A list of free utilties for Windows

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

There are many alternatives to the standard, mainstream Windows utilties. I have seen alternatives mentioned to Office, PDF, viewers, registry editor, defragmentation, screen capture etc. However, the lists are strewn about in dozens of threads. How about we make one big and orderly thread, which compiles the stuff?

I will begin.

Proved, worthy, free alternatives to standard MS utilities:

PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY DO YOU RECOMMEND THE PARTICULAR SOFTWARE AND PROVIDE LINKS.

Open Office

http://www.openoffice.org/

Open Office functions on almost the same level as the standard Office. The GUI is clean and the software runs smoothly. The changeover is almost immediate.

IrfanView

http://www.irfanview.com/

IrfanView can easily replace the standard Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. It can also be customized with additional plugins. In addition to images manipulation, IrfanView is also a media player.

Foxit Reader

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

Foxit Reader is a solid alternative to Acrobad Reader; runs faster and lighter and has a much smaller installation footprint on the disk.

Could you please continue and add your stuff? Let's make a nice useful list. I would be interested in alternative registry tools, notepad, explorer, screen capture, defragmentation tools, and more.

Mrk

[stapp]

I recommend Picasa 2.
This software organises your digital photos, even uploads from your camera only taking photos you haven't already uploaded. Fully editable, with features such as timelines and special effects. Exceptionally easy to use- don't forget to try the "I'm feeling lucky " button !

http://picasa.google.com/download/

[zapjb]

I use O&O Defrag 2000 Freeware (works great on my XP SP2). Then I defrag the registry with System File Defragmenter 2.32 by Sysinternals. Excellent results & both freeware.

O&O http://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/Windows/so...62_english.exe

System File Defragmenter 2.32 http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/PageDefrag.html



Opera like a billion times better than IE.
http://www.opera.com/

[gerardwil]

Smart Buster (http://www.rovatronic.net/SmartBuster.htm) is a small and powerfull , user friendly application that combines many functions.

Dirms and Buzzsaw (http://www.dirms.com/home/homepage.asp), these programs were written to overcome the limitations found in version 4 of the Executive Software program. File interstices were never accounted for in the Diskeeper program. Some files were not defragmented, because there was no individual location on the drive big enough in which to defrag the file. This left hundreds of fragments on the drive even though these files could have been defragmented from hundreds into tens. In other words, partial defragmentation can still save time when retrieving large files. So, throughput is still increased even though the file is not completely defragmented.

Gerard

[RipVanTinkle]

EditPad free version for Notepad replacement

http://editpadpro.com

[StevieO]

I'm looking for a Wordpad replacement. Nothing fancy or over bloated with lots of other features etc. If you know of one/any safe Apps please let me know.

Thanks


StevieO

[GUI_Tex]

I have an arsenal of free utilities! But i'll go slow on ya.. ;)

taskswitchXp pro 2.0 (http://www.ntwind.com/taskswitchxp/) -- replaces windows unchanged task switcher..