Best Of Free Windows Software

Since 2008 NCF has been giving out copies of the Best Of Free Windows Software DVD to help members learn about some of the great free software available and let them give it a try. The DVD is mostly aimed at users on dial-up for whom downloading large application files is difficult.

With fewer NCF members now using dial-up and most with unlimited DSL service it makes sense for people to just the software download directly. An additional factor is that few laptops or even desktop computers come with optical drives that can use CDs or DVDs these days.

This page explains some of the most popular free software for Windows and gives links to to download the applications directly.

Audacity

What it is: audio recorder and editor
Licence: GNU General Public License V2+
Why you want it: It enables you to record any sound that can be fed into your sound card, as a digital file, microphone or analog input, edit and save in a wide variety of formats.
Caveats: Only works if you have a sound card installed. Windows Vista and newer are supported. For Windows 10 you will need to have proper drivers to run your audio devices. There is a beginners user guide on FLOSS Manuals.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

Avidemux

What it is: video editor
Licence: GNU General Public License
Why you want it: A simple linear editor that enables you to edit videos, splice clips together, add transitions and save as ".avi" or ".mpeg" files for uploading to You Tube or other video hosting services. Compared to more complex non-linear video editors that require high-powered computers to run, Avidemux will run on much older hardware.
Caveats: Starting with version 2.6.10 Avidemux will no longer run on Windows XP. There is documentation available on how to use this application but it is a bit incomplete. There is a far better manual on FLOSS Manuals.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

ClamWin

   File Name: clamwin-0.99.1-setup.exe
   What it is: Anti-virus scanner
   Licence: GNU General Public License
   Why you want it: Free software virus scanner.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: ClamWin is pretty good and improving all the time, but unless you are using MS Outlook it does not do e-mail scanning. It can be set to update itself daily and also to do a complete scan each day. I suggest that it be used as a secondary or back-up virus scanner, perhaps using a freeware scanner like AVG Free as your primary virus protection.
   My April 2008 review
   My February 2008 review
   My 2007 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

FileZilla

   File Name: FileZilla_3.30.0_win32-setup.exe
   What it is: File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client
   Licence: GNU General Public License V2
   Why you want it: If you design websites then this FTP client will enable you to upload them and manage your uploaded files.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: If you don't create websites then you won't need this. Windows XP and newer only are supported.
   My 2013 review
   My 2008 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

Firefox

   File Name: Firefox_Setup_58.0.2.exe
   What it is: web browser and PDF reader
   Licence: Mozilla Public License
   Why you want it: The current version of the best free software browser available today. Provides far better security than using Internet Explorer, is W3C standards compliant and displays websites better. It includes a built-in PDF reader as well.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: Windows XP and newer only are supported. There is a beginners user guide on FLOSS Manuals.
   My 2017 review
   My 2014 review
   My 2013 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

GIMP

   File Name: gimp-2.8.22-setup.exe
   What it is: image editor
   Licence: GNU Lesser General Public License V3+ and GNU General Public License V3+
   Why you want it: Great free image editing application, similar to Photoshop, but has many better features.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: GIMP requires Windows 2000 or newer; it will not work on Windows 9x/ME and NT 4. The interface is a bit different from Photoshop, but works well. They have a very complete user manual on-line.
   My December 2007 review
   My July 2007 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

InfraRecorder

   File Name: ir053.exe
   What it is: CD and DVD burning
   Licence: GNU General Public License 3
   Why you want it: Easy to use free software CD and DVD burner.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: None
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

Inkscape

   File Name: inkscape-0.92.msi
   What it is: vector image creator
   Licence: GNU General Public License
   Why you want it: Easy to use free vector graphics image creation application, similar to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: None. They have very complete documentation and tutorials on-line and also at FLOSS Manuals.
   My 2008 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

jEdit

   File Name: jedit5.4.0install.exe
   What it is: text editor
   Licence: GNU GPLv2
   Why you want it: A very complete text editor that has many plug-ins and customizations available. Includes syntax highlighting for writing code and html.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: Spell checking must be enabled as a plugin.
   My 2014 review
   My 2007 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

KeyPass

   File Name: KeePass-1.35-Setup.exe
   What it is: secure password management utility
   Licence: GNU GPLv2+
   Why you want it: Keep your passwords in a secure database so they won't get stolen. Works with all browsers, including Firefox and Midori.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: None.
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

LibreOffice

   File Name: LibreOffice_6.0.1_Win_x86.msi
   What it is: complete office suite, including word processor and desktop publisher, spreadsheet, database, slide show, vector drawing application and math formula writer.
   Licence: GNU General Public License V3, with new contributions under the Mozilla Public License
   Why you want it: Free complete office suite that is better than MS Office and is derived from OpenOffice.org. Has some unique features, such as it can save documents as PDFs. You can save in native open formats or in MS Office formats such as ".doc" and ".xls".
   How to install it: Click on the ".msi" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: The minimum system requirements are:
       Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or newer
       Pentium-compatible PC (Pentium III, Athlon or more-recent system recommended)
       256 Mb RAM (512 Mb RAM recommended)
       Up to 1.5 Gb available hard disk space
       1024x768 resolution (higher resolution recommended), with at least 256 colours
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

Midori

   File Name: midori_0.5.11_32_.exe
   What it is: web browser
   Licence: GNU Lesser General Public License 2.1+
   Why you want it: A good lightweight and simple W3C standards compliant, WebKit-based browser.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: Midori does not remember passwords unless used in conjuction with KeePass.
   My 2015 review
   My 2014 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

Stellarium

   File Name: stellarium-0.17.0-win32.exe
   What it is: desktop planetarium.
   Licence: GNU General Public License
   Why you want it: Amazing graphics, better than almost all the commercial software available. Allows you to explore the night sky and plan your telescope viewing sessions.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: None.
   Ruth's 2007 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

Sumatra

   File Name: SumatraPDF-3.1.2-install.exe
   What it is: PDF reader.
   Why you want it: Extremely light weight and fast PDF reader. Unlike Adobe Reader, Sumatra opens in a fraction of a second, without having to wait for all the splash screens and credits to scroll by.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: None
   My 2008 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

Thunderbird

   File Name: Thunderbird Setup 52.6.0.exe
   What it is: e-mail client.
   Licence: Mozilla Public License
   Why you want it: Highly customizable e-mail application with many useful features, such as advanced search and tabbed e-mail. Much better usability and security than MS Outlook or Outlook Express.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: None. There is a beginners user guide on FLOSS Manuals.
   My 2007 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

VLC

   File Name: vlc-3.0.0-win32.exe
   What it is: media player.
   Licence: GNU General Public License V2+ (player) and GNU Lesser General Public License V2.1+ (engine)
   Why you want it: VLC is the best media player available and will play pretty much every type of audio and movie file. It has a simple interface, useful features like a graphic equalizer and is very easy to use.
   How to install it: Click on the ".exe" file and follow the instructions.
   Caveats: None. There is a beginner's user guide on FLOSS Manuals.
   My 2008 review
   Wikipedia page
   Application home website

External links