PC Magazine’s Best Free Software
Here you will find a listing of PC Magazine’s Best Free Software.
An excerpt from PC Magazine Online.
Hall of Fame
Adobe Reader
www.adobe.com
This simplest of Adobe’s PDF programs lets you do just about anything PDF-related (besides create new ones).
AIM
www.aim.com
One of the most widely used pieces of free software ever, AOL Instant Messenger offers a ton of capabilities.
Audacity
audacity.sourceforge.net
Whether you’re recording or editing, Audacity is all about audio in practically any format.
Firefox
www.mozilla.com
GIMP
www.gimp.org
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) does most of what Photoshop does.
iTunes
www.apple.com/itunes
When you’re attached to the top media player in the land (iPod), success is a given. iTunes continues to build sales and refine its organization of songs, video, games, podcasts, and more.
OpenOffice.org
www.openoffice.org
You can spend a lot for Microsoft Office
or nothing for this suite with full-function word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentations, even an equations editor.
Skype
www.skype.com
You’ll pay to call regular phones, but if you sign up all your friends, Skype provides easy (and even international) calls and video-conferencing for nothing.
Thunderbird
www.mozilla.com/thunderbird
Mozilla’s no-cost e-mail alternative is extensible, fast, and easy to master. And a wealth of free add-ons means there’s not much this program won’t do, from calendars to encryption.
Ubuntu
www.ubuntu.com
This Linux-based OS comes with many of these Hall of Fame products (Firefox, OpenOffice.org) preinstalled.
WinAmp
www.winamp.com
After a decade of playing music, the “skinnable” WinAmp has several versions, including one with full CD ripping and burning.
