A. For common users >> B. For techies >> C. Resources >> [View all in one page]

A. Free Software on MS Windows for Common Users

These programs are for everyone and very useful. Most of them should be compatible for Windows 7.

1.

7-Zip is a very good file compression and decompression program. It supports the common .ZIP, .RAR, and .ISO format. I have been using this to replace WinZIP and WinRAR for quite some time now. Strongly recommended!

2. Daemon Tools Lite

This one is a very good CD/DVD simulation tool. You can use it to load CD/DVD images directly from hard drives; so that saves a lot of CD/DVDs. I use it all the time on every one of my computers. Strongly recommended!

3. Media Player Classic

This compact player mimics the look and feel of the old Windows media player. The best of all is that it is a green application - just one .exe file, no installation, and very portable. It supports Matroska (.mkv) files and multiple audio tracks (great for multi-linguists). A great supplementary tool - recommended!

• Project website: http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli2/
• Home cinema version: http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/ (recommended)
• Current Windows Media Player from Microsoft

4. Screenshot capture tools

For many reasons, we need to capture some screenshots. Here are two useful tools:

• Greenshot: open source; can be integrated to the "print screen" key on the keyboard.
• If you are using Windows Vista/7, there is a nice Sniping Tool with Tablet PC features (but it is not just for Tablet PCs).

5. Desktop management tools

• Desktops from the Windows Sysinternals: many Linux GUI provide multiple desktops so you can better organize task bars and open Windows. If you always open too many Windows but don't have enough big monitors, this tool is for you. Also check out other free utilities from Sysinternals.
• MultiMon Taskbar: Having multiple monitors? No easy way to move the window to the desired monitor? Don't know which application on the taskbar will show on which monitor? Try this.
• Quick launch toolbar. The only problem is it is too small. But you can (in Windows XP) unlock it, detach it from the taskbar, move (dock) it to the edge of the screen and create a toolbar ribbon with large icons. In Windows Vista you need to do this:
  • From any Windows Explorer window (not maximized), navigate to the folder:
    %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer.
  •  Drag and drop the "QuickLaunch" folder to the edge of the screen; it will transform itself to a toolbar on the side.
  • Move it around to any side of the screen; adjust icon size and other settings.
• App Launcher gadget.

6. Password management

• KeePass: I use this one myself. A green version (no installation required) is available.
• Password Safe: a simpler one.

7. Microsoft Security Essentials

• Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It's free for genuine Windows.

8. FlashGet

FlashGet is a downloading manager tool. It supports multi-thread downloading so that makes downloading faster if the server sets max bandwidth. It also can resume broken or paused downloads, which is good for very large files. I had been using this tool for some years.

9. Foxit PDF Reader

Foxit PDF Reader is a free reader/viewer for PDF documents. It is a green application, with one .exe file and needs no installation. It is super fast to open PDF files. Of course, Adobe Reader is also free.

10. Graphics Tools

• Paint.Net: an image processing program based on .Net.
• Photoscape: http://www.photoscape.org

11. Office Suite

These usually include document editing, spreadsheet, and presentation.

• OpenOffice.org is a open source office software which includes a word processing program, a spreadsheet program, a presentation program, a drawing program and a personal database program.
•  LibreOffice: deviated from the OpenOffice project when Oracle took over the OpenOffice.

12. Browsers

• FireFox: a popular browser with tons of add-ons and directly support XUL.
• Internet Explorer: also free. 
• Chrome: Google's free browser; pretty fast.
• Opera: very fast.

Honorable mention

• Windows Live Messenger and all other messengers: all of them are free (as I know).

Others

I know these are good programs, too. But I just haven't got a chance to test them. Will keep this page updated ...

• Thunderbird and Sunbird/Lighting: a great alternative for MS Outlook and Windows Mail/Calendar, from Mozilla. I am not using them because I have been a long time user of MS Outlook (and Outlook Express, which is also free).
• Eraser: will completely remove sensitive files.
• TrueCrypt: encrypting files, folders, and drives.