The Official Freeware Recommendation Thread

[Cain Highwind]

An idea I've had for a while. In an effort to get some fresh activity in here. I thought of making a thread where people can exchange Freeware Apps (or even games) they've come across and would recommend. I've actually found quite a few recently.

RULES OF THE THREAD

1) Recommend any freeware that you like including Applications, "Web Apps", Firefox Plugins, hell you can recommend any good games, I know they're out there. Shareware is also allowed as long as it works reasonably without the need to pay (No 30 Day trials or annoying "Pay to remove this watermark").

2)Nothing illegal or naughty, and absolutely no WAREZ or CRACKZ

3)Include a link and at least a couple sentences of what it does and why you recommend it.

4)Don't worry, discussions/multiple posts are fine within reason. This isn't a strict "One post per user thread"

Anyway to start:

Irfanview:
http://www.irfanview.com/
Irfanview is to Windows Image Viewer like Firefox is to Internet Explorer. Have Photoshop, but HATE to open it when all you need is a quick crop or resizing? Irfanview is right up your alley. It's lightweight (opens incredibly fast) with a TON of image editing features, Batch converter, and a plugin system that allows it to do practically anything (although right now, it's mostly just for allowing it to open virtually any file. By no means a Photshop replacement, just a great Image viewer and editor. A lot of Manga fans will also tell you it works great for a Manga viewer as you can basically cycle through all the "pages" in a full screen browser mode.

1Click Youtube Downloader
http://www.eurekr.com/
There are TONS of Youtube Downloaders out there, some even cost money. I've tried several. But this is the BEST and it's FREE. This recent version also has the ability to save HQ videos. You can download a variety of ways. Whether it's a single video, All you favorites, or all of one user's videos. UNLIKE a lot of other Youtube Downloaders, 1click, will name the file for you and organize it in appropriate folders. You can also change the output file to AVI, MP4s, whatever you like! Only downside is that it's essentially a clone of Internet Explorer in its interface.

AoA DVD Ripper
http://www.aoamedia.com/dvd_ripper.htm
This is a Shareware DVD Ripper. It's simple, straightforward, and easy to use. The limitations of this "trial" is simply a 10 minute limit. So, don't expect to rip full TV episodes or movies. HOWEVER, there's a "Movie Clip" option, a bit tricky to get the exact timing you want, but if you need small clips done for say a video project or you just want to upload your favorite movie scene to something like Youtube, I highly recommend this program. I actually made a couple of short One Piece clips I ripped from my (LEGIT) DVDs using this program:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9XhRzfAEu0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v22Inay1sUE

Media Convert (Web App)
http://www.media-convert.com/

Need a quick file converted? Don't have a piece of Software conversion on hand? Try Media Convert. A free online converter with a wide array of converting options. Just select the file, and your options (NOTE: If you select one of the profiles on the left it pretty much ignores any other settings you put in). File uploads, coverts and you download the converted file. I actually use this site a lot for my Nico Video rips (FLVs to AVIs/MP4s/NTSC DVD MPGs)

SUPER
http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

Need something more off-line? I'm sure if you've ever wanted to convert a file, there are TONS of expensive apps out there. SUPER is FREE. Totally and completely. Interface is a little clunky and crowded, but it works like a charm with tons of options to get the file you need converted JUST right.

Anyway, that's just a start, more to come later.

[Silver]

PIX Resizer
bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm

It can change a picture's size and format with minimal work and a great output. I tend to use it when I'm feeling lazy. One of my most used applications too.

Eternal Daughter
Derek Yu

One of my favourite platformers, basically a fantasy world with technology that has platforming levels with a few puzzles and some nice boss fights mixed in. For a free game, it's one of those ones I wouldn't even mind paying for...

The Spirit Engine
The Spirit Engine 2

While the sequel will be released in just over a week and will be a commerical game, the original is free and well worth a play. It can be a bit repetitive combat-wise but the story has some humour filled moments which can change depending on the characters you start the game with. It's a Console RPG of sorts.

[Omega Weapon]

ConvertICO.com - (Web App)

This handy little and free web application lets you convert between PNG and ICO formats without losing any quality or downloading any software. ConvertICO is able to convert PNG or ICO (Windows Vista compatible) files located on your computer or on a webserver.

URL Fixer (Firefox Add-On)

URL Fixer is an extension for Mozilla-based Web browsers that corrects typos in URLs that you enter in the address bar. For example, if you type google.con, it will correct it to google.com. The latest version of URL Fixer is version 1.4.3. This version will correct common misspellings of .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, .mil, .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, .pro, .cat, .jobs, .mobi, and .travel, as well as the protocol (http:, https). By right-clicking on the address bar, you can set it to auto-correct your errors, or you can have it ask you before making any corrections.

Glary Utilities (Windows application)

This powerful application offers extensive utilities to improve your system's performance and protect your privacy. Glary Utilities' well-organized interface allows users to easily choose from several tools. It cleans unwanted junk files and removes invalid and broken shortcuts, freeing up valuable disk space. Its Registry cleaner allows you to scan, remove, and back up faulty Registry entries. You also can wipe out online and Windows traces, although Internet Explorer is the only browser in which this function is supported. To improve the speed of your computer. Glary Utilities offers tools to manage start-up programs and memory optimization. Privacy-conscious users will certainly appreciate its inclusion of a government-standard file shredder to securely delete data.

Brilliant software, It does more than most of the expensive software's available in market.

Foxit PDF Reader (Windows application)

Foxit PDF Reader is a free PDF document viewer and printer. this windows application is much smaller than Adobe Reader and uses less system resources. I highly recommend this instead of Adobe Reader.