All your desktop needs are addressed in this list: firewalls, email, IM, FTP, graphics, RSS readers, video tools. Start downloading!
Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware
1 avast!
A fairly complete anti-virus/anti-spyware/anti-rootkit package with automatic updates--free for single, home, non-commercial users.
2 Avira AntiVir Personal
Live, continuous anti-virus scanning with additional security features available for a fee.
3 AVG Free
Anti-virus and safe search package with more than 70 million users.
4 Ad-Aware
Anti-spyware and rootkit removal tool that does not include real-time detection or automatic updates in the free version.
5 ClamWin
A free, effective anti-virus scanner based on the well-known ClamAV engine; however, it requires you to scan files manually.
6 a-squared Free
The free version offers anti-malware/anti-spyware capabilities with manual scanning; live scanning is available in the paid version.
7 Spybot-Search & Destroy
Award-winning software that finds and removes spyware and adware.
Audio Tools
8 MediaMonkey
This all-in-one audio software includes a media player, a recorder, conversion capabilities, and some very good tools for organizing your music collection.
9 Audacity
Open-source audio recorder and editor that supports multiple operating systems.
10 MusicBrainz
Free software for updating the metadata on audio files, plus a huge database of music-related information.
11 HammerHead
Create your own drum tracks.
12 Be Sweet
Convert audio files to any of the nine most popular file formats or encode them to burn a CD.
Browsers
13 Firefox
The tabbed, super-fast, open-source brower from Mozilla.
14 Chrome
The jury's still out on this brand new work-in-progress from Google, but it's worth a look.
15 Internet Explorer
Still the first choice of 75 percent of all Internet users.
16 Opera
The "world's fastest browser" now also has lite versions for mobile devices.
Compression
17 7-Zip
This open source project offers a high compression ratio, plus the ability to utilize multiple file formats.
18 ZipGenius
ZipGenius supports more than 20 file formats, and it can pre-compress zip files so they take up less space.
19 SecureZip
Award-winning SecureZip adds digital certificate capabilities to standard compression capabilities.
Desktop Enhancements
Place virtual yellow sticky notes on your screen.
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