I've seen a lot of different people recommending different programs for Windows here. I want to start a thread on spyware-free, free windows software. Virtually all of this software is open source software, with the source code available so many eyes look at the software to ensure it is spyware-free. You should always download the software from the official software sites, and not other sites, to ensure it has not been tampered with.
The lesser known programs ...
Unarchiving: 7-zip (does ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS -- and handles multiple archive/split joining as well)
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A/V Playback: Media Player Classic aka "Guliverkli" (looks like older Microsoft Media Player, but it's not, and has many, many more codecs)
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Other A/V Options: VideoLAN Client (VLC, good codec support), MPlayer (not "end-user friendly," more of a "back-end" used by other programs, used by VLC and others, see links on the MPlayer site for graphical options)
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Messaging: Pidgin (fka GAIM), the base for many other free IM programs (as was Everybuddy before it)
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File Transfer: Firezilla (FTP, FTPS, SFTP and others)
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P2P File Sharing: Azureus (so many P2P programs are spyware-infested programs, but not open source Azureus), although it's clearly not for newbies to Torrents.
EDIT
The more well known programs, plugins and more "Office" software ...
Browser: Firefox
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Browser Plugin: PrefBar (turn off Javascript, Send Referrer and other things)
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Browser Scripts: PornZilla (countless, useful scripts, tools, plugins, etc...)
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E-mail: Thunderbird (God, please don't use Outlook/Outlook Express -- which is a virus distribution engine, even with a virus scanner)
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Office Suite: OpenOffice.org (most other "free" office suites use the same code), which includes the Java Runtime Engine (JRE) for your browser
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PDF Output: PDF Creator (if you don't use OpenOffice.org that creates native PDF)
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Desktop Publishing (DTP): Scribus (currently v1.3 "development" branch for Windows, but quite usable)
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Bitmap Graphics Editing: The GIMP (can do what Photoshop can, especially with plugins, newer CYMK, etc..., although it doesn't work the same -- and there are other options, based on GIMP, for other editing, like movie/media, etc...)
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Lastly, in a few Google searches for various project homepages, I stumbled across this site I didn't previously know about, and it has links to some other options as well:
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The lesser known programs ...
Unarchiving: 7-zip (does ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS -- and handles multiple archive/split joining as well)
Premium Link Upgrade
A/V Playback: Media Player Classic aka "Guliverkli" (looks like older Microsoft Media Player, but it's not, and has many, many more codecs)
Premium Link Upgrade
Other A/V Options: VideoLAN Client (VLC, good codec support), MPlayer (not "end-user friendly," more of a "back-end" used by other programs, used by VLC and others, see links on the MPlayer site for graphical options)
Premium Link Upgrade
Premium Link Upgrade
Messaging: Pidgin (fka GAIM), the base for many other free IM programs (as was Everybuddy before it)
Premium Link Upgrade ( Premium Link Upgrade )
File Transfer: Firezilla (FTP, FTPS, SFTP and others)
Premium Link Upgrade
P2P File Sharing: Azureus (so many P2P programs are spyware-infested programs, but not open source Azureus), although it's clearly not for newbies to Torrents.
EDIT
The more well known programs, plugins and more "Office" software ...
Browser: Firefox
Premium Link Upgrade
Browser Plugin: PrefBar (turn off Javascript, Send Referrer and other things)
Premium Link Upgrade
Browser Scripts: PornZilla (countless, useful scripts, tools, plugins, etc...)
Premium Link Upgrade
E-mail: Thunderbird (God, please don't use Outlook/Outlook Express -- which is a virus distribution engine, even with a virus scanner)
Premium Link Upgrade
Office Suite: OpenOffice.org (most other "free" office suites use the same code), which includes the Java Runtime Engine (JRE) for your browser
Premium Link Upgrade
PDF Output: PDF Creator (if you don't use OpenOffice.org that creates native PDF)
Premium Link Upgrade
Desktop Publishing (DTP): Scribus (currently v1.3 "development" branch for Windows, but quite usable)
Premium Link Upgrade
Bitmap Graphics Editing: The GIMP (can do what Photoshop can, especially with plugins, newer CYMK, etc..., although it doesn't work the same -- and there are other options, based on GIMP, for other editing, like movie/media, etc...)
Premium Link Upgrade
Lastly, in a few Google searches for various project homepages, I stumbled across this site I didn't previously know about, and it has links to some other options as well:
Premium Link Upgrade
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