2007 Guide to Free Software and Webapps

Application Launchers

• Launchy (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Launchy, Take Launchy Beyond Application Launching (Feature), Tweaking Launchy (Screenshot Tour)

• Quicksilver (Mac OS X, open source)
  Previous coverage: A Beginner’s Guide to Quicksilver, Advanced Quicksilver Guide, The Quicksilver Video Extravaganza, Nine Time-saving Quicksilver Triggers, Top 10 Quicksilver Plugins, Quicksilver Creator on the Future of QS (Exclusive Lifehacker Interview).

Backup Utilities

• SyncBackSE (Windows, local backup, freeware)
  Previous coverage: Automatically Back Up Your Hard Drive with SyncBack (Feature)

• Time Machine (Mac OS X, local backup, built into Leopard)
  Previous coverage: The Simplicity of Time Machine Compels You, Schedule Your Time Machine Backups with TimeMachineScheduler
• Mozy (Windows/Mac, online backup, up to 2GB free)
  Previous coverage: Back Up Files with Mozy

BitTorrent

• uTorrent (Windows, Free)
  Previous coverage: Organize Your BitTorrent Downloads with uTorrent

• Transmission (Mac OS X, open source)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Transmission
• ted (Windows/Mac/Linux, free)
  Previous coverage: Automatically Download Your Favorite TV Shows with ted
• See also: A Beginner’s Guide to BitTorrent, Intermediate Guide to BitTorrent

Bookmarks

• Foxmarks (All platforms with Firefox, free)
  Previous coverage: Synchronize Firefox bookmarks with Foxmarks, Yes, Foxmarks beats Google Sync when it comes to bookmarks, Back up and Sync your Firefox Bookmarks to Your Own FTP Server with Foxmarks

• del.icio.us (Web, free)
  Previous coverage: LIfehacker posts tagged del.icio.us

Calendar

• Google Calendar (Web)
  Previous coverage: Black Belt Scheduling with Google Calendar, Better GCal Firefox Extension (Exclusive Lifehacker Download)

Desktop Search

• Google Desktop (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, free)
  Previous coverage: Master Google Desktop search, Get More from Google Desktop

Disk Space Visualizers

• WinDirStat (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Visualize Your Hard Drive Usage

• JDiskReport (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, freeware)
  Previous coverage: Visualize Your Hard Drive Usage

DVD Rippers

• DVD Shrink (Windows, freeware)
  Previous coverage: One Click DVD Rips with DVD Shrink and AutoHotKey (Feature), Copy DVDs to Your iPod (Feature)

• Handbrake (Mac OS X/Windows/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Back up DVDs on a Mac

File Syncing

• FolderShare (Windows/Mac OS X, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: FolderShare, Sync Your Firefox Extensions and Profiles Across Computers with FolderShare

• SyncToy (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Synchronize Folders with SyncToy 2.0

Image Editing

• Paint.NET (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Paint.NET 3, Power replacements for built-in Windows utilities

• Picnik (Web)
  Previous coverage: Edit your images online with Picnik, Edit Your Photos Directly in Flickr with Picnik

Image Viewers/Managers

• IrfanView (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: IrfanView (Windows)

• Picasa (Windows/Linux, free)
  Previous coverage: Organize Your Digital Photos with Picasa (Feature), Publish and Map Your Photos with Picasa (Feature)

Instant Messenger

• Pidgin (Windows/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Pidgin Instant-Messaging Client, Encrypt Your Instant Messages with Pidgin (then Gaim)

• Adium (Mac OS X, free)
  Previous Coverage: Download of the Day: Adium X
• Meebo (Web)
  Previous coverage: Connect to popular IM services with Meebo, Meebo Adds Video and Voice Chat to Web-Based IM, Transfer Files over IM with Meebo

Macro Makers

• AutoHotKey (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Turn Any Action into a Keyboard Shortcut

Media Players

• VLC (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: VLC Free Media Player, Rip DVDs with VLC

• MediaMonkey (Windows, freeware with paid upgrade)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: MediaMonkey (Windows), Whip Your MP3 Library into Shape, Part I - Level the volume, Whip Your MP3 Library into Shape, Part II - Album art, Alpha Geek: Whip your MP3 library into shape, Part III: Metadata
• foobar2000 (Windows, freeware)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: foobar2000, Roll Your Own Killer Audio Player with foobar2000, The Beautiful and Varied World of foobar2000 (Screenshot Tour)

Password Managers/Helpers

• KeePass/KeePassX (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Securely Track Your Passwords, How to import saved Firefox passwords into KeePass, Download of the Day: KeePassX, Make KeePassX Leopard Compatible

• Firefox’s built-in password manager (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Secure your saved passwords in Firefox (Feature)
• BugMeNot (Web)
  Previous coverage: Bypass Web Site Registration with BugMeNot

PDF Readers/Writers/Editors

• Foxit Reader (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Foxit Reader 2.0

• Preview (built into Mac OS X Leopard)
  Previous coverage: Do More with Preview in Leopard
• CutePDF PDF writer (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Create a PDF from any document
• See also: Top 10 PDF Tricks

Personal Finance/Money Managers

• Wesabe (Web)
  Previous coverage: Organize Your Money in 2008 with Wesabe

• Mint (Web)
  Previous coverage: Is Mint Ready for Your Money?

Start Pages

• NetVibes (Web)
  Previous coverage: Trick out your Netvibes

• iGoogle (Web)
  Previous coverage: Show Us Your iGoogle (Screenshot Tour)
• See also: The Start Page Showdown

Telephony Managers/Helpers

• Skype (Windows/Mac OS X, free)
  Previous coverage: Lifehacker posts tagged Skype

• GrandCentral Virtual PBX (Web)
  Previous coverage: One Phone Number to Rule Them All, Consolidate Your Phones with GrandCentral (Screenshot Tour)

Text Editors

• Notepad++ (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Top 10 Windows Downloads, 6. Notepad++ (text editor)

• TextWrangler (Mac OS X, freeware)
  Previous coverage: TextWrangler Free, Full-featured Text Editor for Mac

To-do List Managers

• Remember the Milk (Web)
  Previous coverage: Get Organized with Remember the Milk

• Rainlendar (Windows, free with paid upgrade)
  Previous coverage: Rainlendar desktop calendar and todo list
• Anxiety (Mac OS X Leopard, free)
  Previous coverage: Anxiety Task Manager Integrates with iCal and Mail

Virus Killers and Malware Cleaners

• AVG Free Edition (Windows, free with paid upgrade)
  Previous coverage: AVG Free Anti-Virus

• ClamWin (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Free Windows virus protection with ClamWin
• Ad-Aware (Windows, free with paid upgrade)
  Previous coverage: Cleanse thy PC with Ad-Aware
• See also: How to fix Mom and Dad’s computer

Web Clippings

• Google Notebook (Web/Firefox, free)
  Previous coverage: Clip and collect the web with Google Notebook, Getting Things Done with Google Notebook

• Scrapbook (All platforms with Firefox, free)
  Previous coverage: Save and annotate the Web with Scrapbook

Wikis

• PBwiki (Web, free)
  Previous coverage: PBwiki

• MediaWiki (All platforms, open source)
  Previous coverage: Set Up Your Personal Wikipedia

Zip File Extractors

• 7-Zip (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Lifehacker Top 10: Free Windows Downloads

• The Unarchiver (Mac OS X, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: The Unarchiver

(Via Lifehacker.)