My Favorite Free Computer Software Programs

Just thought that I'd share some of my favorite software programs that have indispensable for me. So long as I am using the computer, whether in the office or at home, I would invariably install these programs on the computer. One way or another, they have made my life on the computer much faster, easier, and more efficient. And feel free to share your own favorite programs - if I find them useful, I'd list them here.

OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org is a suite of office applications similar to Microsoft Office that includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages, runs on most common operating systems, and can generally read and write to the file formats for other office application suites. It is open source and completely free for any use, personal or commercial.

GIMP
GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. GIMP is a graphic editing program with many advanced features. Many of the common operating systems are supported. The program comes with support for many different types of graphic file formats. And the best thing about it is that it is free.

Gyula’s Navigator
I think many of you will remember a program called Norton Commander from the days of DOS. It was a file manager similar to Windows Explorer. But it opens with 2 windows and you can very easily copy, move, view or delete files from your keyboard. It was my file manager of choice over Windows Explorer.

Well, Gyula’s Navigator is a clone of Norton Commander. The “2 windows” view is still there, retaining the main advantage over Windows Explorer. There are also added features including a built-in file viewer for various graphic and document formats. It is free for personal and education use.

Programmer’s File Editor
This is a text editor a little like Window’s Notepad. But it has features that, in my opinion, ranks it head and shoulders better than Notepad. It is most useful if you are a programmer as you are able to open multiple windows on the same file and thus view different portions of a file. And when you edit the file in one window, the changes are automatically updated onto the other windows.

Even if you are not a programmer, this is a good substitute for Notepad. It features multiple windows, lots of configuration options, keyboard macros and lots of other features. It’s no longer in development and it’s free, so there will be no support. And don’t let the basic website put you off. But don’t worry, I have used the program to develop countless software programs for a good many years so I can vouch for its function and reliability.

Always On Top Maker
This is a tiny little program that will remain resident in memory once you run it. I would recommend that you put it in the Startup folder so that it will automatically run each time you start the computer. Its function is simple. It will make a window “always on top”, or make a window that is “always on top”, not “always on top”. You just need to press CTRL-ALT-T to activate the function.

I find it very useful when I need a small window to always stay on top, while I refer to it and work on my main document. It comes in useful too when you have a window that is always on top by default that you would rather not be. It’s free and the download is a mere 6k!

While it doesn't state on the website, this program can also run on Windows Vista, as cwarden has kindly tested it out on his machine.