• feanne.com
• daily drawings
• desktop wallpapers
• pretty pins

So I lost use of my beloved CPU for about 2 weeks, and now it's back with upgrades and stuff, and a totally wiped hard drive. Which means I again spent some time tweaking settings and installing programs. Which means I decided to update my kickass freeware list! Yay! :D

As a "new feature" for the list, I'm also going to indicate the size of the program's download file and the size of the program when it's installed already; smaller sizes of course imply fast and light programs. :) Please note however that the sizes listed here may be inaccurate due to errors on my part or installation options or program version differences.

CONTENTS

• My System
• Aesthetics programs
• System programs
• Web Design programs
• Multimedia programs
• Productivity programs
• Miscellaneous programs
• Relevant Links
• Comments?

MY SYSTEM ^ back to top

So you know where I'm coming from.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
Intel Core 2 Duo
2.13 Ghz
1.00 GB RAM

A screenshot (for the sake of the "Aesthetics" programs):

AESTHETICS ^ back to top

Prettify! :)

• bbClean [shell replacement]
• - Simple, minimalistic, efficient, fast, beautiful, customizable.
• - This is for you if you hate having cluttered icons on your desktop, and that clunky slow Start Menu.
• - If you don't know what a shell is, read more about shells first.
• - bbLean's help files still apply to bbClean.
• - I like it better than WindowBlinds, xoblite, and LiteStep.
• - 1.66 MB installed / 184 KB download
• - *Get it here*

• ShellOnv2 [shell manager]
• - If you're going to mess around with shells like bbClean, you'll need this to easily switch back to normal Windows.
• - (Google archive of) ShellOn v2 instructions.
• - 1.53 MB installed / 733 KB download
• - *Get it here*

• UXtheme.dll patcher for Windows [desktop enhancer utility]
• - If you want to use Visual Styles without using WindowBlinds (which isn't freeware), use this nifty little hack.
• - 860 KB download
• - *Get it here*

• CursorXP [desktop enhancer utility]
• - Replace your boring cursor set.
• - I got this just so I could use the skeleton hand cursor set.
• - 3.03 MB installed / 2.27 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• How To Improve Font Rendering On Windows
• This isn't a freeware program, it's just a setting you can tweak :p just thought I'd share...
• - Go to Control Panel > Display > Appearance
• - Click on Effects button
• - Select "Cleartype" under "Use the following method for smoothing edges of screen fonts"
• - This improves on-screen font display mightily, I don't know why it isn't set as the default option.

SYSTEM ^ back to top

Secure and clean.

• AVG [anti-virus]
• - Best free anti-virus program; I've been using it for years.
• - 29.49 MB installed / 20.4 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• WinPatrol [anti-spyware]
• - Uses heuristic method, meaning it guards against all changes to the system.
• - For example if you install a program, WinPatrol will pop up and confirm with you whether the installation is intended.
• - Since it's heuristic, I'd only recommend it to intermediate users.
• - I like it better than Ad-Aware.
• - 1.03 MB installed / 5.41 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• CCleaner [system cleaner]
• - Cleans up your hard drive and registry.
• - Can be set to run automatically every startup.
• - 1.43 MB installed / 2.58 MB download
• - *Get it here*

INTERNET ^ back to top

Connect.

• Firefox [web browser]
• - Best free web browser Best web browser.
• - 22.63 MB installed / 5.72 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• GoogleTalk [instant messenger]
• - I love Google!
• - Has nifty voicemail feature.
• - I like it better than bloated old Yahoo Messenger, except that hardly any of you are on GTalk. :p
• - 3.71 MB installed / 1.53 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• µtorrent [bittorrent client]
• - Tiny! Fast and efficient.
• - If you find yourself getting uberslow download speeds / a "NAT" problem, you need to set up your router properly. Free help is here.
• - I like it better than Azureus, BitTornado, and BitComet (which is banned from many bittorrent sites, by the way).
• - 0.25 MB installed / 681 KB download
• - *Get it here*

WEB DESIGN ^ back to top

Hand coded = hardcore! ♥

• wamp server [web server installer]
• - Apache/PHP/MySQL installer for Windows.
• - I use this for testing PHP-based websites on my computer before uploading to my webhost.
• - Very easy to use! Hurray for these nifty server installer things.
• - I like it better than xampplite because it's more up-to-date.
• - 126.00 MB installed / 20.9 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• i.FTP [FTP client]
• - My new favourite FTP client because it's so tiny and efficient. :)
• - I like it better than SmartFTP and CoffeeCup FTP Client.
• - 971 KB installed / 753 KB download
• - *Get it here*

• PSPad [HTML editor]
• - My new favourite HTML editor because it's fast!
• - Nifty interface; has preview window for HTML documents.
• - Syntax highlighting, projects and folders navigation system, etc.
• - I hand coded the formatting of this freeware list using PSPad. :D
• - I like it better than HTML Kit, Crimson Editor and Nvu.
• - 9.21 MB installed / 3.29 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• Color Cop [hex color picker]
• - Pick up colors off the screen, or from a built-in color mixer.
• - Has a magnifier feature so you can zoom in on pixels on the screen when you pick up colors.
• - Gives you the hex code and a quick color palette for any color you pick up.
• - I like it better than pixie color.
• - 0.82 MB installed / 372 KB download
• - *Get it here*

MULTIMEDIA ^ back to top

Play.

• IrfanView [image viewer]
• - Superfast; can view and convert so many image filetypes (including Photoshop files!).
• - Also has basic image editing features, such as smart resizing (resampling).
• - I like it better than Xnview.
• - 1.36 MB installed / 1.10 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• Winamp [music player and media library]
• - Play music, organize media, edit tags in music files, manage playlists, manage MP3 players (including ipods), etc.
• - Expandable with plugins, and customizable with skins.
• - I've found that adding the Enhancer plugin makes the music sound much better.
• - I like it better than foobar, MediaMonkey, and QCD Player.
• - 21.89 MB installed / 5.93 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• GOM Player [video player]
• - Plays a wide variety of video filetypes (including DVDs).
• - Simple, pretty interface.
• - If it doesn't have the codec for a video file, it can direct you to where you can download the codec.
• - I like it better than VLC player.
• - 19.12 MB installed / 4.08 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• A Note About Media Players
• What I like about Winamp is that it has a media library and support for mp3 players built-in; it would've been the perfect media player if only it handled videos nicely. The problem with video is that there are so many video filetypes, and each type requires a particular "codec" (I don't really know what a codec is, but it seems to be needed in order for a video filetype to be played). Winamp is apparently very lacking in these codecs. For this reason I need a separate player to handle videos and their multitude of codecs. GOM Player fills this need nicely; on the other hand, it doesn't have the audio enhancer / media library / mp3 player support that Winamp has. So I need both.

PRODUCTIVITY ^ back to top

Work.

• Evernote [information manager / notes system]
• - Sits on your taskbar so you can easily open it up when you need to jot down something.
• - Everything is auto-saved; notes are timestamped and can be easily categorized.
• - Cute interface, easy to use.
• - I actually used it in typing up this list of programs. :D
• - 14.14 MB installed / 11.0 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• Treepad [information manager / notes system]
• - Very useful if you, like me, like making notes in outline form.
• - I find it helpful for my thought process.
• - 954 KB installed / 866 KB download
• - *Get it here*

MISCELLANEOUS ^ back to top

• Foxit PDF Reader [PDF viewer]
• - Fast and free, so there's really no reason to get Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• - 3.93 MB installed / 1.67 MB download
• - *Get it here*

• Alzip [file archive handler]
• - Handles a wide variety of archive filetypes-- .ZIP, .RAR, etc.
• - Note that when you install this, whenever you create a new folder on your computer it'll have a bird species name. Kinda cute actually. :p
• - I like it better than 7-Zip because it supports more archive filetypes.
• - 11.83 MB installed / 5.48 MB download
• - *Get it here*

RELEVANT LINKS ^ back to top

• Where To Get Skins/Themes For bbClean, CursorXP, Winamp, Firefox
• WinCustomize
• DeviantArt
• *box shots
• Customize

• More Freeware!
• 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities - most famous "best freeware" list
• TinyApps - cute little programs
• FreewareFiles - freeware downloads
• Giveaway Of The Day - gives away one licensed program every day

Comments? ^ back to top