Free software list

When I was teaching at GSU, I discovered many of my students were not aware of some of the best free tools on Windows. Then I was thinking, why don't I set up a webpage and put up these nice resources so everyone can benefit.

Table of Contents

A. For common users
B. For techies
C. Resources

[View all in one page]

The programs listed here are either open source or free for personal use. They are very useful and can replace its commercial counterparts (if there are). I have been using them frequently, for quite some time. I definitely recommend them.

Recommended List of Free Software on Windows

Updated in Oct 2008

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

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B. For techies

These are for those who are quite familiar with computers and would like to discover and play with all kinds of programs. Some developer tools are also included.

1. Microsoft Virtual PC and Virtual Server

Virtual PC (Server) is a virtualization program on Windows. You can use it to simulate multiple operating systems inside your current Windows system. So, if your computer is powerful enough, you can have multiple Windows systems (personal or server) installed and running at the same time on the same computer. This is very helpful for development and testing purposes. For example, I currently have 3 WinXP, 2 WinVista, 1 Win98, 2 WinServer 2003 and 1 WinServer 2008 on only two computers! Recommended!

2. Remote desktop (terminal service)

This tool is coming with Windows. You can use it to remotely operate other computers running Windows, just like using a local computer. It is very useful if you have multiple computers in different locations and connected to the internet (or a home network). I even help my father (who is on the other side of the earth, China) to configure his computer using this tool. Strongly recommended!

3. FileZilla

This is a FTP tool. If you are managing files on a remote hosted server, this one is good. Or, you can use a browser (e.g. IE) as a FTP interface.

4. Microsoft Network Monitor

A fairly good tool to monitor network traffic so you can see what is being transferred. I once used it for my master's thesis project.

5. TCP View

Another useful tool from Sysinternals. You can monitor all open ports of your computer and see processes using them.

6. XML/XSLT Editors

  1. XMLPad: a pretty powerful XML editor with XSLT support; providing multiple views for XML content.
  2. Notepad++: a general editor for many languages including XML.
  3. XMLFox: a nice tool to view and edit XML schemas (and XML content); requires .Net 2.0.
  4. EditiX Lite: it's good to get XPath information for any nodes; based on Java.
  5. Treebeard: a open source XML/XSLT editor, based on Java.
  6. XML Notepad 2007: a basic XML editing tool downloadable from Microsoft; requires .Net 2.0.
  7. XML Marker: very unique in visualizing XML data using tables, which is very helpful for editing structured data.

7. Fiddler

http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/