Freeware Recommendations - Presogna Productions

Mr. J.V. Presogna
Presogna Productions

Freeware Recommendations

"The Best Freeware"

Mr. J.V. Presogna's Best Picks

42 Listings
Updated August 25, 2008

*******

Reviews are included for the categories of
Security, Necessities, Graphics and Animation, Audio and Video,
and for Science and Education.

Other categories with brief comments include links for Browsers, Zip Utility,
HTML, Text and Video Editors, Webmaster Utilities, Additional Graphics Editors,
Programming, Music, File Storage and Miscellaneous.

*******

We all know what freeware is. It is software which must have no strings attached. There is a difference, however, in the "type" of software one talks about when it comes to any freeware.

A "utility" is a software program which allows me to create other programs or other articles. This "utility" should be mine for any purpose, even though I may not be allowed to modify the program. Not everything is open source, but every "utility" should be free of restrictions on usage. In other words, the "utility" gives me a way to produce new products, and these new products are my products. Nobody should be able to restrict my own creations in any way, although I could be restricted from modifying the actual "utility" which allowed me to produce my own program.

A "product," however, like a book or a piece of artwork, or a reference work, may be for personal use only, because it is not something that can be used without permission. I am not going to produce a new creation from a book or piece of artwork, and therefore it is not a utility like a graphics program.

That said, I have provided a variety of freeware links on this page which I have actually downloaded myself and used. I wouldn't recommend anything that I have not been totally satisfied with on my own computer. All of these programs are quite good. The vast majority of them have no limitations at all. The few which do have some limitations are the lite versions of bigger pro versions. You will find a couple of programs which put up a nag screen, but that's about all. The rest are absolute freeware.

Please, report all broken links to Broken Links

*******

Security

Windows Defender

If you have a Windows operating system, you should have Windows Defender as part of your anti-malware options. You can find it at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

*******

Necessities

Glarysoft Registry Repair

One necessity you should have is for registry maintenance, and this software is very good. You can clean or repair your registry either automatically or one item at a time, and you can restore any bad decision. It has an ignore list also. It is fairly fast in scanning. You can find it at http://www.glarysoft.com/rr.html

*******

PIXresizer

If you need images reduced or enlarged, the PIXresizer is a compact program that works well. This is a marvelous little utility that everyone should have to save time in working with images. It also uses all "lower case" file extensions so you don't have to worry about your output. It is produced by the BlueFive, and you can find it at http://bluefive.pair.com/index.php

*******

FileZilla FTP

Everyone has FTP clients, but I like FileZilla for a lot of reasons. Besides having a nice interface, and being quite easy to use, with some features you can set as automatic, it works quite well, and it works quickly. You can find it at http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/

*******

Graphics and Animation

Movies13

Animation is a tough market in freeware. Movies13 is one of the ones I finally settled on after months of looking around. You can do quite a bit with this GIF animation program, and you can convert from AVI to GIF also. It takes a little time to get to know it, but experimenting with its possibilities is quite enjoyable. You can find it at http://jansfreeware.com/jfgraphics.htm

*******

Beneton Movie GIF

Transparencies for small files and GIF animation is a very nice feature. It is very intuitive and quick. You can also export as AVI. You can use it for any web site. You can find it at http://software.benetonfilms.com/

*******

Art of Illusion

If you have already done 3D, this program will delight you. If you have not done 3D, you should start learning on this. The unique setup for this program is best left for you to discover after you download it. There are too many things you can do with it to describe in this review. The art studio is grand in itself, but you can also do 3D animation as well. You can find it at http://www.artofillusion.org/

*******

VCW VicMan's Photo Editor

I depend on this for GIF transparencies, which you can do for large images. But, it has a lot of other features many people will like for image manipulation and effects. I have even used it for T-Shirts. You can find it at http://www.vicman.net/vcwphoto/

*******

Paint.Net

This all-around, all-purpose graphics program is meant to replace your Windows Paint program, and it does a good job of it. It has many features for image manipulation and effects, but its transparencies for files are done manually instead of by automatic select. You can find it at http://www.getpaint.net/index2.html

*******

Audio and Video

Audacity

Audacity allows you to export multiple file types, automatically loads your files at the correct levels, and has great editing tools. It is the "final" step for me in my use of several programs to get the music right. Once I export from Audacity, the music is done. You can also edit the tags before exporting. You can find it at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

*******

Multitrack Studio

This is the "Lite" edition of the product, and it does have a few limitations. You have no support for MP3 and you record at 16-bit 44100 KHZ. But, it has a great mastering system with plenty of items to use. I use it as a "first" product, and then transfer the master to Audacity (SEE ABOVE), where it is automatically loaded at 32-bit 44100 KHZ, and I can export multiple file types. You can find it at http://www.multitrackstudio.com/

*******

Apple QuickTime Player

QuickTime is good for a lot of things, not just the music files. I particularly appreciate the Image Viewer and some other features. This link is for the latest version of QuickTime which includes the iTunes. You can find it at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html

*******

Windows Media Player 11

The Windows Media Player 11 is my default player, and I know it opens most files. The sound quality is good and it is easy to use. If you already have the file, the Media Player can usually handle it. You can find it at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/default.aspx

*******

Science and Education

Hallo Northern Sky

Hallo Northern Sky is a great program that you can put together all by yourself. I downloaded 12 files total, and I enjoy this a great deal. You can travel the universe and zoom in on planets, stars and galaxies, as if you really were in space. You can find it at http://www.hnsky.org/software.htm

*******

StarCalc

StarCalc is a standard program, meaning it does not allow you to travel the universe like Hallo Northern Sky. But, it is probably one of the top three astronomy programs out there. You can move the sky forward or backward in time, and it has other features too. You can find it at http://www.relex.ru/~zalex/main.htm

*******

Links

Try these out too.
There are plenty of good, solid programs included on this list,
as well as a chess game.

Firefox
(This is the latest edition of the browser)

Opera
(This is the latest edition of the browser)

Safari
(This is the latest edition of the browser)

Internet Explorer
(This is the latest edition of the browser)

Just Zip It
(This is the best Zip, which works from the right click menu on your mouse)

HTML, Text and Video Editors

1st Page 2000 HTML Editor
(A very good HTML Editor I used to create my web site)

AbiWord Word Processing
(A very good Text Editor that is a companion to Microsoft Works)

ImageToAVI Video Editor
(If you can already go from AVI to GIF, this program can get any image to AVI)

PrimoPDF 3
(Unless you can afford the Adobe, this is it for me)

Webmaster Utilities

FreeFind Site Search
(When you build your own web site, you can put this site search on it,
without any web search to take visitors away)

StatCounter
(Once you get your own site, you can track every web page with this program for free,
and I was very impressed by this total package)

AWStats
(This is another good tracker, which also lets you know about the bots
which come around from search engines to spider your site)

Additional Graphics Editors

Pixia Art graphics program
(A lot you can do with this graphics program)

MathGV
(Turn math into graphics easily)

Programming

SharpDevelop IDE
(This complete IDE does C# programming for the .NET Framework)

Bloodshed Dev-C++ IDE
(This complete IDE does both C and C++ programming quite well)

PellesC for C Programming
(A complete C language IDE)

NetBeans IDE for Java Programming with the JDK
(If you want to program java, why get anything else?)

Nullsoft Installation Program
(This scripting agent can help create installation programs
for all of your free or commercial software releases)

Music and Miscellaneous

Finale Notepad music program
(This is a great program to compose and print sheet music)

EasyNoter Lite
(More than one version, but the free version is quite good)

NagaSkaki Chess
(This is an exceptionally good product for chess)

ColorComboFrames
(This download provides both hexadecimal and RGB, side-by-side)

*******

File Hosting, Image Hosting, and Streaming

These 3 sites are some of the best places.

DivShare
(Maybe the best free hosting platform, including mp3 and flash)

Voxant
(Free streaming video with a nice choice of players)

MusicDock
(Free uploading for mp3 files for listening and downloads)

*******

Freeware Houses

These 5 houses are some of the best places to find good freeware.

Links to Java Downloads

Needed for all Java Programs
Java Runtime (Latest JRE)

Needed for Image Programs
Java Advanced Imaging (JAI for JRE)

Needed for Media Programs
Java Media Framework JMF 2.1.1e