More freeware stuff

[Antmeister]

Here are two freeware viewing applications for the web:
Simple Viewer (http://www.airtightinteractive.com/simpleviewer) Postcard Viewer (http://www.airtightinteractive.com/projects/postcardviewer/)

If you are into these applications (Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash) and/or into Web Development, then go here for free tutorials:
Digital Illusions (http://www.wz2k.co.uk/)

Looking for royalty free images that will cost you nothing, then check out these links:
Image After (http://www.imageafter.com/)
Stock Xchng (http://www.sxc.hu/)
PD Photo.org (http://www.pdphoto.org/)
This last one is free if used for private non-commercial use only:
Freefoto.com (http://www.freefoto.com/index.jsp)

Maybe you can't afford Microsoft Office or you just don't want to upgrade again. That's okay, try this alternative to Microsoft Office. It works for Windows, Linux and Macintosh:
OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/)

And here is a really nifty site. If you own any games that require that you have the CD in the drive while playing, here is a place to eliminate that need so that you can play the game without the CD-ROM.
GameCopyWorld (http://www.gamecopyworld.com/)

[Antmeister]

I forgot about these as well....

Wish you had some cool landscape backgrounds, but don't have a digital camera, then check out this terrain generator:
Terragen (http://www.planetside.co.uk/)

Looking for some freeware games, check this site out. Notrium is probably the best of the group and has won a number of awards:
monkkonen.net (http://www.monkkonen.net/index.php)

Speaking of games, here is a whole arcade that you can play online. They have a selection of flash and director games here:
Clevermedia (http://www.clevermedia.com/)

[Antmeister]

There's more...

How about some free 3d software:
Blender (http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Home.2.0.html)

Maybe you like to try out some new fonts. Why not get them for free:
Coffeecup Fonts (http://instant.coffeecup.com/content/fonts/)
Essential Fonts for Designers (http://www.goodfonts.org/)
1001 Free Fonts (http://www.1001freefonts.com/)

If you wanted to build a menu on your website but wasn't quite sure how then this might be the answer:
DHTML Menu Builder (http://www.coffeecup.com/free-dhtml/)

Speaking of websites, are you looking for an alternative to Dreamweaver that's free:
HTML Gate and/or PHP Designer (http://www.mpsoftware.dk/)

[Suicane75]

Some excellent stuff here, thanks for posting these. Im gonna try out the HTML editor later tonight.

[Antmeister]

Some excellent stuff here, thanks for posting these. Im gonna try out the HTML editor later tonight.

No problem. I usally find some of these because people have shared them with me, so I might as well share it with others since it doesn't cost a dime. However if you find the software useful, donate to the creator.

[daedalus]

Thanks a bunch, Antmeister. I appreciate you sharing these. :)

[Emiliano]

Hey thanks a lot man! Great stuff.

[Antmeister]

No problem daedalus and Emiliano. By the way, I see you post as frequently as I do Emiliano (well actually maybe somewhat less), but since I didn't get the chance, welcome to the board (even though I am a year late).

But wait....there's more...

Well this may not be free software, but it is free code. I used this expanding menu on a project I worked on 8 months ago. However I altered it so it can be a database driven menu which can be seen here (Arizona Production Association (http://www.azproduction.com/)). So check it out if you want to add one to your website:
Expanding CSS Menu (http://webtechsig.org/Presentations/css/menus/)

Speaking of free code, check out these two sites that I use when I am in a bind:
Hotscripts.com (http://www.hotscripts.com/)
Actionscript.org (http://www.actionscripts.org/movies-categories.php)
Dynamic Drive (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/)

Now if you want to get into web design and you have a Firefox browser, these extensions are invaluable:
Aardvark (http://karmatics.com/aardvark/) (This will identify elements on the web page.)
Web Developer (http://chrispederick.com/work/firefox/webdeveloper/) (This is my favorite. You can edit css while it is showing in your browser so that you can test with what works. You can also view the dimensions, paths, broken links etc.)
HTML Validator (http://users.skynet.be/mgueury/mozilla/) (What is nice about this is that an icon shows up on the bottom right corner of the browser indicating if the web page has errors, warnings, or no problems at all. If you click on the icon, the window opens to show you where the errors and warnings and can even clean it up for you.)
Colorzilla (http://www.iosart.com/firefox/colorzilla/) (If you find a color that you would like to use for your own web site, you can use this color picker to get the hex code. This rests in the lower left corner of the browser once installed.)
IE View (http://ieview.mozdev.org/) (This simply opens the web page you are viewing in Internet Explorer. Makes it real easy when you are testing a web site and comparing, rather than typing up the URL over again. You simply right click on the right page and select 'View this page in IE'.)

As you can see I am a huge fan of free stuff. I am adding more when I can find more time to write up the descriptions. Hope this is useful to people in the future.

[Antmeister]

What! Are you saying there's more?

Yes I am....

Are you looking for something that is better than WinZip and costs you nothing, then try this out:
Zip Genius (http://www.zipgenius.it/index2.html)

Okay, well there are plenty of times when I want to send something a picture or text, but we just don't have the same software. The only thing we have in common is that we have a PDF viewer. Well guess what, you can use this nifty utility to create PDF files and it it so free, it's ridiculous.
PDFCreator (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/)

Well I know there are a lot of programs that convert your files to mp3, but I happen to like this one because it gives you a lot more control:
Audiograbber (http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/)

I don't know how many web developers are out there, but it can darn frustrating when you are trying to configure your home computer to act like a server so that you can test out your server side scripts. It is always so darn time consuming to try to configure. Well I have the answer for you. This self installing executable saves you a lot of time in trying to figure all that out and it allows you to turn the services on and off through a nifty icon. It install PHP5, Apache, MySQL, PHPmyadmin and SQLitemanager. There is even an add-on for PHP4:
WAMP(for Windows) (http://www.wampserver.com/en/index.php)
MAMP(for Mac) (http://www.mamp.info/en/home/)

I have only messed with this software a few times, but it seems to work somewhat well. If you are looking for some morphing software, try this free stuff out:
WinMorph (http://www.debugmode.com/winmorph/)

Another piece of software, made by the same company above, is a special effects software package to be used for video. I forgot to mention that the above software can be used with video software, but it doesn't have to. Anyways there is about 200 presets and yes it is free:
Wax (http://www.debugmode.com/wax/download.php)

[mhass]

Thanks for sharing!

[Emiliano]

By the way, I see you post as frequently as I do Emiliano (well actually maybe somewhat less), but since I didn't get the chance, welcome to the board (even though I am a year late).[/B]

Hey thanks man!!! BTW, you're perfectly in time. I introduced myself to the board a couple of weeks ago, so I'm still a newcomer. ;)

[Emiliano]

Are you looking for something that is better than WinZip and costs you nothing, then try this out:
Zip Genius (http://www.zipgenius.it/index2.html)

This is great. I have it too!!! And it's developed by an Italian guy!

Well I know there are a lot of programs that convert your files to mp3, but I happen to like this one because it gives you a lot more control:
Audiograbber (http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/)

Same here. I tried a lot of ripping programs, Audiograbber is clearly the best.

Thanks again Ant.

[sterlingice]

This is great. I have it too!!! And it's developed by an Italian guy!
I'll third it. I really like ZipGenius, too.

SI

[Antmeister]

Are you telling me that you still have more freeware?

Well yes I do....

Looking to burn CD and DVD for free, then try this out if you are on a Windows machine. It has a lot more features than some of the commercial burners:
CDBurnerXP (http://www.cdburnerxp.se/)

Looking for a good strategy game that is similar to Civilization, then try this one. The developer even updated it a couple of weeks ago. Amazingly deep for a freeware game.
C-evo (http://c-evo.org/)

While we are on the topic of games, there are a number of you who look for cheats when you are stuck and can't get past a level in a game. Well here is a free cheat database that covers a number of platforms ( PC, Playstation, Playstation 2, Sega, Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS, Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Color, N-Gage, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and Super Nintendo). Check it out:
Cheatbook (http://www.cheatbook.de/lxb2005.htm)

Is your website loading way to slow? Well it maybe because you did not optimize your images and sometimes even code. This freeware application optimizes your HTML pages:
Absolute HTML Compressor (http://www.serpik.com/ahc/index.htm#info)

Do you have a lot of crap on your drive and want your computer to run smoother? This application, which is short for Crap Cleaner, clears out the temp files and also cleans out the registry. One warning, it will clean out all of your cookies if you don't uncheck the box. In other words, you may be automatically logging into certain sites and don't remember your password since you created it a year ago. If you don't want to go through the hassle, uncheck this:
CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/)

[FrogMan]

ohh, the Crap Cleaner sounds like a winner to me, will download and try tonight.

You gotta have IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com)somewhere in those list, but I'm sure it's coming up soon ;)

And I'm a ZipGenius user too, been one for a while now, sweet program!

FM

[moriarty]

ohh, the Crap Cleaner sounds like a winner to me, will download and try tonight.

You gotta have IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com)somewhere in those list, but I'm sure it's coming up soon ;)

And I'm a ZipGenius user too, been one for a while now, sweet program!

FM

I used the "crap cleaner" and it did a nice job for me ... no problems on the first try.

[Antmeister]

ohh, the Crap Cleaner sounds like a winner to me, will download and try tonight.

You gotta have IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com)somewhere in those list, but I'm sure it's coming up soon ;)

And I'm a ZipGenius user too, been one for a while now, sweet program!

FM

Thanks Frogman, I decided to not mention Infranview because I remember it being in a number of freeware threads. I wasn't sure if I should bring up what others have, but I guess it doesn't hurt. I would also include GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) as one that is often mentioned as well. For those that may not know, these are two great freeware image editors. Infranview is best known for its batch processing and optimization and can use a number of Photoshop filters. The only downside is that it says it is restricted to non-commercial use. GIMP can be used on the Mac, Unix, and Windows and seems more of a image editor. I must adimit I haven't used either one in a long time since I have gotten Photoshop, but they are really good alternatives.

[FrogMan]

yeah, you're right about IrfanView having been mentioned a few times already, simply thought it could not be mentioned enough ;)

Great listings though, you're seeing it the same way I am. If I know of something that I use, it's often been recommended to me by others, so might as well recommend it to others, if it does the trick...

FM

[Antmeister]

Whew! I didn't realize that I have/had a lot of software. I decided to go through my link and I believe I am coming towards the end, so please bear with me.

In the world of games, these are a few that I play once in a while as time wasters. Treasurefall is actually a shareware product., but believe me when I tell you that they don't limit it that much at all in the demo version and you can play this demo forever. It is a puzzle matching game with a twist. Highway Pursuit is a game that is similar to Spy Hunter. I just found out that they updated the game at the beginning of this year to include joystick controls. Cool. Little Fighter 2 has been around for years and I like to challenge or join the wife in fighting some baddies. So enjoy the links:

Treasurefall (http://www.mking.com/treasurefall/)
Highway Pursuit (http://www.adamdawes.com/windows/win_hpursuit.html)
Little Fighter 2 (http://www.littlefighter.com/)

Okay well maybe you are looking to record some audio, but you have a hankering to edit it. Not to worry. I have some free audio editing software here:
Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)

Now the last two I am about to post I considered not posting for some obvious reasons, but I have found uses for them for past projects. The first piece of software is SmartRipper. This allows you to copy files off a DVD and stores the vob files on the computer. I used this when my brother had created an indy movie onto DVD since I didn't have a way to covert his Hi-8 tapes to a digital format. In combination with SmartRipper, I used FlaskMPEG to convert the .vob files to .avi's in which I could edit with my software and create a trailer. People have found other uses for them:
Smartripper (http://www.afterdawn.com/software/source_codes/smartripper.cfm)
FlaskMPEG (http://www.flaskmpeg.net/)

The last piece of software is one I never used but I heard good things about. I just can't vouch for it personally. I saved the link, but I hadn't downloaded it. This is another DVD backup software and may be actually easier than the process that I listed above. Check it out:
DVD Shrink (http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html)

[Karim]

I've used Crap Cleaner for a while now. Never had problems but it allows you backup the registry before making changes...

[Zippo]

great links!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Whew! I didn't realize that I have/had a lot of software. I decided to go through my link and I believe I am coming towards the end, so please bear with me.
This line makes me sad. :( I wish you had much more to offer us. Thanks very much for all of the links.

[Antmeister]

Thanks to all who gave compliments. Now if you guys find any cool freeware, add them to the list.

[Antmeister]

I have finally come to the end of the list....

Okay, let's say you have always wanted to create a game, but didn't know if you were quite sure that you wanted to spend hours trying to learn a language in order to find out. Well here is a nifty freeware program that allows you to create games. If you find the tool worth it, you can upgrade it for $20 to get even more advanced options. This is one I always wanted to try, but didn't have the time to sit down and learn since I didn't have time to flesh out a game idea first. Ho-hum. Get it here:
Game Maker 6.0 (http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/gmaker/index.html)

Well maybe you don't want to create a whole game. Maybe all you need is a good map for your dungeons or castles. Well this piece of software is a great mapping utility that you may find usefu. Please be aware that they are soon coming out with version 2.0:
Dungeon Crafter (http://www.dungeoncrafter.com/)

While we are on the subject of games, the roleplaying games have been my favorite genre in the gaming industry. I am sometimes pleasantly surprised by the depth of these freeware games:
Dark Disciples (http://www.darkdisciples-rpg.com/)
Ivan (Iter Vehemens ad Necem) (http://ivan.sourceforge.net/index.html)

Here is yet another HTML editor. If you find the other one a little difficult, you may find this one a little easier to figure out. I used it about 2 years ago and it was great for its time:
Max's HTML Beauty 2004 (http://www.htmlbeauty.com/)

That is all I have. Of course there are plenty of great links to find freeware and here is a list I often refer to whenever I need something:
Freeware Files (http://www.freewarefiles.com/)
NONAGS (http://www.nonags.com/)
SnapFiles (http://www.snapfiles.com/)
Softpedia (http://www.softpedia.com/)
Sofotex (http://www.sofotex.com/)
Freeware Home (http://www.freewarehome.com/)

[Antmeister]

Okay, well these are actually the last two.

Need a program to rename a bunch a files. Use this application to do so easily:
Renamer Fairy (http://www.olliholliday.co.uk/renamerfairy/)

And lastly this is a freeware tool that allows you to screen capture whatever you choose to select on the screen:
MWSnap (http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html)

That should be it....I think.

[Pyser]

dvdshrink is great. if you are, ahem, "backing up" some of your dvds, it allows you to set the compression rate you want for each item of the dvd. meaning, you can compress the extras on the dvd as much as you want, so that the actual movie will have the least compression possible. very nice control to have. you can also just choose certain extras that you dont want at all, to save even more space...i think.

[JSB]

http://www.dvddecrypter.com/
Can be used hand in hand with DVD Shrink to backup any movie and fit it onto one DVD.
Weird thing is that the engine for Shrink is used without permission for some other burning programs that are being sold for profit (DVD Clone being one)

[Draft Dodger]

all music related:
MP3 Gain (http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/)
will normalize all your MP3s to the same volume, but without affecting the quality. All 80something gigs of music I have has been run through this program.

MP3 Tag Studio (http://www.magnusbrading.com/mp3ts/)
one of a plethora of MP3 tagging software out there, but it's the one that I like the most.

Powertab Editor (http://www.power-tab.net/)
for those guitarists out there, this is an awesome free program to write/read guitar (or bass) tablature. You can transcribe your own stuff in a format that looks very similar to something you'd see in a guitar magazine, or you can download a plethora of files of popular guitar-based songs that have already been transcribed.

[Antmeister]

Thanks JSB and Draft Dodger! Mp3 Gain looks really appealing and I will definitely check out the DVDdecrypter.

[Emiliano]

all music related:
MP3 Gain (http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/)
will normalize all your MP3s to the same volume, but without affecting the quality. All 80something gigs of music I have has been run through this program.

Wow! This is great. I didn't have a program like this. Thanks a lot!
One question: what method do you use to normalize, the "album" one or the "track" one? I didn't understand exactly the difference.

[Draft Dodger]

Wow! This is great. I didn't have a program like this. Thanks a lot!
One question: what method do you use to normalize, the "album" one or the "track" one? I didn't understand exactly the difference.

I use the track one - that's the one that makes all the individual mp3s the same level. I also use the default level (89, I think).

[Antmeister]

Two more programs

A cool picture editor:
Paint.net (http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/)

A cool picture organizer:
Picasa (http://www.picasa.com/)

[Antmeister]

I left out this one. For all those who are looking for a download manager, check this one out:
Free Download Manager (FDM) (http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/)

[Antmeister]

Nice little Firefox optimizer/tweaker:
FireTune (http://www.totalidea.com/freestuff4.htm)

Two online freeware games:
Gunbound and Rakion (http://www.softnyx.net/)

Free video editor:
ABC VideoRoll (http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?500000027579)

[Antmeister]

Erase sensitive data from your hard drive. Good for people with sensitive records for the workplace or (cough...) collectors of porn:
Eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/)

A cool aquarium screensaver that's free:
Aquatica Screensavers (http://www.clubaquatica.com/)

Now this is a nifty desktop calendar that you can set appointments in:
Desktop Calendar (http://www.tinnes.org.uk/desktopcalendar/index.html)

Now if you have no experience in coding and want to build a website, this is good for the newbies:
WYSIWYG Web Builder (http://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com/html/wysiwyg_web_builder.html)

This is simply an image downloader/viewer for those that own digital cameras and are sick of the software that comes with the camera. What I like about it is the ability to view images in RAW:
cam2pc (http://www.nabocorp.com/cam2pc/freeware.php)

[Emiliano]

Antmeister71=the God of freeware.

[Antmeister]

This is pretty nice. It's a portable version of Firefox that can be taken with you on a USB key drive, CDRW and even an external hard drive:
Portable Firefox (http://johnhaller.com/jh/mozilla/portable_firefox/)

Here a cool utility to keep track of themes if you are into that sort of thing:
Theme Manager (http://www.stardock.com/products/thememanager/)

Finally I found my a cool FTP program without having to go through another application:
DeluxeFTP (http://www.deluxeftp.com/)

[kingfc22]

This needs to go in the ultimate sticky thread.

[Antmeister]

Another free HTML editor:
CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor (http://www.coffeecup.com/free-editor/)

A DHTML Menu Builder:
DHTML Menu Builder (http://www.coffeecup.com/free-dhtml/)

Photo management software:
Webshots Desktop (http://www.webshots.com/samplers/)

Two very good space combat games:
Starfight VI (http://www.jpproduction.fi/games/sf6/)
No Gravity (http://www.realtech-vr.com/nogravity/mission.html) (This works on multiple platforms, like Windows, Linux, BeOS and Mac. It can be confusing, in terms of installation instructions, but all you have to do is download "No gravity (game data only)". This is regardless of the platform you are on. Then the other downlaod will depend of your system. Read the site for these details.)

For all those Windows XP users, here are those popular power toys:
PowerToys for Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx)

[Pumpy Tudors]

AntMeister, you are the greatest. Please PM me your address so that I may go to your house and blow you.

Twice.

[Zippo]

Another free HTML editor:
CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor (http://www.coffeecup.com/free-editor/)

A DHTML Menu Builder:
DHTML Menu Builder (http://www.coffeecup.com/free-dhtml/)

Photo management software:
Webshots Desktop (http://www.webshots.com/samplers/)

Two very good space combat games:
Starfight VI (http://www.jpproduction.fi/games/sf6/)
No Gravity (http://www.jpproduction.fi/games/sf6/) (This works on multiple platforms, like Windows, Linux, BeOS and Mac. It can be confusing, in terms of installation instructions, but all you have to do is download "No gravity (game data only)". This is regardless of the platform you are on. Then the other downlaod will depend of your system. Read the site for these details.)

For all those Windows XP users, here are those popular power toys:
PowerToys for Windows XP (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=791159#)
the last link doesn't work. Thanks

[Antmeister]

the last link doesn't work. Thanks
It is working now.

AntMeister, you are the greatest. Please PM me your address so that I may go to your house and blow you.

Twice.

What?!?! :eek:

[Pumpy Tudors]

I just like to show my appreciation.

[Eaglesfan27]

Remind me to never do you any favors.

[Antmeister]

I just like to show my appreciation.

I know it was a joke. Just tried to place the spotlight on you and pretended I was shocked by what you said. Heh heh.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I know it was a joke. Just tried to place the spotlight on you and pretended I was shocked by what you said. Heh heh.
You want a spotlight on me while I'm blowing you? Oh, you naughty boy.

[Antmeister]

Here is a slew of freeware applications. There is desktop publishing, photo and imagae editing, website design and publishing, 3d and vector art. Really neat site. Be aware that it requires registration, just in case you are wary of this:
FreeSerifSoftware (http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/)

[Antmeister]

How about some software that performs hardware diagnostics and memory benchmarking:
Everest Home Edition (http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en)

Yes, this is another HTML editor, yet this one has a lot of nice features and this is really good for beginners as well:
Alleycode (http://www.alleycode.com/)

Another FTP client. Just check it out if you need one:
FileZilla (http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/)

How about a good time waster:
3D Ultrapong (http://dpi.hypermart.net/3dpong.htm)

[daedalus]

I know it was a joke. Just tried to place the spotlight on you and pretended I was shocked by what you said. Heh heh.You want a spotlight on me while I'm blowing you? Oh, you naughty boy.Sassy! :D

[Karim]

<b><a href="http://www.internetdownloadmanager.com">Internet Download Manager</a></b>

After trying many of the more popular download managers such as Download Accelerator Plus, my search ended with IDM. The ultimate compliment is that I ended up paying for it which I rarely do with shareware or freeware. I've used it for about two years without one single crash.

If you do try it, you may want to try it for a while without Advanced Browser Integration.

Here is the feature list:

All popular browsers and applications are supported! Internet Download Manager has been tested with the following browsers: Internet Explorer, MSN Explorer, AOL, Netscape Communicator, Netscape 6, Netscape 7, Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Firebird, Opera, NetCaptor, UltraBrowser, Slim Browser, Avant Browser, MyIE2, Optimal Desktop, Ace Explorer, Advanced Browser, 27 Tools-in-1 Wichio Browser, WindowSurfer, 550 Access Browser, FineBrowser Freeware, Kopassa Browser, Fast Browser Pro, Enigma Browser, GoSuRF, K-Meleon, Smart Explorer, The Off By One Web Browser, Smartalec Voyager, CrystalPort AppCapture, The Family Browser, XANA Web Browser, Bluto, AutoSurf, 32bit Web Browser, BrowseMan, WrestlingBrowser, Eminem Browser, UltraBrowser, Cygsoft LDAP Browser, and Net M@nager. Internet Download Manager supports all versions of popular browsers, and can be integrated into any 3rd party Internet applications.

Download with one click. When you click on a download link in a browser, IDM will take over the download and accelerate it. IDM supports HTTP, FTP and HTTPS protocols.

Download Speed. Internet Download Manager can accelerate downloads by up to 5 times due to its intelligent dynamic file segmentation technology.

Download Resume. Internet Download Manager will resume unfinished download from the place where they left off.

Simple installation wizard. Quick and easy installation program will make necessary settings for you, and check your connection at the end to ensure trouble free installation of Internet Download Manager.

Automatic Antivirus checking. Antivirus checking makes your downloads free from viruses and trojans.

Advanced Browser Integration. When enabled, the feature can be used to catch any download from any application. None of download managers have this feature.

Built-in Scheduler. Internet Download Manager can connect to the Internet at a set time, download the files you want, disconnect, or shut down your computer when it's done.

IDM supports many types of proxy servers. For example, IDM works with Microsoft ISA, and FTP proxy servers.

IDM supports main authentication protocols: Basic, Negotiate, NTLM, and Keberos. Thus IDM can access many Internet and proxy servers using login name and password.

Download All feature. IDM can add all downloads linked to the current page. It's easy to download multiple files with this feature.

Customizable Interface. You may choose the order, and what buttons and columns appear on the main IDM window.

Download Categories. Internet Download Manager can be used to organize downloads automatically using defined download categories.

Quick Update Feature. Quick update may check for new versions of IDM and update IDM once per week.

Download limits. Progressive downloading with quotas feature. The feature is useful for connections that use some kind of fair access policy (or FAP) like Direcway, Direct PC, Hughes, etc.

Drag and Drop. You may simply drag and drop links to IDM, and drag and drop complete files out of Internet Download Manager.

IDM is multilingual. IDM is translated to Arabic, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Thai languages.

[MJ4H]

Isn't this thread for freeware? (Internet Download Manager is not freeware - it even has a 30 day trial limitation)

[Antmeister]

Maybe you want to get a number of pictures and make a movie with them. If that's the case, use this:
ImagetoAVI (http://www.aswsoftware.com/products/imagetoavi/imagetoavi.shtml)

While on the subject of pictures, what if you wanted to send them by email, but the file size is freaking huge. Well this nifty little program can shrink down the file size, if you don't have an image editor:
PIXresizer (http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm)

Have you ever wanted to create an adventure game. Well this software allows you to make point and click masterpieces:
Adventure Game Studio (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/)

Now that you created that game, maybe you want to distribute it, but you don't know want to buy some kind of installer package. Well here's a free one:
Inno Setup (http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php#features)

[terpkristin]

Actually, for picture editing and bulk tasks (and webpage creation, if you have a place to host it), I like Google's Picasa2. http://www.picasa.com/

It's what I use for a lot of my pictures if I want to get them up quickly and not worry about bandwidth (like I do with flickr) and is how I created the page of the images from the AAFB Air Show.

/tk

[sterlingice]

Ooh. AGS looks pretty nifty. Like RPG Maker but for a different genre. I might have to check that out.

SI

[Antmeister]

Actually, for picture editing and bulk tasks (and webpage creation, if you have a place to host it), I like Google's Picasa2. http://www.picasa.com/

It's what I use for a lot of my pictures if I want to get them up quickly and not worry about bandwidth (like I do with flickr) and is how I created the page of the images from the AAFB Air Show.

/tk


I did mention Picasa earlier in this thread, but I mentioned it as an image organizer. You have a great point about it other capabilities and it does give you more bang for the buck.....oh yeah, it's free. Thanks for the tip.

[Karim]

Isn't this thread for freeware? (Internet Download Manager is not freeware - it even has a 30 day trial limitation)
Sorry. When I first downloaded it, I was able to use it for free. I just decided to register it. I guess their license has changed.

[Antmeister]

This application can be used as both a standalone and as a plugin to an application that you already own. What that means is that you can use this software for your pictures to enhance them without having to own any image editing software. Check these out from AutoFX, they are free and they can do so much for your photos. You will have to get a serial number, but it does not take long. My favorite of the two is the Dreamy Photo. It can also be used as a plugin for a number of image editing application (Corel Photo Paint, Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop Elements and Photoshop 4.0 and above):

Dreamy Photo
http://www.autofx.com/freeplugins/dreamyphoto.asp?id=7

Mosaic
http://www.autofx.com/freeplugins/mosaic.asp?id=20

Maybe you are trying to keep track of finances, but you don't want a full blown financial software package. Try this out:

Money Manager
http://www.thezeal.com/software/manager/


Now this one is an interesting piece of software. Somehow someone has mixed astrology with a calendar. For those that subscribe to astrology, this may be something you should look into:

Insight Calendar
http://www.astro-cal.com/

Now this may seem like another image editor/organizer but this is so much more. This company has decided to give out this free software to encourage people to use their services to purchase prints and other assorted gifts. And the prices for those gifts are fairly reasonable. Check it out:

Qurio Home Photo Center
http://www.qurio.com/

[Antmeister]

Here is a free thesaurus (for Windows only):
Word Web (http://wordweb.info/free/)

Another free photo manager/editor (for Windows only):
Firegraphic (http://www.firegraphic.com/)

This one is pretty nice. Someone has went ahead and made GIMP look and feel like Photoshop. Check this out (for Windows and Mac):
Gimpshop for Windows (http://blog.yumdap.net/archives/20-GIMPshop-for-Windows.html)
Gimpshop for Macintosh (http://plasticbugs.com/index.php?p=241)

And since I have been a huge fan of independent developer of games, here are a few that are pretty top notch:
Glest (real time 3d strategy game, for Windows only) (http://glest.jackie3d.org/en/)
PlaneShift (a 3d MMORPG, for Windows, Mac and Linux users) (http://www.planeshift.it/main_01.html)
Ahriman's Prophecy (a Zelda-like standalone RPG, for Windows users only) (http://www.amaranthia.com/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=8)

[Antmeister]

Here is a link to a freeware MMORPG that I just saw on another thread. Thanks to illinifan999. Check out what he has to say about it here:

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showpost.php?p=795190&postcount=5

[Emiliano]

Man you are awesome!

[Antmeister]

Man you are awesome!

Free is me. Actually some friends suggested some and others I have found.

[Antmeister]

Here are some more freeware games to enjoy:

This is one of those good strategy games:
Spice Trade (for Windows only) (http://www.spicetrade.org/)

Here is a page where you can download the classic GTA games for free:
Rockstar Classic Games (for Windows only) (http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/)

Here is a freeware space simulator in the style of Wing Commander:
Flight Commander (for Windows only) (http://flightcommander.solsector.net/)

Here is a good standalone golf game:
Chrysler World Tours (for Windows only) (http://www.aboutgolf.com/pcgames.html)

[sterlingice]

One of the greatest free games sites is Liberated Games. They created a special license that allows free downloads for individual use for some old games.
http://www.liberatedgames.com/gamelisting.php

Examples of games: Descent, Doom, Doom 2, Duke Nukem 3D, GTA, GTA2, Heretic, Hexen, Homeworld, Marathon, Marathon 2, Quake, Quake 2, Tribes, Tribes 2, and Wolfenstein 3D.

SI

[Antmeister]

One of the greatest free games sites is Liberated Games. They created a special license that allows free downloads for individual use for some old games.
http://www.liberatedgames.com/gamelisting.php

SI
Excellent link. Thanks for sharing.

[Lorena]

You want a spotlight on me while I'm blowing you? Oh, you naughty boy.

OH NO YOU DIDN'T!!! So is this why you've been coming to bed at 4am in the morning Ant?! Shoulda figures something was up
:confused:

[jbmagic]

here a free email to use if you dont want to use your real email address.

its just to received Email only

http://www.dodgeit.com/

[timmynausea]

After formatting my hard drive a few times, I can no longer activate my copy of Microsoft Office, so I decided to check out Open Office. I've only messed with it for a couple minutes, but it seems great.

[Emiliano]

One of the greatest free games sites is Liberated Games. They created a special license that allows free downloads for individual use for some old games.
http://www.liberatedgames.com/gamelisting.php

Examples of games: Descent, Doom, Doom 2, Duke Nukem 3D, GTA, GTA2, Heretic, Hexen, Homeworld, Marathon, Marathon 2, Quake, Quake 2, Tribes, Tribes 2, and Wolfenstein 3D.

SI

Great!!! Thanks man. I used to play a lot of these games.

[Antmeister]

After formatting my hard drive a few times, I can no longer activate my copy of Microsoft Office, so I decided to check out Open Office. I've only messed with it for a couple minutes, but it seems great.
I am glad that worked out for you. It is pretty robust program. I am considering the switch from Office when they upgrade Office again.

[samifan24]

Thanks for all the links. These are great resources!

[Antmeister]

More...more...more

Here is a program that gives more functionality to the right click menus. Check this out, it's pretty nice:
PowerShell(for Windows only) (http://www.jastek.net/pro.php)

And this little program is very helpful if you want to create your own autorun CD. Although this can be done without software, it makes this a heck of a lot easier and can defitnitely improve workflow:
CD Interface Studio(for Windows only) (http://cdinterface.sourceforge.net/)

[terpkristin]

Ant, have you used Theme Manager (and the two programs it needs to run Visual Styles)? Or, has anybody? I'd be interested in it if it's not too buggy...

/tk

[Antmeister]

Ant, have you used Theme Manager (and the two programs it needs to run Visual Styles)? Or, has anybody? I'd be interested in it if it's not too buggy...

/tk

I have used Theme Manager, but I should've mentioned more info on it. When you download it and run it, it will ask you to download some other styles. Don't download anything but the BootSkin when the dialog box shows up.

That's because what it is asking you to download is trial version of other features of this thing they call Object Desktop. You can try them out if you wish, but to just have a scaled down version of the program, you get limited option, but it's free. They have some nice backgrounds that I use and they also have a number of boot screen that you can use as well.

I tried the shareware apps that it asks you to download and they are quite nice, but I didn't need it for my needs since I do a lot of programming and design work on my computer and couldn't get past having a normal icon. Plus the whole suite cost about $50. Not bad, but I am happy with just the Theme Manager.

So on top of that long winded response, I will finally answer the question about bugginess. I have not experienced any since using it for the past week, so give it a try if you like to customize your desktop.

[Easy Mac]

FoxIt
Free PDF Reader. Loads things far faster than Adobe with the same functionality.



http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php</pre> PDF Creator
Free PDF Creator. Turn any document into a PDF file.
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=57796&package_id=53473 (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=57796&package_id=53473)

[FrogMan]

Neat Image
www.neatimage.com (http://www.neatimage.com)

They call it "the best noise reduction for digital cameras and scanners" and with me having just got into digital photography, I found that an interesting statement. They have some pretty good examples of what the software is capable of on their filtration examples page (http://www.neatimage.com/examples.html). Their demo is freeware for non commercial use, with some functionalities tuned out or turned off, but still a good deal. I downloaded it last night, tried it on one picture and found the effect interesting, although I would not overuse it, as it softens your picture a little. Still could be useful for outside pictures of stuff taken at long range, for example when the sky looks grainy and you're more interested in the bigger picture than the fine details...

If anybody's interested, I could post a couple of my pictures related websites later on...

FM

[Antmeister]

Neat Image
www.neatimage.com (http://www.neatimage.com)

They call it "the best noise reduction for digital cameras and scanners" and with me having just got into digital photography, I found that an interesting statement. They have some pretty good examples of what the software is capable of on their filtration examples page (http://www.neatimage.com/examples.html). Their demo is freeware for non commercial use, with some functionalities tuned out or turned off, but still a good deal. I downloaded it last night, tried it on one picture and found the effect interesting, although I would not overuse it, as it softens your picture a little. Still could be useful for outside pictures of stuff taken at long range, for example when the sky looks grainy and you're more interested in the bigger picture than the fine details...

If anybody's interested, I could post a couple of my pictures related websites later on...

FM


Oooh! I am definitely going to take a look at this one. There are one that you pay for that doesn't reduce noise the way this one looks. Thanks for the link.

[FrogMan]

I hope free websites are okay, got a few ones dealing with photo sharing/collecting/storing...



ShinyFeet
http://www.shinyfeet.com/?afd=2792

Yet another free email provider, with somewhat of a twist, well two actually: no limits & a file manager. The file manager makes a virtual hard drive so you can save files when you're in between places. They also offer unlimited bandwidth and unlimited storage on pictures, with a somewhat basic picture gallery. The "afd" part at the end of the link is because I get "ad free days" when people visit ShinyFeet through my link, so click away :)




TrekLens
www.treklens.com (http://www.treklens.com/)

Pictures from around the world abound here. They are sorted by continents, then countries, then states/province, but you can also see them by themes, all pictures posted by photopgraphy afficionados, some newbies like me, some are professionals, or if not, very close to. Because of that, while some pictures are pretty modest (mine for example ;)) some others are simply outstanding. Free to sign up, you can upload one pic per day and people can comment on it, or critique it, or even submit what they call a "workshop" of your picture, after they have either reworked it offline with some software (say Photoshop to highlight the colors, or soften the noise, or recrop, etc)... TrekLens allows a broad range of pics to be posted, including relatives and pets, but it also has two sister sites, TrekEarth (http://www.trekearth.com/), where you can learn about the world through photography of places (more than people or pets), and TrekNature (http://www.treknature.com/) where, as the name implies, you'll find pictures of nature from around the world. Here's a link to the pictures I have uploaded so far (http://www.treklens.com/members/FrogMan/photos/), keep in mind I'm fairly new to this whole digital photography, well to photography in general finally...




Flickr
www.flickr.com (http://www.flickr.com/)

terpkristin mentionned it before. It's a neat site that allows you to share pictures, and even add mouseover notes to your pictures, like in this picture of the mess that is my desk (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegougeon/19215856/) :) Part of the yahoo group, they don't limit the storage space you get, or the bandwidth you get, but instead they limit you to 20 MB of upload per month and they only show your last 200 pictures. The 201st oldest pic isn't deleted, it just doesn't show if people look at your list of pictures, but if you linked to it in a blog, or on a message board somewhere, it will still show...




Photobucket
www.photobucket.com (http://www.photobucket.com/)

I've mentionned this one quite a few times in the past and I know many FOFCers have made this one their place of choice to host their pictures, but I thought it was worth mentionning again. For free, you can hotlink to any pics you have, store as much as 25 MB worth of pics, with a max size of 250 KB per pic. Monthly bandwidth allowed is set to 1,500 MB. If you've seen my (now dead) dynasty, that's the place I used to make clickable thumbnails (which thumbnails don't count against your storage space, they simply generate a new picture with "th_" in front of the original picture name) and to host my screenshots from the game.


FM

[FrogMan]

Oooh! I am definitely going to take a look at this one. There are one that you pay for that doesn't reduce noise the way this one looks. Thanks for the link.
No problem, I till owe you a few for the score to be even though ;)

Remember that their freeware version is a demo with some disabled features, but from what I was able to try yesterday night, it did do a pretty good job on on of my pic. I still ended up liking the original (http://www.treklens.com/gallery/North_America/Canada/photo48998.htm) better, since I felt I was losing too much detail by removing the noise. Maybe it was simply me being a newb with Neat Image though, and I tried it for about 5 minutes...

FM

[samifan24]

I just found a great program which I wanted to share with you guys. I am a sports broadcaster just out of college. The program below allows you to edit MP3s and WAVs among other files. It's a fairly in-depth program for being completely free. Enjoy!

WavePad (http://www.download.com/WavePad/3000-2170_4-10382895.html)

[Antmeister]

If you are run a small business or maybe you are looking for a possible way to handle emails, try this nifty piece of software out
GroupMail (http://www.group-mail.com/asp/common/downloads.asp)

[oliegirl]

If you are run a small business or maybe you are looking for a possible way to handle emails, try this nifty piece of software out
GroupMail (http://www.group-mail.com/asp/common/downloads.asp)


I installed and am trying to run this, but I am having trouble setting it up with gmail...does anyone have it configured and working with a gmail account?

[Easy Mac]

Do you like to make internet phone calls? Do you like conference calls? Do you want a podcast with random people throughout the country?

Gizmo (http://www.gizmoproject.com/index.html)

I greatly prefer this to Skype, it doesn't have the IM client in it, but the conference calls are much easier and its not quite as bandwith intensive. edit, and easily record the conversation within the program.

[Antmeister]

Here is a nifty little multimedia player that plays a number of formats even DivX. What is also impressive is that this player has been created for a number of different operating systems:
VLC media player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/)

Are you into digital photography? Do you own a computer that operates on Windows XP? Does you camera take pictures in RAW format? If this is the case, Microsoft just released a RAW Image Thumbnail and Viewer:
Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d48e808e-b10d-4ce4-a141-5866fd4a3286&DisplayLang=en)

Maybe you want to have a better ability to organize those photos, and yet you still want the ability to do some basic editing. Well this could be for you:
Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition 3.0 (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2977)

[Antmeister]

CW Shredder removes some variants of spyware from your computer. Also good for cleaning up browsers that have been hijacked. For Windows users only:
CWShredder (http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html)

Looking for a diagnostic tool, for either Windows or Mac, that will display information about the hardware and software on your computer, then this is for you:
(Windows) Belarc (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html)
(Mac) Apple Support Tool (http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Apple_System_Profiler/ASP_2.1.2.smi.bin)

Look, it's another one of those photo editing programs. Check it out:
Photofiltre (http://www.photofiltre.com/)

[Antmeister]

Are you looking for an alternative to My Computer on your computer desktop that will give more detal about the drives on your computer? Well this is your solution, plus it has some other diagnostic tools as well:
Drive Manager 3.14 (http://www.alexnolan.net/software/driveman.htm)

Tired of waiting for you system to defrag as you try to do maintenance on your computer. Well what if the process could be sped up a little faster::
Fast Defrag (http://www.amsn.ro/)

[Antmeister]

Here is a nice BitTorrent client that will make downloading huge files easier since it uses that peer to peer networking:
ABC (Yet Another Bittorent Client) (http://pingpong-abc.sourceforge.net/)

[Emiliano]

Cool stuff Ant. Although I switched to dual-boot system and I use Linux as first system, I still use Windows and some of these utilities look very good. Thanks!

[Antmeister]

Looks like Anarchy online is free to play until January of 2006. Try it out. It's free:
Anarchy Online (http://www.anarchy-online.com/free/ad_campaigns/freecampaign)

[sterlingice]

Looks like Anarchy online is free to play until January of 2006. Try it out. It's free:
Anarchy Online (http://www.anarchy-online.com/free/ad_campaigns/freecampaign)
I'm pretty sure I started a thread about this a while back. If anyone decided to play and needs someone to team with around the same level, I've got a level ~115ish Doc running around.

SI

[mhass]

PagePlus SE is a desktop publisher much like Microsoft Publisher only without the bugs and odd behavior.

I've been using it quite a bit recently after getting totally frustrated with Publisher. This is the two-version-ago release of their current product PagePlus 10, with only a view limitations, the biggest being that documents can only be saved in their format. But if you just want to create nice looking documents easily, this is pretty smooth and not buggy at all. Additionally, about 10 days after you download this free version, they'll send you an email offering to sell PagePlus 9 for $9.95. That version adds in a few of the things missing in SE.

PagePlus SE (http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PagePlus/default.asp)

[Airhog]

A remake of the game privateer -


http://priv.solsector.net/downloads.htm

[Ramzavail]

But wait....there's more...
Well when football season arrives, there is always that good old fashioned football pool that happens in offices around the country. Don't waste your time using a spreadsheet, use this nifty software here. I used it for two straight years:
Worldpools (http://www.4horsemen.com/)



I just downloaded this, but there is no option to change the schedule for 2005 and they havent updated the software for 2005.

anybody know of any solutions? I need my pool out today or I'm going back to doing it by hand.

[Antmeister]

I just downloaded this, but there is no option to change the schedule for 2005 and they havent updated the software for 2005.

anybody know of any solutions? I need my pool out today or I'm going back to doing it by hand.

Damn sorry about that. They are no longer supporting it and it even looks like there online version went under as well. I will send you two other ones by PM, but unfortunately they are not free, they are shareware.

[Antmeister]

Okay here is a great piece of software for those of you that have cameras that shoot in the RAW format. This software will allow you to correct your RAW images and will also give you the ability to make some nice slideshows.

RawShooter - Essentials 2005 (http://esd.element5.com/product.html?productid=300013536&languageid=1&cart=1&currencies=EUR,all&noquickbuy=1)

[Antmeister]

Here is a nice ftp client with encryption that I came across recently.
Encrypted FTP (http://www.encrypted-ftp.com/index.html) (for Windows users only)

Looking for a web authoring software. Well here is one with the ease of Frontpage and Dreamweaver and yes it's free.
NVu (http://www.nvu.com/index.html) (for Windows, Mac, and Linux)

Now here is a small program that is an advanced version of Windows Explorer in Windows XP. This allows you to view multiple drives and/or folders with tabbed browsing.
ExplorerXP (http://www.explorerxp.com/index.html#download) (for Windows 2000/XP only)

[Yellow5]

More....

QJot (http://www.xtort.net/xtort/qjot.php) is a small Wordpad replacement. Loving this one and using it daily.

Features:

Integrates with the dictionary/thesaurus program, WordWeb.
Can run from Floppy or USB device.
Spellchecking integration with TinySpell.
Integration with LetMeType, autocompletion program.
Opens and Saves .doc files (Native rtf format)
Insert images and objects
Insert file into text
100-level Undo/Redo
Word Count
<600 kb disk space
More stuff so check the site for more info.


Subpad (http://www.xtort.net/xtort/subpad.php) is a notepad replacement by the author of QJot. Like notepad but adds faster find/replace, most recent docs, close on ESC, roll-up caption bar, Toggle URL highlighting, column selection mode and stay on top.

Xint (http://www.xtort.net/xtort/xint.php) is another notepad replacement with more features than Subpad. Supports on the fly encryption, opens large files up to 10mb, and a ton of features.

Omziff (http://www.xtort.net/xtort/omziff.php) is a small, portable text file encryption utility that will run from a USB device. It also generates random passwords, and offers simple file shredding.

Algorithms include: Blowfish, Cast128, Gost, IDEA, Misty1, Rijndael, and Twofish.

[daedalus]

I need something like that except one that allows me to use vi functionalities. :D

I would use Vim for Windows except it feels far too clunky. I weep.

[sterlingice]

I need something like that except one that allows me to use vi functionalities. :D

I would use Vim for Windows except it feels far too clunky. I weep.
You Linux hacks are so cute ;)

SI

[Antmeister]

Here is an interesting piece of software. This program that is a little over 1 meg lets you view television channels around the world. Check it out:
TVexe.com (http://www.tvexe.com/) (for broadband and Windows users only)

[DanGarion]

Here is a Paint.net a pretty robust replacement for MS Paint.

http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/

[Antmeister]

Here is a Paint.net a pretty robust replacement for MS Paint.

http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/


Thanks, but I did mention this on post #32. I wonder what flere's posts would look like after using this software. :)

[DanGarion]

Thanks, but I did mention this on post #32. I wonder what flere's posts would look like after using this software. :)
Doh so many posts I didn't notice it. :)

[daedalus]

You Linux hacks are so cute ;)Unix.

http://daedalus.fastmail.fm//images/Dilbert-Unix.gif

[Yellow5]

daedalus have you tried winVi (http://www.winvi.de/en/)?

[FrogMan]

Unix.

http://daedalus.fastmail.fm//images/Dilbert-Unix.gif
we stand corrected: You Unix dorks are so cute ;)

:D :p

FM

[daedalus]

we stand corrected: You Unix dorks are so cute ;)

:D :p

FMMuch better. :D

[FrogMan]

Much better. :D
hehe :D

FM

[Antmeister]

This is a very cool piece of software. This is a collabrative word processor. In other words you can write a document, give permissions for other users to edit the document and then publish it to the web (via a web page or even a blog). I discovered this while browsing Steve Jackson games hoping to see progress on their MMORPG, but it looks like that it is no longer in development. Anyways check out this piece of software:

Writely (http://www.writely.com/BasePage.aspx)

[Antmeister]

Here is a nice point and click freeware game that you can play online or download to your computer. Not a shabby adventure game at all:


The Goat in the Grey Fedora (http://www.otterarchives.com/bounty2/index.html) (Windows/Mac only)

[Antmeister]

This is a nice side scrolling action game that pretty much falls into the category as a good time waster.:
Adagio (select the first game in this link). (http://www.gapingwolf.com/)
(Windows/Mac only)

This next game is also a side scroller, but suprisingly it is also a pretty deep RPG. This is something that you would most likely see on a platform considering how it functions. Interesting story line and also it is interesting how you develop your characters:
The Spirit Engine (http://tse.natomic.com/intro.asp)
(Windows only)

[rjolley]

Freeware programmer editor, PSPad. Similar in functionality to UltraEdit.

http://www.pspad.com/

[sterlingice]

PSPad's pretty good. Tho I prefer EditPad Lite

SI

[Antmeister]

This is a full fledged graphics that is now free because it was acquired by Microsoft. However the catch is that you have to have a hotmail account to download. So go make those phony accounts if you want it. Enjoy.
Creature House Expression 3 (http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/graphic_designer/ctp/previous/expression3_home.aspx)
(for Windows only)

Are you sick of the boring digital clock that exists on your Windows system. Well look no further for a solution to your time keeping woes. Here is some nifty freeware that gives your clock some pizazz:
ClocX (http://clocx.fi.cz/)
(for Windows only)

[Antmeister]

This is an adventure game that can easily be sold as shareware, but thank goodness it is free. This is an anime horror adventure game and requires a bittorrent software to download. If you don't have one, use the freeware one I have in Post #86 of this thread. It is a huge file, but if you are an adventure fan, it is worth the wait:
The White Chamber (http://www.studiotrophis.com/wc.php)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

Here is a free web browser that has recently gone free and eliminated their banner ads:
Opera (http://www.opera.com/)

[Antmeister]

In regards to the game that I listed two posts above, this is the software they used to create it. For those of you who aspire to create point and click adventures, this may be what you are looking for. Check out the games section to see other examples as well:
Wintermute Engine (http://www.dead-code.org/index2.php/en)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

This is an adventure game that can easily be sold as shareware, but thank goodness it is free. This is an anime horror adventure game and requires a bittorrent software to download. If you don't have one, use the freeware one I have in Post #86 of this thread. It is a huge file, but if you are an adventure fan, it is worth the wait:
The White Chamber (http://www.studiotrophis.com/wc.php)
(Windows only)


Wow you guys should really check this game out if you are adventure buffs. This is very much like playing Anime horror movie. Some of the puzzles are easy, but the story is very well done so far.

[Antmeister]

Two nice time wasting games can be found here:
Glinkie Games (http://www.glinkiegames.com/)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

This is mutliplayer web based game that has been around for a while and yet it is still free to participate. I want to try this badly, but there is so much to learn as you can see from the guide. For those of you who have the time to immerse yourself, this may be the game for you:
Utopia (http://games.swirve.com/utopia/)
(since it is web based, I am to assume any system can play it)

[sterlingice]

This is mutliplayer web based game that has been around for a while and yet it is still free to participate. I want to try this badly, but there is so much to learn as you can see from the guide. For those of you who have the time to immerse yourself, this may be the game for you:
Utopia (http://games.swirve.com/utopia/)
(since it is web based, I am to assume any system can play it)
Unless it's drastically changed from the days I played, it's a pretty simple web interface like hattrick. It's kindof fun but gets old fairly quick unless you have good kingdommates.

SI

[Antmeister]

Unless it's drastically changed from the days I played, it's a pretty simple web interface like hattrick. It's kindof fun but gets old fairly quick unless you have good kingdommates.

SI

Thanks for the warning...don't know how much it hs changed.

[sterlingice]

Don't get me wrong- you can still get a lot of mileage out of it like people got out of Omerta. But, like Omerta, you need to luck into a kingdom that has good active people because the game is as much about the community as the game.

SI

[Antmeister]

Don't get me wrong- you can still get a lot of mileage out of it like people got out of Omerta. But, like Omerta, you need to luck into a kingdom that has good active people because the game is as much about the community as the game.

SI


Oh no, I got the gist of that from your last post. I just thought the post was helpful for those who lean toward doing a lot of things solo and don't like to depend on a community to advance.

[Antmeister]

Here is a neat group planner for your desktop. Check out the demostration online to see how it works:
Mediabee (http://mediabee.com/)
(Windows only)

[Dutch]

Wow, free-ware overload. Where to start???? :)

But no free Solecismic FTP client? What's up? Can't give a indy game developer some love?

[Antmeister]

Wow, free-ware overload. Where to start???? :)

But no free Solecismic FTP client? What's up? Can't give a indy game developer some love?

lol....we have enough threads for FOF, TCY, TPF, BBCF, TDCB, FBCB, TPB and any other abbreviated name you could come up with. In fact we have a sticky with all of them at the top. I wanted to given the other indy developers some love as well. :)

[Neon_Chaos]

Unless it's drastically changed from the days I played, it's a pretty simple web interface like hattrick. It's kindof fun but gets old fairly quick unless you have good kingdommates.

SI
I played Utopia for 2 years before stopping. It's fun, but the improtance of good kingdom-mates cannot be emphasized any harder. You may grow as a province all by yourself, but having a strong Kingdom is key to actually being good in the game. I had a Kingdom that was intact for 4 Ages once, it was fun times.

[Antmeister]

Here is an interesting game in which you are to save and rebuild the island of Sheylan:
Food Force (http://www.food-force.com/index.php/game/)
(Windows and Macintosh)

[Dutch]

lol....we have enough threads for FOF, TCY, TPF, BBCF, TDCB, FBCB, TPB and any other abbreviated name you could come up with. In fact we have a sticky with all of them at the top. I wanted to given the other indy developers some love as well. :)

And that you have!

[Wolfpack]

Here is an interesting game in which you are to save and rebuild the island of Sheylan:
Food Force (http://www.food-force.com/index.php/game/)
(Windows and Macintosh)

Is there an "Oil-for-Food Embezzlement" option?

[FBPro]

Here is a neat group planner for your desktop. Check out the demostration online to see how it works:
Mediabee (http://mediabee.com/)
(Windows only)
I d/l this one, works quite nicely.

[Antmeister]

I d/l this one, works quite nicely.

Cool, glad it worked out for you. My wife just started using this this week. She seems to like it as well.

[Antmeister]

Perhaps you are have a new video card and your old drivers don't seem to be completely out of the computer. Well this nifty little program will delete all the old drivers from your system:
Driver Cleaner Professional Edition (http://www.drivercleaner.net/)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

Do you like to take pictures? Do you want to share those pictures with others over email or web, even possibly CD-ROM? Well this free piece of sotware allows you to view your pictures and export them to share with others:
PixVue (http://www.pixvue.com/index.html)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

This is one of the coolest software programs I have seen. Although I mention a number of programs for your desktop, nothing comes close to this. This is very configurable. You can use it to get weather reports, time, stock info, random pics on your desktop, etc. There are over 1500 widgets that can be run with this program. I know it may not sound like much, but you have to visit the site to understand the power of this little program and of course it is free:
Konfabulator (http://www.konfabulator.com/)
(Windows and Macintosh)

[Antmeister]

In reference to the post above, check out the screenshot of this software. And what's neat is that all the widgets are configurable.

http://www.almarks.com/konfabulaor.jpg

[Dutch]

That's pretty cool!

[Antmeister]

That's pretty cool!

Yeppers. What's cool is there are loads of widgets out there. It is somewhat similar to extensions for Firefox in that manner. Users create a number of widgets and they even have guides in how you can create your own widgets to create and share.

[Antmeister]

Here is a scalable vector graphics editor. This can be used to create graphics with a small file size that will never lose quality regardless of its size. Use it to make your own logos, clipart, etc. For all those artists and artist wannabes:
Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/index.php)
(Windows, Linux and Mac)

[Antmeister]

For digital photography entusiasts or budding web designers, this is a nice start piece of software. It has a number of archiving features that surpass a number of shareware titles:
StudioLine PhotoBasic 3 (http://www.studioline.biz/EN/products/overview-photo-basic/default.htm)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

Fantasy and strategy game all rolled up into one. Try these open source freeware game:
Battle for Wesnoth (http://www.wesnoth.org/home)
(Windows, Macintosh, GNU/Linux, BeOS, FreeBSD, and Amiga)

Maybe you want to do some screen captures and you are often frustrated with the limited features of the Print Screen button. Well this may solve your problem:
Gadwin PrintScreen (http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/)
(Windows only)

Now this is a nice piece of software. If you are looking for something that strictly converts graphics from one format to the other, you can't pass this up. It can import around 400 file formats and export to about 50. Not bad for a freeware product:
XnView (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/enfeatures.html)
(Windows, Macintosh, Linux, FreeBSD, Open BSD, NetBSD, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX)

Here is a good replacement for Windows explorer. This gives you more functionality than the Window you have become used to:
xplorer lite (http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

Here is a cross between a word processor and a database. It can be organize files and even stores hyperlinks. Check this one out to read more about it capabilities:
NeoMem (http://www.neomem.org/neomem.htm)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

Awesome screensavers. Unfortunately you are going to need OpenGL on your card in order for these things to work. But if you do, you will see these are pretty nice:
Really Slick Screensavers (http://www.reallyslick.com/)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

Well this first one is a weird version of Dungeon Keeper in which you are trying to protect the Museum from Modern Artwork. It sounds strange, but it is a freeware game that you just have to try to understand how crazy this can get:
Curator Defense (http://www.davidbhowe.net/cd/main.htm)
(Windows only)

Now this next one is good for any photography enthusiasts. If you always wanted to create a panarama, but didn't want to use any expensive programs to put it together, try using this application:
Autostitch (http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html)
(Windows only)

Here is another MMORPG. It is a cross between a cartoon and a roleplaying game combined in one and it you play it in a 2d style. Check it out:
DOFUS (http://www.dofus.com/en/)
(Windows, Macintosh and Linux)

This last one is pretty impressive. What it basically does is that is allows you to use an image you have and blow them up to any size you want. Yet, you don't need to have a poster size printer to see the results, it will actually print each section one an regular size piece of paper. Check it out:
The Rasterbator 1.2 (http://arje.net/rasterbator)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

There may be times when you want to share your photos with friends and family, but don't really feel like learning any web design software. Well this may be the answer to your troubles:
JAlbum (http://jalbum.net/index.jsp)
(Windows, Macintosh, Linux)

I know there are a few of you that love race car simulations. Here is the latest freeware one:
Racer (http://www.racer.nl/)
(Windows, Macintosh, Linux)

[Pumpy Tudors]

This last one is pretty impressive. What it basically does is that is allows you to use an image you have and blow them up to any size you want. Yet, you don't need to have a poster size printer to see the results, it will actually print each section one an regular size piece of paper. Check it out:
The Rasterbator 1.2 (http://arje.net/rasterbator)
(Windows only)
I endorse this one wholeheartedly. You have to be willing to tape or glue the pieces of your picture together, and you'll probably want to cut the borders, so this isn't something that you do in a flash. Still, if you want to spend a few minutes to make it look nice and you have a good place for your image, you can make some really impressive stuff. Last year, when I went on vacation to Las Vegas, I took a picture of myself, ran it through the Rasterbator, and printed the picture almost life-size. I then taped the picture up near my desk at work. Everyone at my job got a kick out of it, and they got to look at me and my moustache for a whole week until I returned. Of course, the picture had been defaced quite a bit by the time I got back, but that's another story.

Anyway, I love the Rasterbator.

[Antmeister]

I endorse this one wholeheartedly. You have to be willing to tape or glue the pieces of your picture together, and you'll probably want to cut the borders, so this isn't something that you do in a flash. Still, if you want to spend a few minutes to make it look nice and you have a good place for your image, you can make some really impressive stuff. Last year, when I went on vacation to Las Vegas, I took a picture of myself, ran it through the Rasterbator, and printed the picture almost life-size. I then taped the picture up near my desk at work. Everyone at my job got a kick out of it, and they got to look at me and my moustache for a whole week until I returned. Of course, the picture had been defaced quite a bit by the time I got back, but that's another story.

Anyway, I love the Rasterbator.

Wow, I didn't realize you rasterbate too. It is good that you got that in the open. Hopefully a digital kitten didn't die. :D

[Pumpy Tudors]

Wow, I didn't realize you rasterbate too. It is good that you got that in the open. Hopefully a digital kitten didn't die. :D
Seven...

[Antmeister]

Seven...

Is there a way to reduce this number?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Is there a way to reduce this number?:p :p :p

[daedalus]

Think of the kittens.

[MrBigglesworth]

I love this rastorbator thing. For those of you that have used it before, have you tried to fasten the pictures to a wall? What is the best method?

[Antmeister]

I love this rastorbator thing. For those of you that have used it before, have you tried to fasten the pictures to a wall? What is the best method?

I just found out about it. It seems Pumpy is the resident expert since he says he has used it in the past. I don't want to try this until after my move.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I love this rastorbator thing. For those of you that have used it before, have you tried to fasten the pictures to a wall? What is the best method?
Double-sided poster tape works well, in my experience.

[Antmeister]

For those of you who are looking for a CMS (Content management system) for managing your documents, design documents, etc, then this may be a good solution for you. It's open source and there seems to be a lot of support for it:
Plone (http://plone.org/)
(Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Solaris and BSD)

If you like OpenOffice and wanted to use it on another computer, then you can always download this portable version. This allows you to carry it on an external device (such as a thumb drive, iPod, etc.). And you can then use this on any Windows machine without installing it. Nice:
Portable OpenOffice (http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/portable_openoffice/)
(Windows only)

This is another PDF converter, but this one is pretty unique. You can choose how the PDF will be used (Screen, Print, EBook or Prepress and you can password protect your files as well:
PrimoPDF (http://www.primopdf.com/free-pdf-userguide.asp)
(Windows only)

Here is a nice multi-player game that I came across that is real nice. It is a gun combat/hack and slash type of game that is somewhat similar to Tribes. Except that you can customize you character and buy new items as you go up in level. Very unique and it is free to play at this time. However be aware that there are peak hours and only a limited amount of servers:
GunZ The Duel: International Edition (http://www.gunzonline.com/main/)
(Windows only)

[Antmeister]

Rename your files with ease:
Rename4u (http://www.kellysoftware.com/software/Rename4u.asp)
(Windows only)

Here is a suite of application from FastStone that is free. It covers an image editor, photo resizer, screen capture and even a browser. Just choose the ones you may like to try out:
FastStone Suite (http://www.faststone.org/download.htm)
(Windows only)

This is a standalone application for the camera hobbyists that are looking for something that will get rid of that lens distortion that you see when using fish eye lenses or any other assortment of lenses that causes pin cushioning and barreling.
PTLens (http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/)
(Windows and Macintosh - Macintosh users. There is a link for similar software on the site.)

Now have you ever seen this message:
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/example.png
If you have, this software program eliminates that problem:
Unlocker (http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Unlocker.shtml)
(Windows only)

[Lonnie]

I can vouch for unlocker, it works great. I had a few files like that, they had been abandoned by the program that was using them, and even after a reboot they would not delete. Unlocker worked like a champ.

[mooreadamc]

Does anyone know of any freeware programs to create a daily/weekly/monthly schedule. Almsot like a day planner. I haven't been able to find one. I would also consider paying for one if anyone has any ideas. Thanks!

[Antmeister]

Does anyone know of any freeware programs to create a daily/weekly/monthly schedule. Almsot like a day planner. I haven't been able to find one. I would also consider paying for one if anyone has any ideas. Thanks!

Yes sir, go to post #124. It's called Mediabee.

[Antmeister]

Do you have a lot of black and white photos (old or new) that you wish you can colorize? Or maybe you just want to colorize portions of that image. Well try this out!:
Recolored (http://www.recolored.com/)
And if you want to see other examples of this software, here is a link:
http://www.devlobby.com/forums/showthread.php?p=599
(Windows only)

[samifan24]

Don't look now or blame me for thread necromancy but I came across this great list of 30 absolutely free, open source Windows programs at the Simple Dollar blog (http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/) the other day and thought it'd be worthwhile to share.

I've used a couple of the programs already posted in this thread and several more from this list as well. I hope we can get this thread going again! What programs are you using?

[hoosierdude]

Actually I check Ant's site weekly. He has some nice stuff, some of which I even recommended. :)

[Peregrine]

If anyone has been playing Battle for Wesnoth, I noticed they just came out with version 1.2 with a lot of improvements. I've just been getting into it a little bit but I think others have been playing more.

[Peregrine]

dola - Also as shareware games I have to recommend the following two, both of which I have purchased and enjoyed:

Ancient Empires Lux - Lux is a risk-variant but this version is a single player game based on various ancient empires, where there are a variety of starting positions ranging from easy to hard for each map. Good stuff, and gets really hard at the higher levels.

http://sillysoft.net/ael/

Virtual Villagers - Like a lot of indie games, the excellent site Gametunnel turned me on to this one. It's a sim game where you start with a few villagers stranded on an island, and you have to get them gathering food, building huts, researching new technologies, and breeding. What's neat is the game goes in real-time, even when you're not playing it, so if you're gone for a day, you can log in and see what's going on, make some adjustments, then check back in a few hours later, it's a great setup for casual gamers and it's fun to get your village going, there are various challenges or puzzles you have to solve also as you develop. Good stuff.

http://www.virtualvillagers.com/

[Antmeister]

Nice I didn't know about Ancient Empires Lux.

[Emiliano]

Online application (http://vixy.net/flv_converter) that converts YouTube videos in other formats, very useful.

[Yellow5]

My new favorite media player:

GOM Player (http://www.gomplayer.com)

Many built-in codecs (XviD, DivX, FLV1, AC3, OGG, MP4, H263 and more). If you have videos that require a separate codec, GOM Player will find one and direct you to a place where you can download open source version of the codec.

[samifan24]

My new favorite media player:

GOM Player (http://www.gomplayer.com)

Many built-in codecs (XviD, DivX, FLV1, AC3, OGG, MP4, H263 and more). If you have videos that require a separate codec, GOM Player will find one and direct you to a place where you can download open source version of the codec.

Have you tried VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/)?

[Antmeister]

My new favorite media player:

GOM Player (http://www.gomplayer.com)

Many built-in codecs (XviD, DivX, FLV1, AC3, OGG, MP4, H263 and more). If you have videos that require a separate codec, GOM Player will find one and direct you to a place where you can download open source version of the codec.

Nice...nice...nice.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Online application (http://vixy.net/flv_converter) that converts YouTube videos in other formats, very useful.

YES! This kick ass!

[Antmeister]

YES! This kick ass!
+1

Just got a look at this one. Very cool. No software required to install.

[Izulde]

http://www.virtualapple.org has a lot of old Apple IIGS and IIe games on it, playable through Internet Explorer and possibly Firefox through IE. Ironically enough, you have to have Windows. :D

Still, lots of awesome oldies on there, including the IIGS version of Balance of Power, which is a better version than the PC one.

[DaddyTorgo]

http://www.virtualapple.org has a lot of old Apple IIGS and IIe games on it, playable through Internet Explorer and possibly Firefox through IE. Ironically enough, you have to have Windows. :D

Still, lots of awesome oldies on there, including the IIGS version of Balance of Power, which is a better version than the PC one.

Balance of Power is HOT SHIT. i've been trying for years to find a DLable PC copy of it.

[sterlingice]

Woo! Oregon Trail and Number Munchers. That's all I need :)

SI

[Yellow5]

Bloodmasters (http://www.bloodmasters.com/)

Play with friends on your LAN or online and experience this oldschool top-down shooter. The game supports Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and Scavenger game modes.

I set this up on our LAN this weekend and it was silly fun. Not many online servers available, but this is perfect for LAN play.

[Antmeister]

Since this thread has resurrected, I am just going to contribute here (as well as my link directory, of course):

Recuva (http://www.recuva.com/) - A file recovery utility from the makers of Crap Cleaner. If you deleted anything from the recycle bin or even memory cards, there is a chance you can recover it with this utility.

Web Desinger/Developer Add-Ons for Firefox
Firebug (http://www.getfirebug.com/) - A kick ass web that allows you to edit and debug HTML, CSS, javascript and even the DOM.
IE Tab (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1419/) - This allows you to switch between Internet Explorer and Firefox in the same browser. I can't live without this tool.