» Free Software That Every Computer Should Have

This is a partial list of free software that should be on every computer. Note that some of these programs might be available for Mac, Linux and other operating systems, but I’ve only used them on Windows XP Pro.

Feel free to leave a comment to point out any that I missed. I’m sure I missed a few that I’ll add as I remember them.

Irfanview – A great way to view images. Irfanview is full of features, but it’s still very fast and easy to use. You can also do basic image editing like cropping, resizing and more–without having to load a bulkier program like Photoshop or Paintshop Pro (which are also nice to have – but not free). It also supports batch conversions/renaming, which can come in handy. Also be sure to insall the plug-ins.
Filezilla – A free FTP client with plenty of features that also supports SFTP. Don’t let the price tag fool you; it’s a great program. I switched to Filezilla from my paid version of Bulletproof FTP and never looked back.
Zone Alarm – One of the best software firewalls out there. Being free makes it even better. Not only does it block incoming attacks, but it also watches outgoing traffic, plus it lets you know if any programs have been modified.
AVG Anti-Virus – Great anti-virus software. Dumping Norton for AVG was one of the nicest things I’ve done for my computers. It doesn’t feel bloated like other programs I’ve used. So far, I don’t have a single complaint.
Putty – Probably the most popular choice for telnet/SSH access. Okay, maybe not every computer needs Putty, but if you have shell access to a server, then it’s the way to go.
Firefox – Fast web browser with plenty of features, either already included or available through easily installed extensions. I won’t waste much space here, since I already wrote this about Firefox.
Ad-Aware – Removes spyware/adware from your computer. It’s a good idea to use this and Spybot together.
Spybot Search & Destroy – Removes spyware/adware from your computer. I use this and Ad-Aware, both of which seem to occasionally catch something that the other one misses.
Limewire – One of many file-sharing programs available, but it’s the only one I’ve ever tried that seems well-written. Nice interface and easy to use.
Instant Messenger – I use AIM (with Aimutation) and Yahoo, but any of them will do the trick. I’ll probably give Google Talk a try one of these days. Whichever program most of the people you talk to use will probably be the one you’ll want. Here’s a list of the popular choices: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Google Talk, MSN Messenger. There are also programs like Trillian that will let you connect to several IM services through one interface.