Free PC Software that Charlie Recommends
Open Office – is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more.
Avast Antivirus – Fast, Light and Easy to Use. Improved Security for Your PC.
Audacity – can record and edit audio files on more tracks than you can imagine.
Microsoft OneDrive – the most flexible and all-encompassing sync and back-up tool going.
Mozilla Firefox – highly customizable, strong on security and privacy and performance, and supports a slew of new standards.
Google Chrome – a leading browser since its debut in 2008, especially when it comes to speed and minimalism.
CCleaner – The first C is for Crap! CCleaner is practically essential for keeping a system going, especially Windows.
Defraggler – Defragmenting a hard disk has become a little passé in the age of terabyte drives, but it’s still a smart thing to do to eke out a little more data-access speed. It even works with solid-state drives (SSDs).
Skype – synonymous with video conferencing. Skype, now run by Microsoft, is “a highly polished, hugely functional service that runs on every platform you can think of (including browsers) and offers more communication options than any of its competitors.”
Thunderbird – Mozilla’s email client still has all the features that made it great years ago: account setup wizards, multiple languages, hundreds of add-ons, a tabbed interface, great search, junk mail and phishing tools, and the option for a personalized email address with your own choice of a domain name.
Eraser – want to keep a file out of someone else’s hands. Eraser does just that.
FileZilla – one of the best standalone file transfer protocol (FTP) clients around.
GIMP – GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a free image editing program. It has all the high-end tools you could want for playing with graphics/images.
PDFCreator – the fastest way to create a PDF file. It sets itself up as a printer on your system, so when you go to “print,” you select it and out shoots a PDF.