The best things in life ARE free….

These programs and utilities for the PC are the best things money can’t buy. Though they are offered entirely free for personal use, some of the below require payment if deployed in a business environment. Consult the End User License Agreement (EULA) or the website of the developer for details.


Anti-Virus:

AVG Free 8.0

Using AVG, you'll save an average of $40 a year on antivirus software. Pat yourself on the back!


System Optimization:

Ccleaner

Possibly the coolest little utility, this piece of software removes temporary files that bog your system down, clean the registry and efficiently uninstall programs.

AusLogics Disk Defrag

This utility can be summed up as the Windows defrag utility on steroids.

WinDirStat

Want to see what happened to your hard drive space? WinDirStat allows you to visually see what’s taking up space in an appealing, colorful interface.



Office Suite:

Google Docs

Imagine Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with seamless collaboration and chat functions. Did I mention Google pays for all of it? Why pay $XXX for Office?

OpenOffice

A direct competitor to Microsoft, the OpenOffice suite is a very powerful and robust suite. Again, why pay for Office?


Spyware and Malware protection:

Spybot Search and Destroy

Possibly the most versatile application in the category, Spybot can remove most spyware.

Ad-Aware 2008

Another great utility, Ad-Aware has lost some of its’ fire to me. The company tries to make you upgrade to their paid offering, in sneaky ways. Ad-aware, what happened to the good 'ol days?

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

In one word this utility is superb! Do you know someone who has hosed their system with the Anti-Virus 2008/2009/XP? This is the utility you pay your local shop or GeekSquad a fortune to use. It is also entirely free. Shhh... Don’t tell my boss!


Image Editing:

Google Picasa

Possibly the easiest and robust free photo suite, Picasa is a wonderful utility

With these programs, you’ll save a ton of money. The best things in life are free!