Editorial Feature - Free Software Programs

FREE Software Programs

by Michael E. Callahan aka Dr. File Finder

It's the holiday season and at this time of year many people get computers as gifts and often it's their first computer. So, in the spirit of the season, I thought I'd layout a few of the tools and utilities that are availablelabel for free! That's right. I'm going to tell you about software that will help you to edit text, work with graphics, scan for viruses, eliminate spyware, surf the Internet, and much more and it won't cost you a dime.

Text and HTML: For editing text and writing HTML check out NoteTab Light, by Fookes Software. It's a powerful replacement for Notepad that comes with Windows. For a text editor that calls itself "light" NoteTab Light has a lot of great features. For one you'd be amazed how many large documents you can edit at one time. The tabbed interface makes it easy to work with multiple documents and to move between them quickly and easily. NoteTab Light has support for drag and drop, macros, keyboard shortcuts, reformatting, and lots more. The clip tool is a powerful feature that lets you insert text, HTML codes, correct mistakes, and automate editing tasks. The clips are amazing in all that they can do. NoteTab Light comes with a really nice selection of clips so you can see for yourself just how powerful the clip tool is. NoteTab Light has won numerous awards and it's easy to see why. Don't forget, it's also free. Download NoteTab Light NOW!

Graphics: For working with graphics you can't beat IrfanView, by Irfan Skiljan. This powerful graphics program has won many awards and it's been one of my personal favorites for years. I can't even begin to tell you about all the things it can do, but I'll scratch the surface. IrfanView has lots of configurable options so you can make the program work exactly the way you want it to. It can work with an impressive number of graphics file formats, including JPG, GIF, PCX, BMP, TIF, AVI, and lots more. Use it to put on a slideshow of your graphics images or view animated GIF files. You can easily preview files, resize them, sharpen the image, rotate them, and more. IrfanView is both intuitive and easy-to-use so it's perfect for both new and experienced users. You can do batch file conversions, there's support for drag and drop, and you can manipulate your graphics in a variety of way. For example you can use filters like blur, explosion, emboss, and more. I use it for all kinds of things including resizing images, extracting icons from DLL files,adjusting colors, fixing "red eye", and plenty more. This is one program that you have to try to really appreciate. Again, it's also free. Download IrfanView NOW!

Web Surfing: If you're using Windows then your computer automatically has Internet Explorer on it. Millions of user, however, have switched to the highly configurable Mozilla Firefox, by Mozilla Corporation. Besides being free, you can also obtain a huge number of addons to really make your browser your own. Addons and extensions cover everything from handling news, blogs, weather, sports, and plenty more. Firefox is loaded with all the features anyone needs for browsing the Web. It imports your bookmarks from Internet Explorer and makes it easy for you use them. One feature I thought was really cool is the ability to create your own toolbars. Firefox is very secure and very fast. It blocks popups, lets you control your surfing history, manages cookies, lets you see page source in colors, and even lets you read RSS news feeds. All by itself Mozilla Firefox is a fast, secure browser. Addons make it even more flexible and configurable. Give it a try and see what you think. I recommend it. Download Mozilla Firefox NOW!

Photos: For working with all your photos you can use Picasa, by Google, Inc. is a slick program primarily for home users for dealing with all of your digital photo. The program will search your entire computer and find every picture no matter where it lurks on your hard drive. It found some pictures that I'd even forgotten I had. Picasa makes it really easy to drag and drop pictures from one folder to another. That makes it much easier to get all of your photos organized. The program is extremely easy-to-use and has a very intuitive interface. That makes it perfect for both new and experienced users. Picasa makes it snap to rename your photos from the quirky names given to them by digital cameras. The program also makes it easy to put pictures into groups that make sense to you. Give it a try, it's free!

Anti-Virus: You shouldn't run your computer without protection from anti-virus software. So, if you'd like something free take a look at PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition. It provides you with protection against worms, trojans, and viruses. It protects your computer in real-time and is constantly updated. Use it to scan your entire system on a regular basis. Download PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition NOW!

Password Management: Going online you end up having a lot of logins and associated passwords. To help you with that try Free Password Manager Plus, by Billeo . It integrates with Internet Explorer and Firefox so all your login information is right there. The program is really easy-to-use and intuitive. Free Password Manager Plus has some interesting features not found in similar products. You can also use the program to make payments online. The program will even remind you to pay bills. Slick. Another cool feature is the ability to take a screen capture of any Web page you're on. You can then send the resulting picture to family or friends with just a couple of mouse clicks. It also makes it easy for multiple people to use it and keep all their information secure. Give it a try. Download Free Password Manager Plus NOW!

Multi-purpose Utility: Glary Utilities, by Glarysoft, Inc. is an impressive grouping of utilities that you can get for free. This suite of programs cleans, repairs, optimizes, and quite a bit more. In testing it out I used just about every feature. In doing things like cleaning junk files or the Registry the program was impressively fast on my machine. I also really liked the "Context Menu Manager" that let me remove some pesky entries from the context, or right-click, menu. It has a function for removing programs that automatically start with Windows, a memory optimizer, and even a file shredder. In addition, Glary Utilities also has a function that lets you encrypt and decrypt data. That's a powerful addition to your arsenal. You can manage add-ons for Internet Explorer, find folders that are empty, locate duplicate files, and even split and join files. This is a neat option that I fiddle with for quite awhile. It makes it easy to take large files and cut them into smaller, more manageable pieces. This is great for putting large files on multiple discs. I actually used it to put the hard drive of one of my virtual machines onto 4 DVDs. Later I used the join function to put the files back together. Slick! The Glary Utilities are extremely easy-to-use and are perfect for users with all levels of experience. It's a great way to clean up your machine and keep it running smoothly and you can't beat the price. Download Glary Utilities NOW!

Here are some other free tools that you can download with just a click:

• PDF Reader - Foxit Reader Download Foxit Reader NOW!
• Anti SPAM - ChoiceMail Free Download ChoiceMail Free NOW!
• Registry Defrag - Free Registry Defrag Download Free Registry Defrag NOW!
• Email Client - Mozilla Thunderbird Download Mozilla Thunderbird NOW!

There are lots of free software programs available. Just enter free in the Tucows search box. Enjoy!