Recommended free 'desktop' software

===> Updated 11 Feb 2012<===

The term 'free' software not only means 'no cost' but equally important 'free to modify' for specific uses; this allows individuals and businesses to expand usage as needed and to avoid expensive supplier 'lock-in'.

Unlike Microsoft Windows, operating systems based on Linux (and *BSD) are free to try, install and use. Even if you don't install it permanently, you can try it out by booting up your computer with a 'live CD'.

Linux software is bundled into a 'distribution' tailored to specific needs. Additional software packages are stored in a distribution specific 'repository' for convenient download and update.

Much free software is available 'cross platform', in other words on Windows AND Linux AND Mac OS and other operating systems.

Here are my current preferences:

Category	Name	Comments
Desktop operating system distro - modern hardware	Linux Mint	A civilized version of Linux that 'just works'. Several versions built on Ubuntu or Debian. Honorable mention - Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE and many others.
Server operating system distro	Debian	Stable. No fuss package management. Honorable mention - CentOS, all of the BSD distros, Ubuntu. Maybe one day, OpenIndiana.
Operating system distro - limited hardware	Puppy Linux	Easily installs in less than one gigabyte of hard drive space. Practical to use on hardware with less powerful processors and less memory. Plenty of 'lightweight' packages that run fast. Honorable mention - Tiny Core
System repair distro	Parted Magic	These specialized distributions contain numerous programs for testing, maintaining and repairing your computer. They include a graphical partition editor (gparted) and a virus scanner (clamav). Honorable mention - System Rescue CD, GParted Live CD
Desktop environment	xfce	Unlike Windoze, free operating systems usually have alternate desktop environments available to install. xfce is now recommended due to the deprecation of Gnome 2. Honorable mention - lxde, kde, openbox.
Word processing	abiword, libreoffice	Compatible with most MS Office document formats. Abiword is WP only, LO contains a whole 'suite' including spreadsheet and presentation manager.
Spread sheet	gnumeric	MS Excel replacement.
Media player	vlc	Cross platform player that includes codecs to play both common and obscure audio and video digital media formats.
Data backup	rsync	Command line program to copy files efficiently to another file server. More user-friendly packages with graphical interface for simple scenarios are under evaluation.
Windows emulation	wine	A package that allows some Windows software to install and run under Linux. No guarantee of success, but is surprisingly advanced.
Digital photo management	digikam	Download and manage images from most digital cameras. Frees you from clunky, vendor specific, Windows only software. Do you hear me Canon?
DVD backup	k9copy	Similar functionality to DVD Decryptor and DVD Shrink, both unsupported but still available :-). Importantly, lets you copy while skipping bad sectors.
CD/DVD burning	k3b	Seems to do just about everything, even burn FLAC files back to CD audio.
Collection management	gcstar	Keep track of your physical media - CDs, vinyl, etc. Looks up tracks from multiple online databases. Available on both Windows and Linux. Honorable mention: Tellico, Alexandria.
MPEG video trim	gopchop	Create MPEG video clips accurately.
Video editor / transcoder	avidemux	Despite its name, avidemux is now a full featured editor and transcoder. Concatenates and resequences MPEG clips also.
DVD authoring	dvdstyler	Cross platform DVD authoring.
Server admin GUI	webmin	In addition to the usual command line tools, Webmin gives you a comprehensive view of your server configuration. For some packages (mdadm - RAID) it is indispensible.
Other favorites	See list	firefox, opera, chromium (Chrome) - web browsing), virtualbox - OS virtualization
.	.	.

This post is updated as time permits.

Recommended Windows software

I'm using Windows XP but prefer a cross platform (Linux) product and Windows 2000 compatibility.

Function	Package name	Comments
Web browser	Firefox , Opera	Highly functional, secure, web standards compliant browsers that are far superior to IE. Firefox has hundreds of add-ons available. Opera has a user friendly IRC chat client.
Software firewall	tbd	If you have broadband service, always use a hardware router/firewall. Software options for a laptop or older system are limited, especially for Win2K. Comodo's product has become bloated and several good free products have been discontinued.
Anti-virus	ClamWin	Viruses are less of a threat these days, so I went with a lightweight, non resident, free scanner. The Free AVG version is now a resource pig - not recommended. NEVER use the monster pigs by Symantec and McAfee. For emergency use, get one of the bootable CD rescue images made by several anti-malware companies.
Other anti-malware	Spybot S&D, Ad-aware, Hijack This, Sysinternals	Spybot and Ad-aware are free spyware scanners. Hijack This scans for traces of malware, but is mainly a logging tool for non-techies to document for others. Sysinternals includes a root kit detector and other useful system monitors.
PDF reader	Foxit Reader	Much, much lighter than the piggy Adobe Acrobat.
PDF writer	CutePDF	Print your web pages or documents to a PDF file.
Time sync	Atomtime	Synchronizes your system clock to national standard time. Not needed in XP or newer.
Media players	VideoLAN	VideoLAN has evolved to play back almost any audio and video format known.
Light media players	Real Alternative, QT Alternative	Repackaged modules from Real and Apple respectively that don't install huge volumes of crapware - they just play! QTA 1.90 is the newest version that works under Windows 2000.
Archiver	7-zip	Wierd category name - just packs into or extracts files from ZIP, RAR and other file envelopes. 7-zip is a free alternative to WinRAR.
Secure data erase	Eraser	Simple freeware that erases all residual traces of files. Use on hard drives or other storage media that you dispose of.
Image browser	ACDSee, Irfanview, FastStone	The free ACDSee 'classic' version 2.43 has a uncluttered and customizable interface. Irfanview is another free choice that can be used for editing and producing batch slide shows. FastStone image viewer has a good previewing feature.
Image editor	GIMP	GIMP is free, has a ton of features but the learning curve is steep.
Office suite	LibreOffice, Abiword, Gnumeric	Don't spend big bucks on Microsoft Office, unless extreme compatibility is required. Includes word processor, spread sheet, presentation maker, freehand image creator, math calculator. If you just want a word processor, check out Abiword. For a free spreadsheet program, try Gnumeric.
Audio CD copy (rip)	Free CD-DA Extractor, Exact Audio Copy	The free version is usually available from Poikosoft; it no longer includes the utility to convert between multiple audio formats. Exact Audio Copy is a classic, lean CD-DA ripper.
MP3 tagger	MP3 Tag Tools	If you don't want a full blown digital media librarian like Itunes, this free standalone product will let you mass edit MP3 tags and copy between v1 and v2 tags.
File manager	ExplorerXP	These are alternative programs to Windows Explorer. ExplorerXP has a intuitive mass file renamer and dual panes, just like Windows 3.1 file manager :-).
Offline email client	Thunderbird	From the same folks as Firefox, T-bird can use IMAP for proper email synchronization to multiple clients.
Calendar	ReminderFox	Plugin for Firefox that supports sync, importing and exporting. Sunbird is no longer maintained as a separate project
Duplicate file checker	Duplicate Cleaner	If you have masses of disorganized files, this program will find exact duplicates on your hard disk.
CD Burner	DeepBurner	If you don't want to spend $$ on the increasingly bloated Nero, this free program should do it for you.
Hardware monitor	SpeedFan	Watches your computers critical temperatures and displays them in the system tray.
Super user	Superior SU	Allows you to install programs and act as administrator while running from a non-privileged account.
Software vulnerability checker	Secunia PSI	Checks installed third party software for versions that are vulnerable to attack by malware.
Audio recorder and editor	Audacity	Lets you record from your various two channel audio sources and then edit the resulting WAV file.
Screen capture	Screen Capture Professional	Simple screen capture program. Saves image as JPG or BMP.
Operating system virtualization	Virtualbox	Astounding piece of free software that will allow you to install and run a copy of Windows or Linux within an existing copy of the same. Great for testing new software without risking your existing setup. At least 1GB of memory required for sane operation.
USENET reader	Gravity	For accessing newsgroup servers directly, this has the best user interface I've found.
System cleanup	CCleaner	Tough to name category. Much evil adware or slimeware is marketed under the name 'registry cleaner'. This program will help you clean up the remains from a crappy uninstaller or malware.
File recovery	Recuva	If you've ever accidently deleted files that don't have backups, than this program is for you.
Image builder	WinImage	Useful program for mounting, creating and updating CD/floppy images.
Video editing	avidemux	Very wierd name for a cross platform editor. Besides cut and paste, it will convert (transcode) between video formats if needed.
DVD authoring	DVDStyler	Cross platform program to take video clips (titles), add simple menus and produce output files ready for DVD 'burning'.
DVD slideshow	Photostage Slideshow Producer	Converts digital images into many slideshow formats including DVD video. Easy to use with loads of features. Unfortunately, WinXP or newer only.
.	.	.

Electronic mail advice

I've been asked why my email address is at fastmail.fm, not a well known Internet Service Provider (ISP). The reason is that I decided not to let my email become hostage to my ISP - if I switch from DSL to cable to FIOS to wi-fi to whatever, my address doesn't change.

I wanted an email provider that treats customers as professionals (not brainless idiots), provides encrypted (SSL) webmail with a clean, uncluttered interface, supports IMAP (to enable offline access and backup), and has fair terms of service.

There are plenty of free and low cost services out there that may meet your requirements, here are a few that I've used or researched:

Provider	Options	Details
fastmail.fm	free and paid, IMAP, SSL	Clean, fast webmail interface. When you need it, tech support is fast and smart. Free account only has 10MB of storage.
myway.com	free, no POP or IMAP, SSL	Recently the service has become flaky; after converting to a new technology it is even slower and more unreliable. Not recommended.
yahoo.com	free, IMAP (premium only), no SSL	Good basic free webmail. AFAIK no encryption.
google.com	free, IMAP , SSL	I still don't trust anyone to scan all my email traffic to place context sensitive ads. DSLExtreme now uses Google as a provider - I'm not impressed. Google bounces any incoming email with a zipped attachment, even though they scan every attachment for viruses. NOT recommended.

A list of potential email providers supporting IMAP is here.

My recipe page

In preparation for other content, I've moved the recipe list off of the main page.

To see my recipe posts, click on the 'recipe' label.