FREE Great Programs for Windows 7

[Lantz]

Sorry to hear you didn't get on with Vista.

It always worked beautifully for me - and for millions of others.

agree !

I would love to have had any good experience with Vista. Installing it burnt out an old laptop of mine and an old desktop of mine was bogged down beyond all belief just running the OS alone. I was unimaginably happy when I heard Windows 7 was coming out to replace Microsoft's horrible mistake. Now if they could only do the same thing with the Zune...

EDIT: Oh and the laptop said it was made for vista and the install disk was proprietary for that exact system.

 

[Maxxwire]

When I got Vista x86 it was with a laptop that was equipped to run Vista and after a few tweaks I was able to drop the amount of RAM needed to run the 'Memory Hungry" OS from a typical 1GB RAM down to considerably less than 1/2 of that amount...

These days my Win 7 x64 desktop starts using around 965 MB of RAM and and I often think back to the days of running the much more efficient Vista x86 OS.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

New update for Slim Drivers SlimDrivers Free - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

 

[MilesAhead]

Quotidian Folders 1.0.0.0

Quotidian Folders for folders you use every day.

It's a hotkey.

Control Right Click on Explorer window to add selected folders to the list.
Control Right Click on Desktop to pop up List near the mouse.

Tray Menu option Open On Click, if checked the selected folders will be opened immediately. Otherwise they are just added to the list. In the latter case there's a chime so you know it got the hotkey press.

See readme and About MsgBox. Pretty simple.

It's free for you to use at your own risk. Download from my page here:

Quotidian Folders

Edit: I made a few improvements. Larger colored font that's easier to read etc..
Latest version is 1.0.3.0

Another Edit: latest is v. 1.2.2.1 - improvements include: single folder opens are centered in work area; small editor included to edit ini file options via the Tray Menu; check for update command in Tray Menu. Complete source and custom icon included in download.

 

[vierasniper]

Why isnt Format Factory on this list? thing is great and has a million and one uses.
i highly recommend it.

Format Factory - Free media file format converter

 

[profdlp]

Why isnt Format Factory on this list? thing is great and has a million and one uses.
i highly recommend it.

Format Factory - Free media file format converter

Count me as a big fan as well.

 

[vierasniper]

Why isnt Format Factory on this list? thing is great and has a million and one uses.
i highly recommend it.

Format Factory - Free media file format converter

Thank you vierasniper. Added.

sweet. people are gonna love it

 

[Skater]

Omnimo UI for Rainmeter

This has to be one of my favorite utilities. It's a W7 phone inspired desktop background. It has tons and tons of usable gadgets, and you just have to turn desktop icons off. It does take a good amount of tweaking with to get it personalized, but once you're done it looks great.

Here's a shot of what mine looks like:

 

[Britton30]

Here's one for all Android aficionados and addicts, run Android apps on Windows 7.
Run Android on Windows with BlueStacks :: Android on PC :: Android Player for Windows | BlueStacks#

NOTE: It is an Alpha version.

 

[brianzion]

hi all
i found this FREE media center that i don't think has been aired here at the forums (please correct me if i am wrong) its called NEXT PVR it streams tv from your tv card plays dvds etc i have just installed it on my machine and so far im well impressed with the tv streaming really easy to set up i will post back when i have used it further with my review.
LINK >>> NextPVR | A free PVR and Media Centre application for Windows

from the pvr website

NextPVR is a free Personal Video Recorder (PVR) and Media Centre application for Microsoft Windows. At its heart lies the Electronic Programme Guide from where you can watch (and pause) live TV and schedule your favourite shows for later viewing.

Relax with a DVD or play back your music, videos and photos stored on your PC or on other devices across your home network.

With support for multiple clients (including thin client devices such as the Popcorn hour) you can distribute your media experience around the home. Away from home you can use the web interface to schedule and stream media using a PC or a suitable mobile device.

Extend your experience with an increasing range of plugins that provide additional features such as weather, internet radio and RSS Reader. Change the look and feel of NextPVR with the supported skins.

NextPVR is developed by Sub. You will find him on the forum where he is joined and supported by an active and friendly community.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Well have just tried this one and it picked one that I missed going through one by one and like the Slim Cleaner a nice little app and a rival to CC plus it can restore if you wan it to!

Welcome to SlimComputer - Slim Down Your New Computer!

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hum found another little cleaner come tweaker seeems to e quite a fww aoround and similar platforms.

TweakNow WinSecret 2011 - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Have just found out re the free Macrium new version via mail news

Macrium Reflect Free - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

 

[M1GU31]

found this freeware software called flux, pretty cool for those who don't like looking at a bright monitor at night with the lights off been using it the past 4 days and i like it.
here's exactly what it does,info taken from this source and can download from here: F.lux: software to make your life better


Ever notice how people texting at night have that eerie blue glow?

Or wake up ready to write down the Next Great Idea, and get blinded by your computer screen?

During the day, computer screens look good—they're designed to look like the sun. But, at 9PM, 10PM, or 3AM, you probably shouldn't be looking at the sun.

F.lux fixes this: it makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.
It's even possible that you're staying up too late because of your computer. You could use f.lux because it makes you sleep better, or you could just use it just because it makes your computer look better.
f.lux makes your computer screen look like the room you're in, all the time. When the sun sets, it makes your computer look like your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes things look like sunlight again.

Tell f.lux what kind of lighting you have, and where you live. Then forget about it. F.lux will do the rest, automatically.

 

[mickey megabyte]

+1 for f.lux - saves me having to fiddle with my fiddly monitor controls.

i thought it looked really strange at first, but now i use it all the time.

it doesn't affect games or movies, but very good for browsing, windows explorer etc where there's lots of bright white space. it's easy disabled too.

 

[boohbah]

i used to use f.lux, but now i have a dark theme so my explorer windows are a carbon grey, i use stylish so i have a dark google theme ,the same goes for youtube ,facebook, google+ and a few others,
and of course i use the sf black theme here.

 

[Barman58]

I suppose I'm lucky that I use a HDTV as a main monitor, it has a light sensor built in, that adjusts Yeh screen to suit the ambient lighting. Of course I also have manually selectable modes, to cover movie, photo editing, Etc.

Makes things so much easier, if you use a HDTV in your setup its worth checking your available options

 

[JaidynM]

Not sure if they qualify to be on the list but here's a few great programs:

Nokia OVI Suite

Skype

iTunes

 

[wanchoo]

What an awesome list. Thanks a lot.

I would add Burrrn, Exact Audio Copy (EAC), Medieval Cue Splitter and Sizer to this list.

Thanks again for this fantastic compilation.

 

[boohbah]

update on Bins by 1 up industries. it is out of beta and therefore is no longer free,
i bought it a couple of days ago as the free to beta testers runs out soon.