This page lists non-commercial (ie. freeware or shareware) applications that users themselves find useful, but that other users may be unaware of. It is intended as a first-stop for those after an application to perform a particular task. If no suitable software is listed below, please ask in the forums.
Feel free to add in applications you think are useful or essential, as well as a link to their homepage or download location.
Rivatuner - Allows you to monitor, overclock, and adjust advanced settings on your graphics card (GeForce or Radeon 9 series cards only). [Windows]
ThrottleWatch - Determine if your late model Pentium or Core processor is throttling it’s clockspeed under load due to heat issues. [Windows]
Speedfan - Monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in computers with hardware monitor chips. Can also access S.M.A.R.T. info for those hard disks that support it. [Windows]
PC Wizard 2006 - Identifies, analyses and benchmarks many kinds of hardware, such as CPU performance, Cache performance, RAM performance, Hard Disk performance, CD/DVD-ROM performance, Removable/Flash Media performance, Video performance, MP3 compression performance. [Windows]
CPU-Z - Tells you the main specifications of your system. [Windows]
Process Explorer - Basically an enhanced version of the Windows Task Manager. Provides detailed information on running processes/threads, including open file handles, registry keys and more. [Windows]
CoreTemp - A temperature monitoring program that directly takes readings from your CPU’s thermal diode, which usually returns much more accurate readings than the motherboard sensors. CPUs supported include Intel Core and newer and AMD Athlon 64 and newer. [Windows]
Belarc Advisor - Builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, CIS (Center for Internet Security) benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser. [Windows]
Amarok - Music player. [Linux]
Foobar 2000 - Music player. [Windows]
Winamp - Alternative media player. [Windows]
iTunes – Apple’s famous media player. [Windows/MacOS]
MediaMonkey - Allows you to manage your media collection, rip and burn CDs, and synchronise with portable audio devices. [Windows]
VLC Media Player - Open source, cross platform media player. [Linux/Windows/MacOS]
Quicktime Alternative - Allows you to play Quicktime files without having to install Quicktime Player. Also plays content that is embedded in webpages. [Windows]
Real Alternative - Allows you to play RealMedia files without having to install RealPlayer or RealOne Player. [Windows]
Combined Community Codec Pack - A filter pack developed to playback rich multimedia content with minimal trouble. [Windows]
Zoom Player - A robust Media and DVD Front-End Player designed to be simple at first glance while being remarkably flexible when used to its full potential. [Windows]
F-Spot - Photo management. [Linux]
Picasa - Find, edit and share all the photos on your PC. [Windows]
Irfanview - A very fast, small, compact freeware graphic viewer. [Windows]
GIMP - Image and photo creation and editing. [Windows/Linux/MacOS (with X11 installed)]
GB-PVR - Media playing/PVR/TIVO style program ideal for those with TV tuners. [Windows]
Pidgin - Multi-protocol instant messaging client. [Linux/Windows/MacOS(need to compile from source)]
Adiumm - Multi-protocol instant messaging client with native Cocoa/Carbon interface. [MacOS]
Colloquy - IRC for Mac OS X. [MacOS]
Firefox - Alternative web browser. [Linux/Windows/MacOS]
Fasterfox - Performance and network tweaking extension for Firefox. [Linux/Windows/MacOS]
Opera - Another alternative web browser. [Linux/Windows/MacOS]
CCleaner - Removes unused files, cleans traces of your online activity and removes old and unused registry entries. [Windows]
Registry Mechanic - Cleans, repairs and optimises your Windows registry. [Windows]
Deepburner - A free CD/DVD burning application. [Windows]
TeXnicCenter IDE - Allows you to create PDFs free of charge, provided you know how LaTeX works. [Windows]
Foxit Reader - A good, free replacement for Acrobat Reader. [Windows]
Tomboy - Desktop note-taking program. [Linux]
Qalculate! - Multi-purpose desktop calculator. [Linux]
Unlocker - Unlocks files that give the “Cannot delete folder: it is being used by another person or program” error. [Windows]
SequoiaView - Displays folder and hard drive space usage using coloured boxes - see what’s chewing up your hard drive space. [Windows]
TreeSize - Displays folder and hard drive space usage in a directory tree format. [Windows]
SuperCopier - Replaces Windows explorer file copy that adds transfer resuming, copy speed control and a better copy progress display. [Windows]
TeraCopy - Replaces Windows explorer file copy that adds transfer pause/resume with automatic overwrite/replace options. Alternative to SuperCopier with Vista 64 support [Windows]
Everything Search Engine - A small program that indexes all your volumes in a few minutes and allows you to search for files instantly. [Windows]
iPlay's IPGamma Program - Allows the changing of the display gamma settings and disabling of the Windows key whilst in 3D mode. [Windows]
F-Lock key tweaks - For owners of Microsoft keyboards, makes the F-Lock key behave as if it is always on. PS/2 only. [Windows]
F-Lock key tweaks - As above, but for USB keyboards. [Windows]
ClearType MS Powertoy - Delivers improved font display quality over traditional forms of font smoothing or anti-aliasing. Improves readability on color LCD displays with a digital interface, such as those in laptops and high-quality flat panel displays. Readability on CRT screens can also be somewhat improved. [Windows]
TweakUI MS Powertoy - Gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more. [Windows]
Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel - Very handy for checking/removing startup entries without putting a machine into diagnostic/selective startup. [Windows]
Samurize - Fully customisable, skinnable system monitoring and desktop enhancement client. Displays system information, weather reports, news headlines and much much more. [Windows]
GSpot Codec Information Appliance - Analyses what codecs have been used to encode video files, and what codecs are needed to play them. [Windows]
RMClock Utility - Allows for advanced power management on Intel and some AMD mobile systems (Celeron/Pentium M, Core [2] Solo/Duo, Turion 64/X2 etc.) Warning: Whilst battery life can be extend by tweaking in this program it is strictly for advanced users only. Guide [Windows]
Win2000 Launcher 1.5.2 - Program launcher that lets you configure your programs to use the priority level of your choice and choose on which CPU your program should run on (if you have multiple processors in your system). [Windows XP / 2000]
Microsoft Applocale - Allows you to install and use applications which require a specific locale to be set in the OS, on PCs without it. [Windows]