This program replaces the Windows date and time in the tray with a much better clock. You can customize the colors as well as the format of the display. Click on the time and up pops a monthly calendar that you can scroll through a year or month at a time. You can also set it up to show the CPU and RAM usage.

You can tweak all kinds of Windows settings like mouse and desktop features, Add/Remove list, boot features, etc.

This compression/decompression program is compatible with Zip files. Open source.

If you are a programmer, you'll love this little utility. It compares two files and reports on the lines that are different. Very nice and complete comparison.

This is a limited version of the WS_FTP program that allows you to FTP files directly to servers. It is free for government employees, noncommercial home users, and members of educational institutions.

This is another FTP program that rivals WS_FTP. Open source.

This is a pretty powerful graphic viewer. It's quick and easy to use.

This is a pretty powerful graphic viewer and editor. Nice thumbnails. 5 stars.

Eudora Lite
Thunderbird

Best free email clients.

This is a full office suite that is compatible with MS Office. Intention is to keep it compatible.

This is a free replacement for Windows Explorer.

This is a great little screen capture and print screen utility.

This is a clipboard enhancement that lets you copy multiple instances of text or pictures to the clipboard and then paste them at will.

This is a Notepad replacement with just enough extras to keep it simple and useful.

This is a nifty program that emulates stick-on notes. You click on the program icon and type in your note. You can set an alarm reminder on a note.

This little gem lets you synchronize your computer time with a publicly available atomic clock. It can even be set up to do this automatically every time you boot up.

This is a free 'firewall' program that is useful for those of us lucky enough to use DSL or cable modem access. You can configure this so that no program on your machine can access the internet, and no one can access your computer from the Internet, without your permission.

This is a free program that will search your system for any 'spyware' that may be keeping track of your browsing. It alerts you to the presence of these programs and then will delete them, if you decide to do so.

This program is a small, no-frills, but totally free and totally useful CD player.

This is a great, free audio editing and recording program. You can use it to rip CD's.

is a free media player. Excellent.

This free program will display the names of the fonts that are used in the documents on your system. It will display a sample of all of the fonts installed on your system. It will help you delete the fonts that you aren't using.

If you really only want to use Internet Explorer as your browser, this is a great add-on. Gives you multi-tabbed windows, built in Google search, etc.

The best alternative browser to Netscape, in my humble opinion (IMHO).

This is the updated Netscape browser and email client that includes a great HTML editor (Composer). Open source.

Best of breed and free.

A free program that prevents popups from appearing. It can be disabled easily when necessary.

is a free alternative to the Notepad that comes with Windows.

This is a screen capture program that allows you to add notes and audio. Output formats include Flash and PDF. Great for small demos.

is a presentation application.

PDF995 and
doPDF

are free PDF creators.

is a free pdf reader. Less blotted than the Adobe reader.

souped up calculator download alternative to the Windows calculator.

on-the-fly encryption.

free malware scanner that you download.

cleans out the accumulated crap in your termporary files and cleans up the registry.

This is a nice little freebie that gives you some more options for customizing your cursor. Includes animations and cursor control options.

A useful program when you're trying to figure what the hell is slowing down your computer.