Pinned thread Free Computer Software (Windows/Mac) **UPDATED May 10, 2024**

Norton is probably the better of Norton, Avast and McAfee when it comes to antivirus programs.

And someone oughta point out WinZip and WinRAR are both trial versions for a while and then you need to buy it (I've gotten around it somehow by just deleting every file associated with the program and reinstalling it and it won't recognize the previous trial existence)

Also, for source code editors (if you like programming and writing code like I do)
Notepad++ is probably the best possible, it's free and the most frequented for me, but it's for Windows only
Eclipse is also okay, and it's cross platform (works with OSX and Linux and Windows)
Microsoft Visual Studio is Microsoft's official developing tool, and apparently it's built in to Windows. But you might need to buy it according to the website.
TextMate is for Mac OSX only, and I'm yet to try it on this MacBook Air I'm using

Also I think those Windows to Mac look-a-like softwares are emulators. That might be wrong, but it is just meant to simulate the OS on your computer. I've had huge trouble with this, and I advise you it will slow down your computer a LOT, because it will depend on a lot of your RAM to be able to run. But you can change your desktop into something different like making it run Windows 8, Mac OSX, Ubuntu etc.


For PDF converters and viewers, I recently tried this free pair of software, it's made by the same company Nitro,
PrimoPDF creates and converts your files into PDF format, and NitroPDF lets you view the PDF. Completely free, also comes in professional suite that you can buy if you like,
then there's also the best one, Adobe Acrobat which also has free versions and full versions. Again, totally recommended, probably the most trusted brand for PDF file handling.

More coming soon
 
You don't need to buy anti-virus software if you're sensible, Microsoft Security Essentials will suffice. Although it doesn't hurt to have Malwarebytes.
 
Movie/Video Editing Software
Sony Vegas - Professional, and not easy to use.
Windows Live Movie Maker - Easy to use, and really simple to use.

Video Recording Software
ezvid - Uploads to YouTube automatically, It's basically a video recording program in a video editing software.
 
Bump I guess



Music/Video Players
Spotify - Now available in Canada! Also available in USA, and Europe. Great music streaming service.
VLC Media Player - Video player that has more codecs to play more videos. I use this.
iTunes - Obviously we all know this. Music and Video player, made by Apple...so yeah.

Emulation Software
VMWare Player/Workstation - Player is free, and Workstation you have to pay for. They emulate Operating Systems (They are also called Virtual Machines, or VMs). Also, you can use this to play old Windows games or DOS games.
Virtualbox - Same as VMWare Player/Workstation, bit more advanced and easier.
DOSBox - This one I use. It's a full DOS emulator, and you can install the real MS-DOS (e.g 6.22), or install Windows 3.1, 3.11 for Workgroups, or Windows 95.



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I personally recommend some edits to the list:

Windows
Microsoft Security Essentials - this needs to be removed. It's been exploited and virus-ridden so many times that it's not beneficial like it once was. Personally, I recommend Avast - it's simply one of the best antiviruses, and for free too!

Mac
AppCleaner - Holy crap, this thing saves your life! Whenever you want to delete an app, instead of just deleting the app, open AppCleaner. It will remove the app's junk along with deleting the app itself, making it a REALLY handy app!

Caffeine - This app will prevent your Mac from locking. This is particularly useful whenever you're wanting to present something in class or you're trying to work on a project and your Mac keeps going to the lock screen!

NoSleep - This app prevents your Mac from going to sleep when you close your lid or waiting too long. This is really useful when you want to download stuff while you're sleeping and you want to close your lid!

Parallels ($80) - This nifty app allows you to run Windows while you're on your Mac, and seamlessly! It's surprisingly lag free as well. It costs a lot of money to set up, as you'll need a legal copy of Windows and a purchase of Parallels. If you're a college student, you can get Windows Server 2012 R2 (equivalent to Windows 8.1) for free through Microsoft DreamSpark, and you can purchase Parallels for $40.

Windows and Mac
Gimp - This is seriously my #1 go-to app for digital art. It's seriously like a free Photoshop. Love it, love it, love it!
 
https://justgetflux.com/

It's a nice little add-on to your computer that changes the screen's color depending on the time, making it a colder color in the day and a warmer color in the night. It may not sound like much, but it does make your computer easier on the eyes in the evening and night.
 
I don't necessarily advocate using torrents, but in the case that you do, if you use μTorrent, I'd recommend you probably switch to some other software because μTorrent has been in the news lately for bringing a [potentially malicious] cryptocurrency miner in its latest update that has been attributed to overloading computer processors.

Some good alternatives being suggested on reddit is qBittorrent, Transmission, and Deluge, among others.

NOTE: I do not encourage or advocate using torrents, by downloading and using them you are taking
a security risk that could potentially compromise your computer and its functionality. I am not
responsible for any damage resulted in the use of torrents.

 
MakeMKV
http://makemkv.com/
Wanna take DVDs on the go but don't want to lug around chunks of plastic? Just install and insert the disc. Then rip the files to your hard drive. The program converts the video files to a .MKV file which VLC reads with ease. (works with Linux OS All Versions/Mac OS All Versions/Windows OS up to From Windows Vista To Windows 8)
 
Chrome Browser (Desktop)
Data Saver: An official extension by Google. It reduces your data usage (in my experience, about 50%) by using Google's servers to do computer things I don't quite understand how it works specifically. Also it unblocks all sites (if it's ever blocked) so if you ever wanted to visit certain sites, this extension is quite useful. For desktop Chrome only, and still in beta.
 
Some stuff I've been using lately- All of them are completely free, without any trial versions or stuff like that, plus they have mobile apps.

Security
KeePass- One of the best password managers out there, it's easy to use and has a lot of great features (such as a smart password generator). Also has a lot of possible add-ons and extras.

Media
Mp3tag- The common way to edit media files, a must if you have a large music libary. You can use it to create playlists, import/export tag information, etc.

Learning
Anki- The ultimate flashcards program. If I had a dollar for every time this program saved me in learning for tests, I'd have like, 15$.
There's also a place to share your decks online, it has a bunch of useful stuff. I'd recommend downloading decks for languages you want to learn, or for remembering country flags/demographics/etc.


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