April 25
Ten Interesting (almost) Free Software Utilities
I just bought a new laptop computer and replaced the failing hard disk of my old one. So I faced the task of installing all my software not once but twice. Since I had to do two machines I decided to write a list of the shareware/freeware I would have to download and install. Curiously the list had a round ten entries, which prompted me to write this blog entry.
Here is the alphabetical list:
- Daemon Tools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/). There are several virtual CD/DVD software out there to mount ISO files but I happen to like this one.
- Foxit (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/): A very light and fast PDF reader and one that does not bother you with frequent updates.
- K-Lite Codec Pack (your favorite download site). With so many audio/video codecs out there, this is a one-stop shop for a lot of popular codecs you might need.
- Logmein (http://www.logmein.com/) : A pretty darn good remote control software. Uses HTTPS and is able to bypass many firewalls at the places I go, at least until the boneheads that run the networks start blocking their domain. Works even when both computers are behind NAT.
- Microsoft Live Messenger (http://messenger.live.com): My preferred instant message software.
- Mozila Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/): I usually run two browsers, Internet Explorer and FireFox. I leave one with Flash installed so I can watch Youtube videos and the other one without so I am not bothered by stupid Flash adds.
- Notepad++ (http://sourceforge.net/projects/notepad-plus/): A simple and fast text editor with a lot of features. I particularly like the Hex editor.
- Pdf995 (http://www.pdf995.com/): A pretty good PDF creator. Unlike Adobe Distiller, it *can* print on A4 sheets. At least up to Distiller 6 it would actually print on a “Letter” sheet and stretch to A4 dimensions, leaving a lot of blank space below, as if you selected “Letter” and put “A4” paper in the printer.
- Skype (http://www.skype.com): I like Skype especially to call international phone numbers at a cheap rate.
- Winrar (http://www.rarlab.com/): The file compression/archive tool. It can handle ZIP and other file types.
Tools 
Help
+Free+Software+Utilities+-+Windows+Live&referrer=){kind=small}
