Matt's Official Must-Have Free Software List

The (free) apps, tools, and utilities that I can't work without:

• Mozilla Firefox
  
• 7-Zip (for your zipping, unzipping, and general file/folder compression needs)
  
• Notepad2 (everything that Windows' built-in Notepad should have been...this page describes how to completely replace Notepad with Notepad2)
  
• TaskSwitchXP (a graphical ALT+TAB task switcher tool, much snappier than Microsoft's own version)
  
• Google Earth (requires a broadband connection and a decent 3D card, but a useful and very fun app to play with)
  
• Paint.NET (when is the last time Microsoft made any improvements to their built-in Paint tool? You'll never use it again after using this...requires the .NET Framework v2.0)
  
• Hamachi (a zero-config, ad-hoc, virtual private LAN tool; suffice it to say that if you have more than one PC that is always connected to the internet and you need to communicate among them, you will love this tool)
  
• iTunes (a heavy lifter: this is my music library, music sharing server, CD burner, CD ripper, iPod synch tool, podcast client, and music store all in one beautiful application)
  
• VLC Media Player (the Swiss army knife of multimedia apps, this wonderful little app will play any audio or video format ever made...not to mention its streaming and encoding features)
  
• TrueCrypt (for those who are seriously paranoid about protecting their private data)
  
• uTorrent (the best BitTorrent client)
  

Some geekier tools:

• WinMerge (for comparing and merging files and folders)
  
• Subversion/TortoiseSVN (Subversion is a great version control system that runs on just about any platform; TortoiseSVN in a client for Subversion that integrates into Windows Explorer)
  
• wget (a *NIX command line tool for grabbing files from the web via FTP or HTTP...a Windows version is available)
  
• Command Prompt Here (does what it says, integrating into Windows Explorer's right-click menu)
• Any of the SysInternals tools (these guys are brilliant)