Eagle's Cool Software Thread

{uZa}Lonesome Eagle · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 1:45 pm Post subject: Eagle's Cool Software Thread

I thought I would start a thread to explore and recommend some of the cool software that I have found and use on a regular basis. I will start out with a bunch of the freeware / open source offerings that I find useful, and will post from time to time as I see new things or new versions are made available.

If you find something I have missed or don't use, post it here. Be sure to include a link so folks can give it a try.

Feel free to post alternatives if you think something is better than what I use, a lot of times it's like choosing toothpaste, so I long ago gave up trying to evangelize about this stuff.

There are a lot of commercial or shareware things I use as well, and I will post them from time to time. All of them can be obtained from BitTorrent or UseNet (Newsgroups) for free to try them out, but I do recommend that if you are going to continue to use them you consider buying legal copies.

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Faststone Image Viewer
This is a free utility which allows you to double click on any picture file to view it, or browse an entire directory of pictures. The interface is very similar to ACDSee (a commercial product), and the program has tons of features to convert, edit, save, make slideshows, all the usual stuff.

http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDownload.htm

{uZa}Lonesome Eagle · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 1:50 pm Post subject:

Faststone Image Resizer
This free program lets you take an entire directory of picture files (sent to you by a friend maybe, or downloaded from your camera) and convert / resize them in one go. Change those huge .bmp files to the lightweight .jpg format, or change all those 1024X768 screenshots to 800X600 for posting online.

http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm

{uZa}Lonesome Eagle · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 1:57 pm Post subject:

TrayColor
A tiny (and free) little utility that does a very useful thing. It lets you click on a pixel anywhere on your Windows screen and it will give you the settings for the color of that pixel. Very handy when you are in Photoshop or working on an HTML page or anywhere that you would like to grab a color to use. Shows the color in HTML code, DEC, HEX, RGB etc... Just copy and paste the appropriate code where you need it.

http://havascript.com/2007/03/16/11/

{uZa}Lonesome Eagle · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:06 pm Post subject:

Audacity
This is probably the most popular free program available for editing or converting sound / music files. A great full featured alternative to the commercial Sony Sound Forge or GoldWave programs.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

{uZa}Lonesome Eagle · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:12 pm Post subject:

VLC Media Player
This is a free media player that has the well deserved reputation of being able to play almost any format you might throw at. It has built in codec support for all the major formats (divx, xvid, wma, mpg, mov, vob etc.) and plays video / movies in a very simple minimalistic interface. It is currently being downloaded at the rate of 2.8 downloads PER SECOND from their web site.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:20 pm Post subject:

uTorrent
A lightweight and full featured free BitTorrent client. Probably the most popular client right now for the P2P file sharing world. There are alternatives like Azureus or BitTornado, but this one is my personal favorite.

http://www.utorrent.com/download.php

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:25 pm Post subject:

FileZilla Client
Everyone needs an FTP client from time to time. This is a free (open source) client that has all the features and security of the commercial CuteFTP.

http://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:31 pm Post subject:

FlleZilla Server
Need to share files with friends or just want a place to host pictures without having to use PhotoBucket? Most ISP's won't let you use a web server (they prefer to charge those trying to run small businesses / web sites from their homes business rates) but you can get around this by setting up a secure FTP server. The free FileZilla Server is a great alternative to the commercial ServU.

http://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=server

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:41 pm Post subject:

Firefox
Ok, this isn't news to anyone... However, I post this to let those who haven't switched to Firefox yet know that the new 3.0 version is days or a week or two at most away from being released. Lots of new features and MUCH faster than 2.x. I really do recommend getting away from Internet Explorer and give the open source Firefox a try.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-rc.html

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:46 pm Post subject:

SongBird
This is a spiffy free program that let's you search the web for .mp3 music files, listen and download them. This is geared toward those who like to listen to new and alternative music groups who are using the net to gain popularity, not to download the latest Green Day commercial album. Nice when you are bored and just want to explore some great music that isn't in the mainstream.

http://getsongbird.com/

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject:

Open Office
Also not news to most folks, but I do recommend that you take a look at the Open Source alternative to Microsoft Office. Loads and saves MS Office files, so you don't have to worry about compatibility. Full featured, and best of all completely free.

http://www.openoffice.org/

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:04 pm Post subject:

Belarc Advisor
Excellent free program to build (and display in your web browser) a detailed report on your computer. All the system specifications, programs and services running, and a list of all installed software with locations. Great for tracking down that malware or just for posting in a support ticket when you are getting help with a problem.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:09 pm Post subject:

CCleaner
This is one of the most downloaded utilities on the web. Formerly known as "Crap Cleaner", this free program will search out and delete all useless stuff clogging up your hard drive. Temporary files, browser cache, all the junk that collects...

http://www.ccleaner.com/download

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:22 pm Post subject:

CPU-Z
This free little program gives you a very detailed view of your system processor (CPU), motherboard, and memory. Very nice when you are looking to upgrade and need specifications or just want to brag...

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

{uZa}Lonesome Eagle · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:29 pm Post subject:

ObjectDock
This is a great program for those who want some bells and whistles in XP or Vista. It allows you to create "docks" on your desktop with icons to your folders and programs, rather than digging through the start menu in Windows to find things you want to run. Lots of gee-whiz with expanding icons (like the docks in MAC OSX) and all the eye candy you could ever want.

This is the free version. The commercial version has a few extra features and you might want to upgrade if you really like ObjectDock, but the free version is very cool.

http://www.stardock.com/products/ObjectDock/downloads.asp