Planetarium), free, personal favorite!
• ChangerXP (Desktop Utilities), free
• ChatZilla (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free
• Clipboard Recorder (Office Utilities), free
• Club Penguin (Games for Kids), free and paid versions, service
• CNN (News & Information), free, service
• ColorfulTabs (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Comodo Firewall Pro (Network Firewalls), free, personal favorite!
• ConnectionStrings (Program Development), free, service, personal favorite!
• Copernic Desktop Search (Desktop Search), free
• Corel Paint Shop Pro (Image Editing), $$, personal favorite!
• Crave (Technology News), free, service
• Creature House Expression (Image Editing), free
• Crosseyes (Office Utilities), $$
• Crypto-Gram Newsletter (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• CutePDF (PDF Document Tools), free and $$
• Cygwin (Virtual Machines & Software), free, personal favorite!
   
• DAEMON Tools (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• Default Password List (Hardware Support), free, service
• Default Router Passwords (Hardware Support), free, service
• Desktop Sidebar (Widgets/Sidebars), free
• Directory Opus (File Managers), $$
• Diskeeper (Disk Utilities), $30
• DistroWatch (Operating Systems), free, service, personal favorite!
• DivX Player (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• DNS Stuff (Domain Name Services), free, service, personal favorite!
• Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) (File Transfer), free, personal favorite!
• Download Statusbar (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Drive Key Boot Utility (System Utilities), free
• DVD 43 (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• DVD Decrypter (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• DVD Shrink (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• DVDFab (CD/DVD Utilities), $$
• DynDNS (Domain Name Services), free and $$, service
   
• EasyRecovery Professional (System/File Recovery), $$$ to $$$$
• eCriteria (Database), $/month, service
• Emergency Boot CD (EBCD) (System/File Recovery), free, personal favorite!
• eMule (File Sharing), free, personal favorite!
• Encarta (Encyclopedias), $$, personal favorite!
• Encyclopędia Britannica (Encyclopedias), $$, personal favorite!
• Entellium (Customer Relationship Management), $$/user/month, service
• EverNote for Windows (Note Taking), free
• Exact Audio Copy (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• Exchange My Mail (E-Mail Services), $10 per mailbox per month, service, personal favorite!
• ExplorerXP (File Managers), free
• Exposure (Image Processing), $$$
   
• Fedora Project (Operating Systems), free, personal favorite!
• Ferret (Network Security), free
• File Hippo (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• File Ratings (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service, personal favorite!
• File Scavenger (System/File Recovery), $50
• File Shredder (File Utilities), free
• FileZilla (File Transfer), free, personal favorite!
• Filmloop (Desktop Utilities), free
• Flash Games.net (Games for Kids), free, service, personal favorite!
• Flock (Web Browsers), free
• Fluid Mask (Image Processing), $$$
• Fontica (Fonts), free, service
• Forecastfox (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Foxit (PDF Document Tools), free and $$
• Free Software List from Chi3 Hacklab (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• Freeware Genius (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• FreewarePlanet (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• Full Motion Viewer (Media Players), $$, personal favorite!
• Futuremark Benchmarks (System Utilities), free and $$$
   
• GIMPshop (Image Editing), free
• Gizmodo (Technology News), free, service
• Glubble (Web Browsing Extensions), free
• Gmail (E-Mail Services), free, service, personal favorite!
• Go Daddy (Domain Name Services), $$, service, personal favorite!
• Google (Web Search), free, service, personal favorite!
• Google Blogger (Blogging), free, service
• Google Desktop (Desktop Search), free
• Google Docs & Spreadsheets (Office Suites), free, service
• Google Earth (Geographic Information), free, personal favorite!
• Google Firefox Extensions (Web Browsing Extensions), free
• Google Labs (Web Search), free, service
• Google Maps for Smartphones (Smartphones), free, personal favorite!
• Google Products (Web Search), free, service
• Google SketchUp (Image Editing), free, personal favorite!
• Google Talk (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free
• Google Toolbar (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• GoToMeeting (Virtual Meetings), $$/month, service
• GotVMail (Virtual PBX), $$ to $$$/month, service
   
• H3 (Recruiting), unknown $, service
• Hallo Northern Sky (HNSKY) (Astronomy/Planetarium), free, personal favorite!
• HijackThis (Anti-Spyware), free, personal favorite!
• Home Planet (Geographic Information), free, personal favorite!
• Hotmail (E-Mail Services), free, service
• HyperOffice (Office Suites), $/month/user, service
• Hyperwords (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
   
• iBackup (File Backup & Storage), $/GB, service
• iGoogle (Personalized Home Pages), free, service, personal favorite!
• Image Robot (Image Processing), $$, personal favorite!
• Image Zoom (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• ImageMagick (Image Processing), free, personal favorite!
• IMDB (News & Information), free and $$/month, service, personal favorite!
• InfoWorld News (Technology News), free, service
• Inno Setup (Program Development), free
• InstallShield Express (Program Development), $$$, personal favorite!
• International Color Consortium Version 4 Test (Web Browsing Extensions), free, service
• Internet Explorer (Web Browsers), free with Windows
• Intuit QuickBase (Database), $$$/month, service
• Iomega iStorage (File Backup & Storage), $/GB, service
• iRotate (Hardware Support), free, personal favorite!
• iTunes (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• iTWire (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
   
• Jaekmonitor (Web Site Monitoring Services), free, service
• Jaws PDF Desktop Suite (PDF Document Tools), $$
• Jobster (Recruiting), unknown $, service
• JotSpot (Wikis), $/month, service
• Juice (Media Players), free
   
• KnowledgeTree (Document Management), free and $$$$
   
• Languard Network Security Scanner (Network Security), $$$
• Laptop Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• Leak Test (Network Firewalls), free, service
• Linkedin (Recruiting), $$/month, service
• LiveJournal (Blogging), free, service
• LogMeIn Free (Remote Computer Control), free, service
• LogMeIn Hamachi (Network Security), free
• Lyrics Plugin (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
   
• Machine Wash Image Filters I, II and III (Image Processing), $$ each
• MagicISO (CD/DVD Utilities), $30, personal favorite!
• MailBigFile (File Transfer), free, service
• Make Use Of (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service
• Maple (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), $$$
• Mathematica (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), $$$
• Maxima (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), free, personal favorite!
• Maximum PC Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• MaxThink (Outlining), $$, personal favorite!
• Meez (Image Editing), free, service
• Memo to Me (Office Utilities), free and $$, service
• Metasploit Project (Network Security), free
• Microsoft Developer Network (Program Development), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Digital Image Suite (Desktop Publishing), $$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft MapPoint (Geographic Information), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Office (Office Suites), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Office Live Meeting (Virtual Meetings), cents/minute, service
• Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP (Image Processing), free
• Microsoft SharePoint Designer (Web Page Editing), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft SQL Server (Database), $$$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Streets & Trips (Geographic Information), $$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium (Encyclopedias), $$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Virtual PC (Virtual Machines & Software), free, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Visual Studio (Program Development), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Visual Studio Express Editions (Program Development), free
• Mohawke's Best of the Best Free and Open Source Software Collection (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• Monster.com (Recruiting), unknown $, service
• Motorola Q Application Catalog (Smartphones), free, service
• Mozilla Firefox (Web Browsers), free, personal favorite!
• Mozilla Thunderbird (E-Mail Clients), free
• Mozy Online Backup (File Backup & Storage), free and $$, service
• MS Office Live (Office Suites), free beta, service
• MSN Live Search (Smartphones), free
• MSN Screensaver (Desktop Utilities), free beta
• MSNBC (News & Information), free, service, personal favorite!
• MSNBC Mobile (Smartphones), free
• Mysaifu JVM (Smartphones), free
• MyWanIP (Network Utilities), free, service
   
• NASA World Wind (Geographic Information), free
• Nero Burning ROM (CD/DVD Utilities), usually free, personal favorite!
• Nessus (Network Security), free
• NetStumbler (Network Security), free
• Netsuite (Customer Relationship Management), various, service
• Netvibes (Personalized Home Pages), free, service
• Network Magic (Network Utilities), free
• Network Solutions WHOIS (Domain Name Services), free, service, personal favorite!
• New York Times (News & Information), free, service
• newsmap (News & Information), free, service, personal favorite!
• Nick Jr. Playtime Games (Games for Kids), free, service
• Nitro PDF Professional (PDF Document Tools), $$, personal favorite!
• nLite (System Cleaning), free
• NMAP (Network Security), free, personal favorite!
• Norton AntiVirus (Anti-Virus), $$, personal favorite!
• Norton Ghost (Disk Utilities), $$, personal favorite!
• Norton PartitionMagic (Disk Utilities), $$, personal favorite!
• Notebook Hardware Control (Hardware Support), free
• nullsoft scriptable install system (Program Development), free
• Nvu Web Page Editor (Web Page Editing), free
   
• Offline NT Password and Registry Editor (System/File Recovery), free
• OmniPage (Document Management), $$$, personal favorite!
• Onebox (Virtual PBX), $$/month, service
• Open Clip Art Library (Desktop Publishing), free, service, personal favorite!
• Open Designs (Web Site Templates), free, service
• Open Source Alternative (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service, personal favorite!
• Open Source Web Design (Web Site Templates), free, service
• Open Universe (Astronomy/Planetarium), free, personal favorite!
• OpenOffice.org (Office Suites), free, personal favorite!
• OpenSolaris (Operating Systems), free
• OpenSourceMark (System Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• openSUSE (Operating Systems), free
• OpenVPN (Network Security), free, personal favorite!
• Opera (Web Browsers), free, personal favorite!
• Opera Mobile (Smartphones), free trial beta
• ophcrack (System/File Recovery), $$$ to $$$$
• Outlook Express (E-Mail Clients), free with Windows, personal favorite!
• Outpost Firewall Pro (Network Firewalls), free
• Ovation (Presentations), $$
• Oxford English Dictionary (Dictionaries), $$$, personal favorite!
   
• Pageflakes (Personalized Home Pages), free, service
• PaperPort (Document Management), $$, personal favorite!
• PayCycle (Payroll), $$/month, service
• PayPal (Personal Finance), $, service, personal favorite!
• PBS Kids Games (Games for Kids), free, service
• PC Decrapifier, The (System Cleaning), free, personal favorite!
• PC Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• PC World Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• Pdf995 (PDF Document Tools), free and $
• PDFCreator (PDF Document Tools), free, personal favorite!
• PGP Desktop Professional (Encryption), $200, personal favorite!
• PGP International (Encryption), free, personal favorite!
• PGP Whole Disk Encryption (Encryption), $150, personal favorite!
• Photo Story (Image Managers), free
• PhotoPlus (Image Editing), free
• Photozoom Professional (Image Processing), $$$
• Picasa (Image Managers), free, personal favorite!
• PixelMill (Web Site Templates), $$, service
• Populair.eu (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service
• popurls (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service
• PortableApps Suite (Virtual Machines & Software), free
• Power Utility Pak (Office Utilities), $$
• PowerDVD (Media Players), usually free, personal favorite!
• Preclick Silver Photo Manager (Image Managers), free
• Project IP (Network Utilities), free, service
• Protopage (Personalized Home Pages), free, service
• PuTTY (Remote Computer Control), free, personal favorite!
   
• QuickBooks Payroll (Payroll), various $, service
• Quicken (Personal Finance), $$, personal favorite!
   
• Rapid-PI (Office Utilities), $$
• Rawshooter Essentials 2005 (Image Processing), free
• Remote Reboot (System Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• RM Recorder and WM Recorder (Media Tools), $$
• Roboform Pro (Web Browsing Extensions), $$
   
• Safari (Web Browsers), free
• SAGE (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), free
• Salesforce.com (Customer Relationship Management), $$$/year, service
• SBC Archiver (File Compression), free
• SeaMonkey (Web Browsers), free
• SecureZip (File Compression), free for now, personal favorite!
• Sharpener Pro (Image Processing), $$$
• Shields Up (Network Security), free, service
• Skype (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free and $$
• SlashDot (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• Slogger (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• SmartSync (File Synchronization), $35, personal favorite!
• Snagit (Office Utilities), $$
• SocialText (Wikis), $$/month
• Software Virtualization Solution (Virtual Machines & Software), $$$
• SpamPal (E-Mail Spam Filters), free
• SpeakEasy Speed Test (Network Utilities), free, service
• SpeedFan (Hardware Support), free
• SpeedTest.net (Network Utilities), free, service, personal favorite!
• SphereXP (Desktop Utilities), free beta
• Spiceworks (Network Utilities), free
• Spybot Search & Destroy (Anti-Spyware), free
• Start.com (Personalized Home Pages), free, service
• Steadyhand (Media Tools), $$
• Stellarium (Astronomy/Planetarium), free
• StumbleUpon (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Sun Java Runtime Environment (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall (Network Firewalls), free
• SurePayroll (Payroll), unknown $, service
• Sveasoft Talisman (Hardware Support), $20/year, personal favorite!
• Sygate Personal Firewall (Network Firewalls), free
• Symantec pcAnywhere (Remote Computer Control), $$$, personal favorite!
• Symantec Security Scan (Anti-Virus), free, service, personal favorite!
• Symantec WinFax (Faxing), $$$, personal favorite!
• SyncBack (File Backup & Storage), free and $$
• Sysinternals (System Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• SystemRescueCd (System/File Recovery), free
   
• TCPView (Network Security), free
• TemplateMonster (Web Site Templates), $$ to $$$$, service
• Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Connection (Remote Computer Control), free, personal favorite!
• The Green Head (Technology News), free, service
• The Inquirer (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• The Linux Alternative Project (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• The OSSwin project (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• The Register (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• The Webware 100 Awards: The 100 best Web 2.0 Sites and Services (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service, personal favorite!
• THEWEBLIST.net (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service
• ThinkFree Office (Office Suites), free, service
• TiVoToGo (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• TomeRaider (Book Viewers), $$, personal favorite!
• Torpark (Web Browsers), free, personal favorite!
• Trend Micro HouseCall (Anti-Virus), free, service, personal favorite!
• Trillian Basic (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free
• TrueCrypt (Encryption), free
• Tubes (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free and $-$$/month
• TurboTax (Personal Finance), $$, personal favorite!
• TweakUI (Desktop Utilities), free
• TypePad (Blogging), $/month, service
   
• UDPixel (Hardware Support), free
• Ultimate Boot CD (System/File Recovery), free
• Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (System/File Recovery), free
• UltraVNC (Remote Computer Control), free, personal favorite!
• Unlocker (File Utilities), free
• US-CERT Mailing Lists (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
   
• Verizon Wireless VZAccess Manager (Smartphones), $15/month, personal favorite!
• VersaCheck Check Printing (Personal Finance), $$, personal favorite!
• ViaWiki (Wikis), $/month, service
• Video Cleaner (Media Tools), $$
• Video Converter (Media Tools), $$
• Videora Conversion Tools (Media Tools), free
• Vim (Text Editing), free, personal favorite!
• VirtualPBX (Virtual PBX), $/month, service
• Vista Customization Pack (Windows Vista Upgrade), free
• Vista Transformation Pack (Windows Vista Upgrade), free
• Visual Basic (Program Development), $$$, personal favorite!
• VLC media Player (Media Players), free
• VMWare (Virtual Machines & Software), free
• Vonage (Instant Messaging/Telephony), $$, personal favorite!
   
• Web Developer (Web Browsing Extensions), free
• WebEx Meeting Center (Virtual Meetings), $$/month, service
• WebRoot Spy Sweeper (Anti-Spyware), $$, personal favorite!
• WikiMatrix (Wikis), free, service, personal favorite!
• Wikipedia (Encyclopedias), free, service, personal favorite!
• Winamp (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• WinDirStat (Disk Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• Windowblinds (Desktop Utilities), free and $$
• Windows Defender (Anti-Spyware), free, personal favorite!
• Windows Desktop Search (Desktop Search), free, personal favorite!
• Windows Live Messenger (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free, personal favorite!
• Windows Movie Maker (Media Tools), free
• Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools (System Utilities), free
• Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor (Windows Vista Upgrade), free, personal favorite!
• WinStars (Astronomy/Planetarium), free and $
• WinZip (File Compression), $$
• Wireshark (Network Security), free, personal favorite!
• Wordpipe (Office Utilities), $$/$$$
   
• X1 Desktop Edition (Desktop Search), $$
• Xdrive (File Backup & Storage), $/GB, service
• XXCopy (File Utilities), free
   
• Yahoo! Alerts (News & Information), free, service, personal favorite!
• Yahoo! Desktop Search (Desktop Search), free
• Yahoo! Groups (Collaboration), free, service, personal favorite!
• Yahoo! Mail (E-Mail Services), free, service
• Yahoo! MyWeb (Web Page Annotation), free
• Yahoo! Widgets (Widgets/Sidebars), free
• You Send It (File Transfer), free, service
• Youperform (Office Utilities), $$
   
• Zimbra (E-Mail Servers), free
• ZipGenius (File Compression), free, personal favorite!
• Zoho Office Suite (Office Suites), free, service
• ZoneAlarm (Network Firewalls), free, personal favorite!

Added 7/16/2007:

• Google Toolbar (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Google Firefox Extensions (Web Browsing Extensions), free
• Google Products (Web Search), free, service
• Google Labs (Web Search), free, service
• IMDB (News & Information), free and $$/month, service, personal favorite!
• Crypto-Gram Newsletter (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• US-CERT Mailing Lists (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• newsmap (News & Information), free, service, personal favorite!
• Accuweather (News & Information), free, service, personal favorite!
• New York Times (News & Information), free, service
• CNN (News & Information), free, service
• MSNBC (News & Information), free, service, personal favorite!
• The Webware 100 Awards: The 100 best Web 2.0 Sites and Services (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service, personal favorite!
• Glubble (Web Browsing Extensions), free
• Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (System/File Recovery), free
• Ultimate Boot CD (System/File Recovery), free
• Tubes (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free and $-$$/month
• THEWEBLIST.net (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service
• The OSSwin project (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• The Linux Alternative Project (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service

Added 7/15/2007:

• The Green Head (Technology News), free, service
• Spiceworks (Network Utilities), free
• Project IP (Network Utilities), free, service
• PortableApps Suite (Virtual Machines & Software), free
• popurls (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service
• Populair.eu (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service
• Open Source Web Design (Web Site Templates), free, service
• Open Source Alternative (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service, personal favorite!
• Open Designs (Web Site Templates), free, service
• Mohawke's Best of the Best Free and Open Source Software Collection (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• Memo to Me (Office Utilities), free and $$, service
• Meez (Image Editing), free, service
• SystemRescueCd (System/File Recovery), free
• nullsoft scriptable install system (Program Development), free
• Aircrack-ng (Network Security), free
• MailBigFile (File Transfer), free, service
• Lyrics Plugin (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• Jaws PDF Desktop Suite (PDF Document Tools), $$
• International Color Consortium Version 4 Test (Web Browsing Extensions), free, service
• Advanced Installer (Program Development), free
• Inno Setup (Program Development), free
• FreewarePlanet (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• Freeware Genius (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• Free Software List from Chi3 Hacklab (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• File Hippo (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• Make Use Of (Favorite/Best Web Sites), free, service
• 100-downloads (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service
• Futuremark Benchmarks (System Utilities), free and $$$
• Fontica (Fonts), free, service
• Default Router Passwords (Hardware Support), free, service
• Default Password List (Hardware Support), free, service
• Better Fonts (Fonts), free, service
• Abstract Fonts (Fonts), free, service
• OpenVPN (Network Security), free, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium (Encyclopedias), $$, personal favorite!
• OpenSourceMark (System Utilities), free, personal favorite!

Added 6/22/2007:

• Download Statusbar (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• ColorfulTabs (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Image Zoom (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• StumbleUpon (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• ChatZilla (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free

Added 6/19/2007:

• Crave (Technology News), free, service
• The Inquirer (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!

Added 6/18/2007:

• Web Developer (Web Browsing Extensions), free
• Hyperwords (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Forecastfox (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Slogger (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• AdBlock Filterset.G Updater (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• AdBlock Plus (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Yahoo! Alerts (News & Information), free, service, personal favorite!
• AOL Mail (E-Mail Services), free, service
• Motorola Q Application Catalog (Smartphones), free, service
• Nitro PDF Professional (PDF Document Tools), $$, personal favorite!
• Gizmodo (Technology News), free, service
• InfoWorld News (Technology News), free, service
• The Register (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• iTWire (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!

Added 6/17/2007:

• Safari (Web Browsers), free
• ASP.Net AJAX (Program Development), free
• Flash Games.net (Games for Kids), free, service, personal favorite!
• Club Penguin (Games for Kids), free and paid versions, service
• PBS Kids Games (Games for Kids), free, service
• Cartoon Network Free Games (Games for Kids), free, service, personal favorite!
• Nick Jr. Playtime Games (Games for Kids), free, service

Added 5/30/2007:

• Video Cleaner (Media Tools), $$
• Video Converter (Media Tools), $$
• RM Recorder and WM Recorder (Media Tools), $$
• Accusplit (Media Tools), $$
• Steadyhand (Media Tools), $$
• Sharpener Pro (Image Processing), $$$
• Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP (Image Processing), free
• Photozoom Professional (Image Processing), $$$
• Adobe DNG Converter (Image Processing), free
• Exposure (Image Processing), $$$
• Fluid Mask (Image Processing), $$$
• Machine Wash Image Filters I, II and III (Image Processing), $$ each
• Rawshooter Essentials 2005 (Image Processing), free
• Windowblinds (Desktop Utilities), free and $$
• SphereXP (Desktop Utilities), free beta
• MSN Screensaver (Desktop Utilities), free beta
• Filmloop (Desktop Utilities), free
• ChangerXP (Desktop Utilities), free

Added 5/27/2007:

• Bells and Whistles for Outlook (Office Utilities), $$
• Youperform (Office Utilities), $$
• Attensa for Outlook (Office Utilities), $$/year
• Power Utility Pak (Office Utilities), $$
• ASAP Utilities (Office Utilities), unknown
• Wordpipe (Office Utilities), $$/$$$
• Rapid-PI (Office Utilities), $$
• Crosseyes (Office Utilities), $$
• MyWanIP (Network Utilities), free, service
• TCPView (Network Security), free
• Languard Network Security Scanner (Network Security), $$$
• Leak Test (Network Firewalls), free, service
• Shields Up (Network Security), free, service
• AnalogX (System Utilities), free
• TweakUI (Desktop Utilities), free
• Trillian Basic (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free
• Directory Opus (File Managers), $$
• Snagit (Office Utilities), $$
• Roboform Pro (Web Browsing Extensions), $$
• X1 Desktop Edition (Desktop Search), $$

Added 5/25/2007:

• Mysaifu JVM (Smartphones), free
• AvantGo (Smartphones), free and $/month
• MSNBC Mobile (Smartphones), free
• Opera Mobile (Smartphones), free trial beta

Added 5/6/2007:

• QuickBooks Payroll (Payroll), various $, service
• SurePayroll (Payroll), unknown $, service
• PayCycle (Payroll), $$/month, service
• Monster.com (Recruiting), unknown $, service
• Linkedin (Recruiting), $$/month, service
• Jobster (Recruiting), unknown $, service
• H3 (Recruiting), unknown $, service
• Salesforce.com (Customer Relationship Management), $$$/year, service
• Netsuite (Customer Relationship Management), various, service
• Entellium (Customer Relationship Management), $$/user/month, service
• MS Office Live (Office Suites), free beta, service
• Intuit QuickBase (Database), $$$/month, service
• HyperOffice (Office Suites), $/month/user, service
• eCriteria (Database), $/month, service
• Caspio Bridge (Database), $/MB, service
• JotSpot (Wikis), $/month, service
• ViaWiki (Wikis), $/month, service
• SocialText (Wikis), $$/month
• Xdrive (File Backup & Storage), $/GB, service
• Iomega iStorage (File Backup & Storage), $/GB, service
• iBackup (File Backup & Storage), $/GB, service
• TypePad (Blogging), $/month, service
• LiveJournal (Blogging), free, service
• Google Blogger (Blogging), free, service
• GoToMeeting (Virtual Meetings), $$/month, service
• Microsoft Office Live Meeting (Virtual Meetings), cents/minute, service
• WebEx Meeting Center (Virtual Meetings), $$/month, service
• VirtualPBX (Virtual PBX), $/month, service
• Onebox (Virtual PBX), $$/month, service
• GotVMail (Virtual PBX), $$ to $$$/month, service
• Asterisk (Virtual PBX), free, service
• AT&T CallVantage (Instant Messaging/Telephony), $$, service
• MSN Live Search (Smartphones), free

Added 5/5/2007:

• Metasploit Project (Network Security), free
• Google Docs & Spreadsheets (Office Suites), free, service
• Zoho Office Suite (Office Suites), free, service
• CutePDF (PDF Document Tools), free and $$
• Google Maps for Smartphones (Smartphones), free, personal favorite!

Added 5/4/2007:

• Offline NT Password and Registry Editor (System/File Recovery), free
• Emergency Boot CD (EBCD) (System/File Recovery), free, personal favorite!
• VMWare (Virtual Machines & Software), free
• Sun Java Runtime Environment (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!

Added 5/3/2007:

• NASA World Wind (Geographic Information), free
• WinStars (Astronomy/Planetarium), free and $
• Stellarium (Astronomy/Planetarium), free
• Open Universe (Astronomy/Planetarium), free, personal favorite!
• Home Planet (Geographic Information), free, personal favorite!
• Hallo Northern Sky (HNSKY) (Astronomy/Planetarium), free, personal favorite!
• Celestia (Astronomy/Planetarium), free, personal favorite!

Added 5/1/2007:

• DVDFab (CD/DVD Utilities), $$
• Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools (System Utilities), free
• SAGE (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), free
• Axiom (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), free, personal favorite!

Added 4/30/2007:

• Verizon Wireless VZAccess Manager (Smartphones), $15/month, personal favorite!

Added 4/29/2007:

• DynDNS (Domain Name Services), free and $$, service
• Go Daddy (Domain Name Services), $$, service, personal favorite!

Added 4/28/2007:

• PayPal (Personal Finance), $, service, personal favorite!
• Hotmail (E-Mail Services), free, service
• Yahoo! Mail (E-Mail Services), free, service
• Gmail (E-Mail Services), free, service, personal favorite!
• Yahoo! Groups (Collaboration), free, service, personal favorite!
• Vonage (Instant Messaging/Telephony), $$, personal favorite!
• Skype (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free and $$
• Google Talk (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free
• XXCopy (File Utilities), free
• Open Clip Art Library (Desktop Publishing), free, service, personal favorite!
• Alexa Internet (Domain Name Services), free, service, personal favorite!
• Network Solutions WHOIS (Domain Name Services), free, service, personal favorite!

Added 4/27/2007:

• Protopage (Personalized Home Pages), free, service
• Pageflakes (Personalized Home Pages), free, service
• Netvibes (Personalized Home Pages), free, service
• Start.com (Personalized Home Pages), free, service
• MaxThink (Outlining), $$, personal favorite!
• SecureZip (File Compression), free for now, personal favorite!
• SBC Archiver (File Compression), free
• Google (Web Search), free, service, personal favorite!
• ConnectionStrings (Program Development), free, service, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Visual Studio Express Editions (Program Development), free
• SpeakEasy Speed Test (Network Utilities), free, service
• TemplateMonster (Web Site Templates), $$ to $$$$, service
• PixelMill (Web Site Templates), $$, service
• SpeedTest.net (Network Utilities), free, service, personal favorite!
• SlashDot (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!

Added 4/15/2007:

• Broadband Reports Tools (Network Utilities), free, service, personal favorite!

Added 4/14/2007:

• Ferret (Network Security), free

Added 4/13/2007:

• Jaekmonitor (Web Site Monitoring Services), free, service
• Basic State (Web Site Monitoring Services), free, service
• Remote Reboot (System Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• PC Decrapifier, The (System Cleaning), free, personal favorite!
• Sysinternals (System Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• AWStats (Web Site Log File Analyzers), free, personal favorite!

Added 4/7/2007:

• 1Click DVD Copy Pro (CD/DVD Utilities), $80
• 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities, The (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service, personal favorite!
• 7-Zip (File Compression), free, personal favorite!
• Adobe Flash Player (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Adobe Shockwave Player (Web Browsing Extensions), free, personal favorite!
• Alfresco (Document Management), free and $$$$
• Alt-Tab Replacement Power Toy (Windows Vista Upgrade), free
• BitLocker Drive Encryption (Encryption), free with Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate edition
• c|net News.com (Technology News), free, service, personal favorite!
• Comodo Firewall Pro (Network Firewalls), free, personal favorite!
• Desktop Sidebar (Widgets/Sidebars), free
• DistroWatch (Operating Systems), free, service, personal favorite!
• DNS Stuff (Domain Name Services), free, service, personal favorite!
• DVD 43 (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• EasyRecovery Professional (System/File Recovery), $$$ to $$$$
• Exact Audio Copy (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• Flock (Web Browsers), free
• Google SketchUp (Image Editing), free, personal favorite!
• iGoogle (Personalized Home Pages), free, service, personal favorite!
• Image Robot (Image Processing), $$, personal favorite!
• ImageMagick (Image Processing), free, personal favorite!
• iRotate (Hardware Support), free, personal favorite!
• KnowledgeTree (Document Management), free and $$$$
• Laptop Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• LogMeIn Hamachi (Network Security), free
• Maple (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), $$$
• Mathematica (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), $$$
• Maxima (Mathematics/Computer Algebra), free, personal favorite!
• Maximum PC Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• Mozy Online Backup (File Backup & Storage), free and $$, service
• Norton AntiVirus (Anti-Virus), $$, personal favorite!
• Norton PartitionMagic (Disk Utilities), $$, personal favorite!
• OmniPage (Document Management), $$$, personal favorite!
• openSUSE (Operating Systems), free
• ophcrack (System/File Recovery), $$$ to $$$$
• Ovation (Presentations), $$
• PaperPort (Document Management), $$, personal favorite!
• PC Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• PC World Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• PGP Whole Disk Encryption (Encryption), $150, personal favorite!
• Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine (Technology News), $$/year, service, personal favorite!
• Software Virtualization Solution (Virtual Machines & Software), $$$
• Sveasoft Talisman (Hardware Support), $20/year, personal favorite!
• Symantec Security Scan (Anti-Virus), free, service, personal favorite!
• Symantec WinFax (Faxing), $$$, personal favorite!
• Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Connection (Remote Computer Control), free, personal favorite!
• TiVoToGo (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• Torpark (Web Browsers), free, personal favorite!
• Trend Micro HouseCall (Anti-Virus), free, service, personal favorite!
• TurboTax (Personal Finance), $$, personal favorite!
• Vista Customization Pack (Windows Vista Upgrade), free
• Vista Transformation Pack (Windows Vista Upgrade), free
• WebRoot Spy Sweeper (Anti-Spyware), $$, personal favorite!
• WikiMatrix (Wikis), free, service, personal favorite!
• Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor (Windows Vista Upgrade), free, personal favorite!
• Wireshark (Network Security), free, personal favorite!
• Yahoo! Widgets (Widgets/Sidebars), free
• Zimbra (E-Mail Servers), free

Added 2/20/2007:

• Ad-Aware SE Personal (Anti-Spyware), free
• AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic (Anti-Virus), free
• AnyDVD (CD/DVD Utilities), $40
• A-Squared (Anti-Spyware), free
• BartPE (System/File Recovery), free
• BeInSync (File Synchronization), free
• Belarc Advisor (System Utilities), free
• Blacklight (Anti-Spyware), free
• CCleaner (System Cleaning), free, personal favorite!
• Clipboard Recorder (Office Utilities), free
• Creature House Expression (Image Editing), free
• Diskeeper (Disk Utilities), $30
• Drive Key Boot Utility (System Utilities), free
• EverNote for Windows (Note Taking), free
• ExplorerXP (File Managers), free
• Fedora Project (Operating Systems), free, personal favorite!
• File Scavenger (System/File Recovery), $50
• File Shredder (File Utilities), free
• FileZilla (File Transfer), free, personal favorite!
• Foxit (PDF Document Tools), free and $$
• GIMPshop (Image Editing), free
• Google Desktop (Desktop Search), free
• HijackThis (Anti-Spyware), free, personal favorite!
• Internet Explorer (Web Browsers), free with Windows
• Juice (Media Players), free
• LogMeIn Free (Remote Computer Control), free, service
• Mozilla Thunderbird (E-Mail Clients), free
• Nessus (Network Security), free
• NetStumbler (Network Security), free
• nLite (System Cleaning), free
• NMAP (Network Security), free, personal favorite!
• Notebook Hardware Control (Hardware Support), free
• OpenSolaris (Operating Systems), free
• Outlook Express (E-Mail Clients), free with Windows, personal favorite!
• Outpost Firewall Pro (Network Firewalls), free
• Pdf995 (PDF Document Tools), free and $
• PGP Desktop Professional (Encryption), $200, personal favorite!
• PGP International (Encryption), free, personal favorite!
• Photo Story (Image Managers), free
• PhotoPlus (Image Editing), free
• Preclick Silver Photo Manager (Image Managers), free
• SeaMonkey (Web Browsers), free
• SpamPal (E-Mail Spam Filters), free
• SpeedFan (Hardware Support), free
• Spybot Search & Destroy (Anti-Spyware), free
• Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall (Network Firewalls), free
• Sygate Personal Firewall (Network Firewalls), free
• SyncBack (File Backup & Storage), free and $$
• ThinkFree Office (Office Suites), free, service
• TomeRaider (Book Viewers), $$, personal favorite!
• UDPixel (Hardware Support), free
• Unlocker (File Utilities), free
• Videora Conversion Tools (Media Tools), free
• VLC media Player (Media Players), free
• Windows Movie Maker (Media Tools), free
• Yahoo! Desktop Search (Desktop Search), free
• Yahoo! MyWeb (Web Page Annotation), free
• ZipGenius (File Compression), free, personal favorite!

Added 11/22/2006:

• ActiveSync (Smartphones), free, personal favorite!
• Adobe Acrobat (PDF Document Tools), $$$, personal favorite!
• Adobe Reader (PDF Document Tools), free, personal favorite!
• Audacity (Media Tools), free, personal favorite!
• avast! Home Edition (Anti-Virus), free, personal favorite!
• AVG Free Edition (Anti-Virus), free, personal favorite!
• Copernic Desktop Search (Desktop Search), free
• Corel Paint Shop Pro (Image Editing), $$, personal favorite!
• Cygwin (Virtual Machines & Software), free, personal favorite!
• DAEMON Tools (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• DivX Player (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) (File Transfer), free, personal favorite!
• DVD Decrypter (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• DVD Shrink (CD/DVD Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• eMule (File Sharing), free, personal favorite!
• Encarta (Encyclopedias), $$, personal favorite!
• Encyclopędia Britannica (Encyclopedias), $$, personal favorite!
• Exchange My Mail (E-Mail Services), $10 per mailbox per month, service, personal favorite!
• File Ratings (Favorite/Best Software Lists), free, service, personal favorite!
• Full Motion Viewer (Media Players), $$, personal favorite!
• Google Earth (Geographic Information), free, personal favorite!
• InstallShield Express (Program Development), $$$, personal favorite!
• iTunes (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• MagicISO (CD/DVD Utilities), $30, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Developer Network (Program Development), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Digital Image Suite (Desktop Publishing), $$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft MapPoint (Geographic Information), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Office (Office Suites), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft SharePoint Designer (Web Page Editing), $$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft SQL Server (Database), $$$$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Streets & Trips (Geographic Information), $$, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Virtual PC (Virtual Machines & Software), free, personal favorite!
• Microsoft Visual Studio (Program Development), $$$, personal favorite!
• Mozilla Firefox (Web Browsers), free, personal favorite!
• Nero Burning ROM (CD/DVD Utilities), usually free, personal favorite!
• Network Magic (Network Utilities), free
• Norton Ghost (Disk Utilities), $$, personal favorite!
• Nvu Web Page Editor (Web Page Editing), free
• OpenOffice.org (Office Suites), free, personal favorite!
• Opera (Web Browsers), free, personal favorite!
• Oxford English Dictionary (Dictionaries), $$$, personal favorite!
• PDFCreator (PDF Document Tools), free, personal favorite!
• Picasa (Image Managers), free, personal favorite!
• PowerDVD (Media Players), usually free, personal favorite!
• PuTTY (Remote Computer Control), free, personal favorite!
• Quicken (Personal Finance), $$, personal favorite!
• SmartSync (File Synchronization), $35, personal favorite!
• Symantec pcAnywhere (Remote Computer Control), $$$, personal favorite!
• TrueCrypt (Encryption), free
• UltraVNC (Remote Computer Control), free, personal favorite!
• VersaCheck Check Printing (Personal Finance), $$, personal favorite!
• Vim (Text Editing), free, personal favorite!
• Visual Basic (Program Development), $$$, personal favorite!
• Wikipedia (Encyclopedias), free, service, personal favorite!
• Winamp (Media Players), free, personal favorite!
• WinDirStat (Disk Utilities), free, personal favorite!
• Windows Defender (Anti-Spyware), free, personal favorite!
• Windows Desktop Search (Desktop Search), free, personal favorite!
• Windows Live Messenger (Instant Messaging/Telephony), free, personal favorite!
• WinZip (File Compression), $$
• You Send It (File Transfer), free, service
• ZoneAlarm (Network Firewalls), free, personal favorite!