Shodan: Often called "the search engine for hackers," Shodan is unlike Google in one crucial way: it doesn't search for websites, but for devices connected to the internet. This includes everything from your home router and security cameras to smart appliances and industrial control systems. 

Shodan works by continuously scanning the internet for devices with open ports and gathering information about them, such as their location, the software they're running, and if they're using default passwords. While this tool is used by cybersecurity professionals to find and fix vulnerabilities, it can also reveal if your own devices are accidentally exposed to the public internet, potentially leaving you vulnerable to prying eyes.

IntelX (Intelligence X): If Shodan shows you what devices are connected to the internet, IntelX shows you what information is out there about you from data leaks and other sources. This advanced search engine and data archive specializes in gathering and preserving information from places like the dark web, public data breaches, and various document-sharing platforms.

By searching with specific "selectors" like an email address, username, or phone number, IntelX can reveal if your personal information has been exposed in a data leak. This tool is a favorite of cybersecurity experts and investigators for finding and tracking leaked data, and for you, it can be a vital way to see if your digital footprint has been compromised.

Maltego: While other tools help you find specific bits of information, Maltego is designed to show you how all those bits are connected. It's a graphical link analysis tool that helps investigators, security professionals, and researchers map out relationships between seemingly unrelated data.

Using what it calls "Transforms," Maltego can pull public information from a wide range of sources—like social media profiles, domain registrations, email addresses, and phone numbers—and then visualizes it all on a single graph. The result is a clear map of your digital footprint, revealing hidden connections between your online accounts, organizations, and even physical locations. It's an essential tool for seeing the big picture of your online presence and understanding what information is out there and how it's all linked together.

WhatsMyName: If you've ever used the same username on multiple platforms, WhatsMyName is the tool that can quickly find them all. This open-source intelligence (OSINT) tool is designed to search for a specific username across hundreds of websites, from major social networks to small forums and dating sites.

By simply entering a username, WhatsMyName automatically checks for its existence on various platforms and provides a clickable link to any profiles it finds. For you, this is a powerful way to see just how much of your online identity is linked together, helping you track your digital footprint and find out if someone is impersonating you on a site you don't even use.

OSINT Framework: The OSINT Framework is not a single tool, but a comprehensive collection of resources for open-source intelligence (OSINT). Think of it as a master key that organizes and links to all the publicly available tools, websites, and data sources you would need to investigate a person or topic.

It's a visual, web-based tool that categorizes different types of public data, from social media and email to public records and government documents. For you, the OSINT Framework is the perfect starting point to understand the full scope of your public digital footprint. It can guide you to a wide variety of resources to see what information is out there about you on an immense scale.

These tools reveal that much of the data we think is private is actually available to anyone with the knowledge to find it. Therefore, it's essential to use them ethically and responsibly, always in compliance with the law and respecting privacy. In your digital life, they can be used to strengthen your personal security, assess your exposure to risks, and thus gain a more informed understanding of what's available about you online.

What is Freeware ?

🆓 The term freeware feels a bit like a relic, as its original model has largely been replaced. Back in the day, a developer would often just give away a full program for free. Today, that concept has mostly evolved into the freemium model, where a basic version is free, but you pay for premium features (think of apps like Spotify, or most mobile games). Even though the term is less common now, the idea of a fully-featured, no-cost program is still a really cool concept.

What is Open-source (OSS)?

🔓 This term is more relevant than ever. In fact, open source has become the foundation of most of the modern internet. From the Linux operating system that powers huge web servers and Android phones to major projects like Kubernetes, Firefox, and Python, open source is absolutely critical. The business model around it has evolved, with companies making money by providing support and services instead of selling the software itself.

So, while freeware might feel a little "lost in time," open source is a massive part of our daily digital lives. It's a great insight to share with your visitors because it adds context and shows how the industry has changed.

• LibreWolf 🔗
  LibreWolf is a free and open-source web browser, forked from Firefox, that is designed with a strong focus on privacy, security, and user freedom. It aims to eliminate all telemetry, data collection, and "annoyances" found in the base browser. LibreWolf comes pre-configured with security and privacy-enhancing settings (like anti-fingerprinting measures), and includes the powerful ad-blocker uBlock Origin by default. It's an excellent freeware alternative for users who want a private, non-tracking browsing experience without needing to manually tweak hundreds of settings.

• Opera🔗
  Opera is one of the oldest and most recognizable names in web browsing, famous for pioneering many features we now take for granted, like tabs and speed dial. The modern browser is built on the Chromium engine and offers a unique, feature-packed experience. It includes a free, built-in VPN service, an integrated ad-blocker, and dedicated sidebar integrations for popular messaging apps and social media. While it is freeware, it is not open-source and has been criticized for its data-handling practices by some privacy advocates. It's a solid choice for users who value a highly customized interface and powerful built-in tools right out of the box.

• Brave🔗
  Brave is a free, open-source web browser also based on Chromium that is famous for its speed and commitment to privacy. It automatically blocks ads and trackers by default, leading to noticeably faster page loads. Unlike many other browsers, Brave has an integrated rewards system based on the cryptocurrency BAT, which allows users to earn tokens by opting into privacy-respecting ads or support their favorite creators. If you're looking for a user-friendly browser that offers strong privacy without much configuration, Brave is a top-tier choice.

• Vivaldi🔗
  Vivaldi is a freeware browser created by the former CEO of Opera, and it clearly focuses on extreme customization. Built on Chromium, Vivaldi lets you tweak almost every aspect of the interface and functionality, from tab placement and keyboard shortcuts to mouse gestures and themes. It has powerful built-in features like a customizable ad-blocker, a mail client, a calendar, a notes feature, and even a basic photo editor. Vivaldi is ideal for power users who spend a lot of time in their browser and want a highly personalized environment.

• File Pilot 🔗
  What makes File Pilot interesting? First, it has all the features that directly compete with Microsoft’s File Explorer. Second, File Pilot offers much-needed features that you won’t find in File Explorer yet. This includes batch renaming. The overall design of File Pilot is simple and quite similar to the existing File Explorer, but it feels less cluttered and is more centered on file management. You’ll not find OneDrive, Microsoft 365, or other ads that you would casually come across in the original File Explorer. File Pilot’s interface can be customized. You can even change the fonts or their size. In fact, it’s possible to change spacing between items as well. Apart from the usual light and dark themes, color schemes offer custom color palettes to all UI elements. It contains some readability enhancement features like alternating row colors and dimming inactive panel. File Pilot enables users to open folders in new tabs or create a split view. You can arrange tabs in various configurations by simply dragging and dropping them, assisted by a Snap Assist-like overlay.

• Files 🔗
  The open-source Files app is basically what Windows 11's File Explorer should have been: the design is consistent with Windows 11's more polished UI, it supports tabs and panes, and its settings menu is way more user-friendly. If you right-click on a file, you'll see the option to "create folder with selection" - no need to create a new folder first and then move the file into it. You can also enable checkboxes more easily than in the File Explorer. The preview pane (Ctrl + P) is capable of playing videos within the same window. Under Settings > Appearance, you can set dark or light modes, independently of Windows, and choose whether to have a sub-menu in the right-click context menu. If you install the Themes add-on, you'll also be able to choose a theme. In Settings > On Startup, you can choose to continue where you left off when launching the app. In Settings > Multitasking, you can enable dual-pane view (which you can close at any time after clicking on the ellipsis symbol). Under Settings > Experimental, you can enable tags, and make Files the OS' default file explorer.

• Explorer++ 🔗
  A free, lightweight, and open-source file manager that enhances the standard Windows File Explorer with features like tabs and a more robust, customizable interface. 

• Multi Commander🔗
  A powerful dual-pane file manager designed for efficiency, offering a customizable interface, tabbed browsing, advanced search, and extensive plugin support. 

• FreeCommander 🔗
  A dual-pane file manager offering a range of features to enhance organization and efficiency, including tabbed browsing to keep multiple folders open and easily switch between them. 

• GIMP🔗
  Probably the most well-known and powerful option GIMP is a free software cross-platform image editor. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, or scientist provides you with sophisticated tools to get your job done. It's an open-source photo editor that's often called a free alternative to Photoshop. It's a full-featured program with a lot of tools for photo manipulation, retouching, and graphic design. It's completely free and you can download a standalone installer from its official website. The only potential downside is that its interface can be a bit overwhelming at first, but it has all the capabilities you're looking for and more.

• Paint.NET🔗
  As an open-source alternative to Photoshop, While it started as a replacement for the basic Microsoft Paint, it has evolved into a much more capable photo editor. It's lightweight, fast, and has a user-friendly interface. It supports layers, special effects, and a good variety of tools.

• Inkscape🔗
  While not strictly a photo editor, Inkscape is a phenomenal free vector graphics software. It empowers you to create logos, illustrations, and design elements with exceptional precision and scalability. Inkscape is perfect for graphic designers, web developers, and anyone who needs to create high-quality vector graphics for print or digital use. Inkscape offers a powerful text toolset, allowing you to manipulate text along paths, create intricate letterforms, and integrate typography seamlessly into your designs.

• GIMPshop🔗
  GIMPshop was a modification of the free and open source graphics program GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), with the intent to imitate the look and feel of Adobe Photoshop.

• PhotoScape🔗
  This one is a versatile "all-in-one" photo editor. It's great for beginners and has tools for editing, batch processing, creating GIFs, and more.

• ONLYOFFICE🔗
  Is a great choice if your primary concern is seamless compatibility with Microsoft Office files and you need a smooth transition. It's also a top contender if you ever plan to use its powerful collaborative features. In short, is an excellent and modern alternative, especially if you deal with Microsoft Office users and value a clean interface and strong file compatibility.

• Apache OpenOffice🔗
  Apache OpenOffice is a free, open-source office suite that offers a powerful alternative to programs like Microsoft Office. It's developed and maintained by the Apache Software Foundation, and it's compatible with a variety of operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.Apache OpenOffice is a free, open-source office suite that offers a powerful alternative to programs like Microsoft Office. It's developed and maintained by the Apache Software Foundation, and it's compatible with a variety of operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. The suite includes several different programs : Writer: A word processor similar to Microsoft Word, Calc: A spreadsheet program similar to Excel, Impress: A presentation tool like PowerPoint, Draw: A vector graphics editor for creating diagrams and drawings, Base: A database management program like Access, Math: A tool for creating and editing mathematical equations. One of the biggest advantages of Apache OpenOffice is its ability to read and write files from other common office suites, so you can easily work on documents created in Microsoft Office and vice versa. It also uses an open-standard file format, which ensures your documents are accessible and won't be locked into a proprietary system. While it has a long history and is a very functional suite, it's worth noting that its development pace has slowed down in recent years compared to its more active "cousin," LibreOffice. Both programs originated from the same codebase, but LibreOffice has since become the more popular and frequently updated choice for many users in the open-source community.

• LibreOffice🔗
  As an open-source alternative to Photoshop, While it started as a replacement for the basic Microsoft Paint, it has evolved into a much more capable photo editor. It's lightweight, fast, and has a user-friendly interface. It supports layers, special effects, and a good variety of tools.

• SSuite Office🔗
  SSuite Office is intuitive software with a decent and easy-to-use interface. It provides all the necessary tools for office requirements like word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDF editing. There are some outstanding advantages of it: Have a lightweight design, which results in low memory usage. The lightweight nature of SSuite Office ensures that users can work with the software without experiencing significant performance issues or slowdowns, enhancing productivity and user experience.

And there are also some limitations of SSuite Office:

Lack of compatibility: The documents created or edited in SSuite Office may not be seamlessly compatible with files from Microsoft Office and google docs, the most used two office softwares. Limitation of support system: SSuite Office could support Linux system and Windows system. However, iOS and Android, two systems many people use, are ignored.

• gnumeric🔗
  Gnumeric is a free, open-source spreadsheet program. It's designed to be a highly accurate and powerful alternative to commercial spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel, with a strong focus on scientific and statistical analysis. It can handle complex calculations and is known for its wide support for various file formats, making it easy to work with spreadsheets from many different programs.

• Notepad++🔗
  A classic, lightweight, and fast text and source code editor for Windows. Notepad++ is known for its low resource usage, making it perfect for quick edits and general text manipulation. It supports a wide range of languages with syntax highlighting, and its powerful search and replace features are invaluable for repetitive tasks.

• KDevelop (KDE Dev)🔗
  A robust, feature-packed IDE primarily designed for C++, Python, and PHP development. Part of the KDE project, KDevelop offers a more complete development environment than a simple text editor, including project management, a powerful debugger, and advanced code analysis. While it's geared towards more serious coding projects, it's also a great, free alternative for those who need a full-featured IDE for Windows and Linux.

• VSCodium🔗
  VSCodium is a community-driven, free, and open-source distribution of Microsoft's Visual Studio Code. The key difference is that VSCodium is built without the proprietary Microsoft telemetry and tracking. It provides the same excellent user experience and extensibility of VS Code, but with a focus on privacy and freedom from proprietary code.

• Atom🔗
  A highly customizable and "hackable" text editor from GitHub, Atom is built on web technologies and is known for its modern, clean interface. It's a great choice for web developers and users who want a rich ecosystem of packages and themes to personalize their workflow. While development has officially ceased, the community maintains forks, ensuring its legacy continues.

• Geany🔗
  Geany is a lightweight and fast text editor that also has the features of a basic IDE. It's designed to be a simple, yet powerful tool for programmers. Geany offers syntax highlighting, code folding, and an integrated terminal, all in a small package that doesn't consume a lot of system resources. It's ideal for those who want more than a basic editor but don't need a full-featured IDE.

• Notepads App🔗
  Notepads is a modern, open-source alternative to Windows Notepad. It has a clean, minimalist design with a built-in tab system, which is a major upgrade. It also features a dark mode, live Markdown preview, and is available for free from the Microsoft Store, making it an excellent and easy-to-install choice for everyday use.

• Notepad3🔗
  If you want something that's a direct, no-frills upgrade from Notepad but still extremely lightweight, Notepad3 is a perfect option. It's a fast and simple text editor with syntax highlighting for a huge number of programming languages. It's also portable, meaning you can run it without installation from a USB stick. It's an ideal tool for quick code snippets and text files. 

• WinMerge🔗
  WinMerge is an essential open-source tool for anyone who needs to quickly compare and merge files. It's especially useful for developers, writers, and IT professionals who need to identify changes between different versions of text files, source code, or documents.

With its visual, side-by-side interface, WinMerge makes it easy to spot differences, resolve conflicts, and synchronize content across files and even entire folders. It's a powerful utility that simplifies a common and often tedious task.

• Kdiff3🔗
  KDiff3 is another excellent open-source diff and merge tool. Like Meld, it's cross-platform and supports three-way comparisons of files and directories. It has a robust set of features for developers, including a built-in editor that allows you to directly resolve conflicts within the comparison view. 

• Meld (meldmerge)🔗
  Meld is a popular cross-platform tool that works on Windows, Linux, and macOS. It's known for its clean, simple interface and its ability to handle three-way comparisons ↔️. This is particularly useful for version control, as it lets you compare your version, a new version, and the common ancestor file to resolve conflicts. It also has features for comparing entire folders.  

• SQLiteStudio🔗
  SQLiteStudio is a free, open-source, and portable database management tool for SQLite databases. It provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that makes it easy to create, edit, browse, and manage SQLite database files. It's a great choice for both students and professionals who want a simple, powerful way to work with SQLite without needing to use command-line tools.

• DBeaver🔗
  DBeaver is a powerful and versatile database tool for developers, database administrators, and data analysts. Unlike SQLiteStudio, which is specifically for SQLite, DBeaver is a universal database manager that supports all popular SQL databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and yes, SQLite.

Because of this, it's a great choice if you work with many different database systems. It offers a wide range of features like a rich SQL editor with syntax highlighting and auto-completion, visual query builders, and tools for importing and exporting data.

• MySQL Community Edition🔗
  MySQL is a free, open-source relational database management system that's a cornerstone of web development. As the "M" in the popular LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack, it's known for its speed, reliability, and ease of use. It's incredibly versatile, supporting a wide range of applications from small-scale websites to large-scale, mission-critical systems used by companies like Facebook and Netflix. It gives you the ability to manage data with standard SQL commands, and its support for multiple storage engines like InnoDB and MyISAM allows you to optimize your database for different performance needs.

• FFprobe🔗
  FFprobe is a powerful command-line tool that's part of the FFmpeg multimedia framework. Its primary purpose is to inspect media files and extract detailed information about their streams and metadata.

It can analyze virtually any media format and output comprehensive data on video and audio codecs, bitrates, resolutions, frame rates, and more. FFprobe is widely used by developers and media professionals for tasks like diagnosing file issues, verifying formats, and automating media analysis in scripts.

• MediaInfo🔗
  MediaInfo is a versatile, open-source tool for analyzing video and audio files. It provides detailed technical and tag information, including data on container formats, video and audio codecs, and subtitles. Available for multiple operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux, it offers a graphical user interface, a command-line interface, and can also be used as a library for developers. It supports a wide range of formats and allows users to view and export information in various layouts.

• PotPlayer🔗
  Is a great choice with extreme compatibility for playing videos and DVB-T. PotPlayer is a multimedia player for the Microsoft Windows operating system from the South Korean internet company Kakao. The player competes with other popular players available for the Windows operating system, such as VLC, GOM Player, KMPlayer, SMPlayer, and Media Player Classic.

• Media Player Classic🔗
  Media Player Classic (MPC), Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (MPC-HC), and Media Player Classic - Black Edition (MPC-BE) are a family of free and open-source, compact, lightweight, and customizable media players for 32- and 64-bit Microsoft Windows. The original MPC, along with the MPC-HC fork, mimic the simplistic look and feel of Windows Media Player 6.4, but provide most options and features available in modern media players. Variations of the original MPC and its forks are standard media players in the K-Lite Codec Pack and the Combined Community Codec Pack. This project is now principally maintained by the community at the Doom9 forum. The active forks are Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (MPC-HC) by clsid2 (same developer known as clsid responsible for MPC 6.4.9.1), and Media Player Classic - Black Edition (MPC-BE) by aleksoid.

• VLC Player🔗
  Often hailed as one of the best media players, VLC can handle almost any video or audio file format without needing to download extra codecs. It's lightweight, fast, and has many advanced features for playback and streaming, all in a simple interface. 

Old School

• AIMP🔗
  This one is a more modern take on the classic audio player. It has a super clean interface and is known for its high-quality sound processing. It's a favorite for its 32-bit audio processing, a built-in equalizer with a ton of presets and effects, and an audio converter. AIMP is also very lightweight, so it won't hog your system resources. It has a tag editor, and it's highly customizable with skins and plugins.

• Winamp🔗
  This is a true legend. "It really whips the llama's ass!" was their classic slogan. It's famous for being one of the first and most customizable MP3 players. It's also known for its huge library of community-made skins and visualization plugins like MilkDrop. The original Winamp was bought out and is now being developed again, focusing on being a hub for various media, including podcasts and streaming radio, in addition to local files. It has a media library, playlist management, and an equalizer. 

• Jetaudio🔗
  This one is more of a full-fledged media center than just an audio player. It's popular for having a wide range of features beyond just playback, like CD ripping and burning, audio recording, and a built-in sound converter. The interface can feel a bit busy since it's packed with so many tools, but it's very comprehensive. It also offers a ton of sound effects and a graphic equalizer.

Modern Freeware Alternatives

• Foobar2000🔗
  This is the king of customization and minimalism. It might look a little plain out of the box, but that's the point. It's incredibly lightweight and designed to be a blank canvas. You can build your own layout and add components (plugins) for almost any function you can imagine, from a media library to advanced tagging and DSP effects. If you're a tinkerer, this is the one for you.

• MusicBee🔗
  This is a fantastic option for managing large music libraries. It's a great all-in-one player that focuses on organization. It can automatically tag your files, sync with your devices, and even rip CDs. It has a clean, modern interface and is known for being fast and efficient, with a lot of playback customization.

• VLC Media Player mentioned in the Media Player category is a very capable audio player despite its reputation as a video player. It's known for being a "play everything" solution that doesn't require extra codecs, making it a great choice for playing any audio format you have, from standard MP3s to high-fidelity FLAC files

• Audacity🔗
  Audacity is a popular, free, and open-source audio editing and recording software for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It's used for a variety of tasks, including recording live audio, editing sound files, mixing tracks, and applying effects to create professional-quality audio for podcasts, music, and other media.

• Ocenaudio🔗
  Ocenaudio is a free, cross-platform audio editor designed for simplicity and efficiency, allowing users to record, edit, analyze, and apply effects to audio files without the complexity of traditional digital audio workstations (DAWs). It is known for its user-friendly interface, real-time effect previews, support for VST plugins, and advanced features like spectrogram analysis and efficient handling of large files.

• Mixx🔗
  Mixxx is a free, open-source DJ software for live mixing and performance. It's built for anyone, from bedroom DJs to professionals, and lets you creatively mix music with features like beat matching, looping, and a wide range of effects. It supports a variety of hardware, so you can easily connect DJ controllers, turntables, or other gear to get started..

• PeaZip🔗
  PeaZip is a free and open-source file archiver that provides a graphical interface for over 200 different file formats, including 7z. It offers a more feature-rich experience than the basic 7-Zip interface, with a focus on security features like strong encryption and secure deletion. It's a great choice if you want to work with a wide range of archive types in a user-friendly, cross-platform application.

• 7-Zip🔗
  While Windows has a built-in ZIP tool, 7-Zip is a far more powerful and efficient program for compressing and decompressing files. It supports a wide range of formats, including its own highly effective 7z format, and it's a must-have for anyone who deals with archives. 

• DaVinci Resolve🔗
  O DaVinci Resolve da Blackmagic Design ocupa um lugar de destaque no mundo dos softwares de edição de vídeo de nível profissional, pois oferece uma versão gratuita robusta e uma versão Studio mais avançada. Ao pensar em como usar o DaVinci Resolve, descobre-se imediatamente seu conjunto versátil de recursos que atendem tanto a cinegrafistas amadores quanto a editores experientes.

• HandBrake🔗
  HandBrake is a completly free and open-source video transcoder. It's an essential tool for converting video files from nearly any format to a handful of widely-used modern codecs. Perfect for anyone who needs to convert, compress, or rip video for playback on different devices.

• Avidemux🔗
  This is a straightforward, open-source video editor that also works great for simple transcoding. It's focused on cutting, filtering, and encoding tasks, making it a good choice if you just need to do some basic edits and then convert the file.

• VidCoder🔗
  This is a fantastic option, especially if you're on Windows. It's built on the same core encoding engine as HandBrake, so you get the same powerful transcoding capabilities but with a more simplified and approachable user interface. It also has great features like batch encoding and a folder watcher to automate conversions.

• MakeMKV🔗
  This software is the gold standard for ripping both DVDs and Blu-rays to a digital format. It's fast and, as the name implies, it creates a single MKV file that contains all the video, audio, and subtitle tracks from the original disc. This is great for archiving a perfect copy before you use a tool like HandBrake to compress it.

• Freemake Video Converter🔗
  A well-known option for Windows users. It has a very simple drag-and-drop interface and supports a wide array of formats. It's a good choice for beginners who want to convert files for different devices or social media platforms.

• MediaCoder🔗
  This is a "swiss army knife" of media transcoding. It's been around for a long time and is known for its extensive feature set and rich adjustable parameters. It can handle almost any audio or video format and offers GPU acceleration for faster encoding. It might have a steeper learning curve than some of the others, but it's very powerful.

• winLAME🔗
  WinLame is a free, open-source audio transcoder and CD ripper for Windows. It's designed to be a straightforward and easy-to-use tool for converting audio files from one format to another, especially to the popular MP3 format. It's built on the highly respected LAME MP3 encoding engine, which is known for its high-quality output. The software features a simple, wizard-style interface that guides you through the process of either encoding files from your hard drive or ripping tracks directly from an audio CD.

GEM'S FROM THE PAST "OLD SCHOOL - BACK IN THE DAYS"

• DivX🔗
  For a generation of digital pioneers, DivX wasn't just a codec; it was the key to a new era of home entertainment.  Before streaming dominated, it was the magic that shrunk a two-hour DVD onto a single CD, making entire movie collections portable. Watching the first Matrix in crystal-clear DivX 3 wasn't just viewing a movie — it was a rite of passage, a testament to a time when you truly owned your digital media. It was the "gem of my back in the days movie transcoder," and for many, it's a nostalgic reminder of the early days of digital video. ✨🎬

• CUERipper🔗
  Back in the days, when everyone was carefully ripping their CD collections, CUERipper was a bit of a hidden gem. It's an open-source tool that's a fantastic alternative to well-known programs like EAC, praised for being a bit easier to use without sacrificing accuracy. It works with both the widely-used AccurateRip database and its own CUETools Database (CTDB) to verify your rips are perfect. What's really cool is its ability to use that database to actually repair small errors in a ripped file, which is a great feature for discs that aren't in perfect shape.

• DVD Shrink🔗
  It was this super popular, free software that was a total game-changer. It basically let you compress a DVD's content so it would fit onto a single-layer blank DVD, which was way cheaper and more common than the dual-layer ones. You could choose exactly what you wanted to keep—the main movie, maybe a few special features, and the audio tracks you needed—while ditching the rest. It was an essential piece of software for anyone who wanted to protect their collection from scratches or just share movies with friends. Now, with streaming and digital downloads being the norm, tools like DVD Shrink are a thing of the past. It's wild to think how much technology has changed, huh?

• DVD Decrypter🔗
  Back in the days, when everyone was carefully ripping their DVD's and making her own DVD's movies colections, this one was a bit of a hidden gem to since could and still copy DVD-Video discs to disc images. It can remove several types of digital rights management (DRM) and copy protection from DVDs, including Content Scramble System (CSS), DVD region codes, Analog Protection System, and User Operation Prohibitions (UOPs). DVD Decrypter can also burn DVD discs — functionality that the author has now incorporated into a separate product called ImgBurn.

• Subtitle Workshop🔗
  A free, comprehensive subtitle editor that supports over 60 subtitle formats. It's known for its user-friendly interface and advanced features for creating, editing, and converting subtitle files.

• Subtitle Edit🔗
  A versatile and free tool for creating, adjusting, and translating subtitles. It supports a wide range of subtitle formats and has features for syncing and fixing common errors.

• Share X🔗
  A versatile and powerful screenshot and screen recording tool. It goes far beyond the built-in Windows Snipping Tool, allowing you to capture a region, window, or entire screen and then automatically upload it, add annotations, or apply effects. It's a huge time-saver for anyone who takes a lot of screenshots.

• Open Hardware Monitor🔗
  The Open Hardware Monitor is a free and open-source software that monitors your computer's hardware. It can track the temperature, fan speeds, voltages, and clock speeds of various components, including the CPU, GPU, and hard drives. The software works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows and x86-based Linux operating systems.

• FreeFileSync🔗
  While it's primarily a folder synchronization tool, FreeFileSync also has a very powerful comparison feature to identify differences between folders before you sync them. It's perfect for backups or keeping folders in sync.

• PowerRename🔗
  PowerRename is a robust and convenient renaming utility that's part of Microsoft's PowerToys suite. Seamlessly integrated into the Windows File Explorer, it allows you to quickly and easily rename multiple files and folders at once. With a simple and intuitive interface, you can perform powerful search and replace operations or use more advanced regular expressions to handle complex renaming tasks. It's an efficient tool for cleaning up disorganized files and a must-have for anyone who needs to quickly standardize their file names without having to download a separate program.

• FileRenamer🔗
  FileRenamer Daanav is a straightforward and effective tool for mass file renaming on Windows. It's designed with a simple, graphical interface that makes it easy to get a list of files and quickly see what the new file names will look like before you commit to the change. Unlike more complex tools, it focuses on common tasks like finding and replacing text, changing case, or appending numbers to make file names unique. It's a great, hassle-free option for anyone who needs to quickly organize a large number of files without having to deal with a lot of advanced settings.

• qBittorrent🔗
  qBittorrent is a free and open-source BitTorrent client. It's designed to be a lightweight, yet powerful alternative to other torrent applications, offering a clean, ad-free interface. Key features include an integrated search engine, RSS feed support, a bandwidth scheduler, and remote control capabilities through a web user interface. It's a cross-platform tool, available for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

When it comes to full Windows backups, there are two main types to consider biside the internal windows backup system:

File-level backups: This is what most people think of—copying your documents, photos, and other files.

Disk imaging: This is the most complete form of backup. It takes a "snapshot" of your entire hard drive, including the operating system, all your installed programs, and every single file. If your PC fails, you can restore this image to a new drive and be back up and running exactly as you were before.

• Macrium Reflect Free: The Professional's Choice (Legacy)🔗
  Having worked with Macrium Reflect for more then a decade, I can say with confidence that it's a top-tier disk imaging software. Its reliability is second to none, and it's my personal "note 10" for a full system backup.

While the official free version has been discontinued and is no longer updated, it is still available on trusted third-party sites like MajorGeeks. For those who can find and download it, the final version remains an incredibly powerful and efficient tool for creating full, bootable backups of both Windows and Linux drives.

To get to the free version. During installation, you need to check personal use > and agree to use the software only for personal, non-commercial purposes. Then, you will need to uncheck register this installation of Macrium Reflect. 

Just be aware that it won't receive future updates.

• Paragon Backup & Recovery Community Edition🔗
  With a long history as a leader in disk management, Paragon has a well-deserved reputation for building robust and reliable software. The free Backup & Recovery Community Edition is no exception. This tool provides a powerful, professional-grade solution for full system backups and is often considered a more advanced alternative to other freeware. It's a great choice for those who appreciate fine-tuned control over their backup process and want a tool from a company with a long, trusted legacy.

• Clonezilla🔗
  Clonezilla is the ultimate no-frills, open-source tool for disk imaging. It's not a program you install on Windows; instead, you boot your computer from a USB drive to run it. While its text-based interface looks old-school, it is incredibly powerful, fast, and stable. It's the go-to tool for IT professionals and anyone who wants a straightforward, efficient, and free way to clone or back up entire hard drives without any unnecessary features.

• Hasleo Backup Suite Free🔗
  Hasleo Backup Suite Free is a robust and completely free software designed to help you back up and protect your Windows system and personal data. It offers a wide range of features, including system, disk, and file-level backups, as well as disk cloning capabilities. With its support for full, incremental, and differential backups, you can create a data protection plan that suits your needs. It's a great option for anyone looking for a powerful yet easy-to-use backup solution without the cost.

• SyncBackFree🔗
  SyncBackFree is a powerful and flexible freeware tool for Windows, excelling at backing up and synchronizing files and folders. While not a full system backup solution, it's perfect for automatically protecting personal data, documents, and other important files to an external drive or network location with its robust features like scheduling, mirroring, and easy restoration.

• MyPhoneExplorer🔗
  MyPhoneExplorer is a powerful, free desktop tool for managing your Android phone from your Windows PC. With a development history that goes back to the days of Sony Ericsson feature phones, this software has been refined and updated for over a decade. Unlike simple apps that only mirror notifications, MyPhoneExplorer offers full-featured data management, including local contact and calendar syncing, a comprehensive file manager, and one-click backups—all without relying on the cloud. Connect via USB, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth for a private and robust link to your smartphone.

• LibreCAD🔗
  A free, open-source 2D CAD program that supports DXF/DWG files, making it a strong alternative for AutoCAD users working on 2D projects. 

• QCAD🔗
  QCAD is free and open-source 2D technical drawing software that allows you to create accurate building plans, mechanical parts, and other technical drawings. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, it uses the DXF file format and offers a graphical interface based on Qt technology. QCAD has a free community version and a professional version with additional features, making it an alternative to AutoCAD for those looking for an affordable and powerful CAD tool. 

• FreeCAD🔗
  FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler made primarily to design real-life objects of any size. Parametric modeling allows you to easily modify your design by going back into your model history and changing its parameters. Allows you to sketch geometry constrained 2D shapes and use them as a base to build other objects. It contains many components to adjust dimensions or extract design details from 3D models to create high quality production ready drawings. Is a powerful and evolving open-source parametric 3D modeler, well-suited for many professional and technical tasks. With the release of version 1.0, it marks a new milestone in stability and usability. FreeCAD puts you in control - no licensing fees, no vendor lock-in. It's not just cost-effective - it’s yours to adapt and build upon.

• GMAT-General Mission Analysis Tool 🔗
  General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) is a powerful, free, and open-source software from NASA for space mission design and analysis. It allows users to simulate and model spacecraft trajectories, orbits, and maneuvers. It is an ideal tool for students and enthusiasts who want to delve into the practical applications of celestial mechanics and orbital dynamics.

• Cartes du Ciel 🔗
  Cartes du Ciel is a free planetarium software that lets you create detailed sky maps. It's an excellent tool for amateur astronomers who want to prepare for observations, as it displays the positions of stars, nebulae, planets, asteroids, and comets. The software is highly customizable, allowing you to choose which star catalogs to use, personalize the appearance of objects, and even control your computerized telescope.

• KStars 🔗
  KStars is a powerful, free, and open-source astronomy and astrophotography software. It provides an accurate simulation of the night sky for any date, time, and location on Earth. With KStars, you can visualize over 100 million stars, 13,000 deep-sky objects, and thousands of comets, asteroids, and satellites. For more advanced users, KStars includes a complete astrophotography suite called Ekos, which supports the control of telescopes, cameras, and other equipment.

• OpenSpace 🔗
  OpenSpace is a free and open-source interactive data visualization software developed by NASA and Linköping University. Designed to be an "interactive planetarium," it uses real data from scientific missions and research to create stunning, dynamic visualizations of our universe. You can use it to fly through the cosmos, from Earth's surface to the edge of the observable universe, making it a unique tool for students, researchers, and anyone with a serious interest in space exploration.

( Accounting software )

• gnuCash🔗
  GnuCash is a free, open-source personal and small-business accounting software. It uses a double-entry accounting system to help you track your finances, manage bank accounts, handle investments, and create reports. It's a powerful tool for anyone looking for a no-cost alternative to commercial financial software.

• Projecto Colibri (Free version)🔗
  The Colibri Project (currently called RCP 16) is a certified management and invoicing software that offers a free version beside behing a paid software, making it an excellent starting point for new companies or freelancers. While its layout is not the most intuitive and requires some advanced computer knowledge, it is highly capable of handling essential tasks. The Free version is especially useful for users who only need to generate a few invoices, receipts, and credit notes, as it reliably performs these core functions and supports important features like SAFT export.