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 download the software 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. All the software here has been tested and recommended by NCF members.

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

What it is: Anti-virus scanner
Licence: GNU General Public License
Why you want it: Free software virus scanner.
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. It is suggested 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.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

FileZilla

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.
Caveats: If you don't create websites then you won't need this. Windows XP and newer only are supported.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

Firefox

What it is: web browser and PDF reader
Licence: Mozilla Public License
Why you want it: 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.
Caveats: Windows XP and newer only are supported. There is a beginners user guide on FLOSS Manuals.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

GIMP

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.
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.
There is a beginners user guide on FLOSS Manuals.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

InfraRecorder

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.
Caveats: You will only need this if your PC has an optical drive.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

Inkscape

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.
Caveats: None. They have very complete documentation and tutorials on-line and also at FLOSS Manuals.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

jEdit

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.
Caveats: Spell checking must be enabled as a plugin.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

KeePass

KeyPass

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.
Caveats: None.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

LibreOffice

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".
Caveats: The minimum system requirements are:
- Microsoft Windows XP SP3 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
Direct link to Windows download page

Stellarium

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.
Caveats: None.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

Sumatra

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.
Caveats: None
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

Thunderbird

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.
Caveats: None.
There is a beginners user guide on FLOSS Manuals.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

VLC

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.
Caveats: None.
There is a beginner's user guide on FLOSS Manuals.
Wikipedia page
Application home website
Direct link to Windows download page

External links

The NCF Free Software Discussion Group, for help and questions about free software
Best Of Free Windows Software DVD
Free software on Wikipedia
Wikipedia free software listing