Freeware - 100% Free Software
Reviews and ratings of quality, hand-picked, websites
Software is pretty expensive these days and if you ha
d to actually buy all the graphics, office, web, security (etc etc) progams you need then it would cost literally thousands of pounds - Photoshop alone would set you back around £500! But luckily you don't need to spend all your hard earned money as there is some great freeware out there that is comparable to the most expensive commercial packages.
Many of the programs we feature are Open Source programs - this is software where you can view the source code, alter it and redistribute it if you like. All the Open Source programs we list are free. Some programs we list are just great little programs written by individuals. Some are freeware programs from commercial software companies, such as AVG, who maybe hope that a certain percentage of satisfied takers will go on to buy their paid for products. We don't mind that - they are giving us free programs, after all!
This is not a definitive list of freeware programs. We have chosen only what we consider to be the best free software out there on the web. You can see what we think of a particular program by the number of "stars" it has. And note, all the programs we list are, at the time of writing, 100% freeware, you do not have to pay for it. Some developers may ask for donations - but that is entirely up to you and how generous you are feeling!
We are constantly looking for new freeware programs to add to the list, so watch this space! If you are looking for something specific and cannot find it here, we recommend you try www.download.com.
Please choose a freeware category from the list below.
Miscellaneous and Hobbies
Astronomy Software
Internet & Communications - Freeware browsers and email clients plus internet telephony, remote control software, FTP and online faxes
Security and Cleaning- Protect your computer clean, running efficiently and free from viruses and malware with these handy freeware programs
Office and Accounting- free word processing software, free accounting software, free payroll, free pdf readers, free desktop publishers and free online faxes.
Graphics - Freeware photo editing, picture viewers & editors, Flash, 3D modelling and animation programs, vector graphics, paint and drawing, panorama stitchers, landscape generator plus a few miscellaneous graphics programs
Media- Freeware video/music players, audio editing, DV editing, converters, podcast manager, DVD maker and burners
Web Editing - Freeware WYSIWYG and text editors
Utilities Freeware - Freeware Zip programs, PDF readers and Screen Capture utility
Latest Freeware Software Reviews
PhotoFiltre (Free Version)
• www.photofiltre.com
Program Type: Freeware Photo Editing
(Look down the left had menu under Freeware for the free version). The layout of this program is a little like Photoshop, but with no layers. On the other hand, you can adjust brightness, contrast, colours, shadows, replace colour, transformations, batch processing, and lots more. Plus many artistic filters. There is even a basic drawing tool palette which includes a clone tool. Very easy to use and fast loading. The paid for version has more features and is not expensive. Plug ins and tutorials available on the website. From the web developer Antonio Da Cruz.
Platform: Windows
Paint.net
• www.getpaint.net
Program Type: Freeware Photo Editing/Paint Program
Despite the name (it started life as a small paint program), this is in fact a photo editing program as well as a paint program, with all the usual photo editing and paint tools, including layers. Fast loading, this is a very easy program to get to grips with.
Online community with tutorials and plugins.
Platform: Windows
Advanced Effects Maker
• www.effectmaker.com
Program Type: Freeware Flash and Javascript Effects
The free edition (there are 2 other paid for options) have 40 free effects that you can use, including scrollers, text effects, slideshows and menus, plus a few other effects such an analogue clock. All the effects are customisable.
This program is fairly easy to get to grips with - just click on the help tab and then the user guide to get started.
Platforms: Windows, Mac
My Paint
• http://mypaint.intilinux.com
Program Type: Freeware Paint Program
Really nice, no clutter paint program. The interface is very simple and straighforward (no layers) with a large number of preset brushes to get you going. Plus the program allows you to make your own brushes if you want. Canvas size is unlimited and there is support for pressure sensitive tablets. The simplicity of My Paint means it will only open and save .png files - but you can always use something like Gimp to finish off.
There is a tutorial on the website.
Platforms: Windows, Linux
Evolution Software
We have found two free pieces of virtual gene pool software:
Darwin Pond and Gene Pool.
Darwin Pond and Gene Pool are easy enough to install and run. Darwin Pond is a little more sophisticated but we like Gene Pool in that you have the oportunity of segregating the population into halfs and quarters and seeing what happens.
Platform: Windows
There is also an online applet called the Blind Watchmaker Applet. Just start the applet and leave it running. (You do need to keep the browser window open while the applet is running).
PDF Creator
• www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator
Program Type: Open source PDF Creator
Create PDF documents from any program that is able to print. Also you can create PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS and EPS files. And you can merge multiple files into one folder. Unfortunately (and this is a common problem with free PDF makers) hyperlinks do not work in the generated PDF documents - you can get around this by installing PDF-T-Maker (choose help and search for hyperlink for details). This program installs itself into Word and from the Word toolbar you should be able to create a postscript file (.ps) of your document which will work with PDF Creator.
However, I couldn't get it to work! You have to specify a default postcript printer, in this case PDF Creator, but I just get a runtime error each time I try. C'est la vie.
Even more unfortunately, I could get none of the other free pdf makers to even work! So kudos to this one for at least producing something!
Platform: Windows
