These are some great freeware programs for Windows!
Browser:
Mozilla FirefoxAdd-ons: Perspectives, Gmail Space, Flashblock, ChromEdit Plus, Web Developer, autoHideStatusbar, Tab History, Adblock Plus, Adblock Plus: Element Hiding Helper, Compact Menu 2, Coral IE Tab, DownloadThemAll!, FireFTP, Pearl Crescent Page Saver Basic, gTranslate, and searchOnTab.
Click HERE for tips on customizing Firefox.
Email Client (if you don't have MS Outlook):
Thunderbird Win2K-Win7, Email ClientExtensions: Webmail, Compact Menu 2, Folderpane Tools, Contacts Add BCC button, and autoHideStatusbar.
Theme: Cobalt Thunderbird
Outlook Extension: MS Outlook Duplicate Items Remover
Communication:
Skype Win2K-XP, Skype to Skype calls--free! Cheap to call land lines as wellPDF Viewer (Converter):
PDF-XChange Viewer Win2K-Win7, PDF ViewerPDFill Win9x-Vista, Convert to PDF
HTML Editors:
Notepad++ Win9x-Vista, Notepad replacement/source code editor--my favoriteHTML-Kit Win9x-XP, Editor with preview and ftp
KompoZer (Nvu) Win9x-Vista, WYSIWYG html editor
Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition Win2K-Vista, Construct ASP.NET sites
Media Players (in order of preference):
#1 jetAudio Basic Win98SE-Vista, Media Player#2 Windows Media Player 11 WinXP-Vista, Media Player, Rip, Burn
#3 Winamp Win98SE-Vista, Media Player
#4 The KMPlayer Win98-Vista, Media Player
Music stuff:
EAC Win98-Win7, Rip CDs and convert sound file formats--my favoriteI recommend downloading the latest Lame encoder to rip mp3's, the latest Nero aac encoder to rip mp4/m4a's, and the latest FLAC encoder to rip lossless flac files.
CDex Win9x-Win7, Rip CDs and convert sound file formats
Mp3tag WinXP-Win7, Edit metadata of music files
Audacity Win98-Vista, Sound Editor
mpTrim Win98-Win7, Audio editing software
mp3DirectCut Win XP-Win7, Audio editing software
AudioExtractor Win98-Win7, Extract audio from video
MusicIP Mixer Win2K-Win7, Customizable playlists
Customizable streaming radio:
Grooveshark Store and listen to your music collection online, discover new music, etc.
Pandora
Yahoo! Music Radio Works well with slower connections (restricted to the US)
Slacker
Jango
Deezer
Video:
CCCP Win2K-Vista, Codec Pack--an easy way to enable your computer to play most any video format (only use it if you need it)DVD43 Win2K-Vista (32), Play dvd's from different regions
Pazera Free FLV to AVI Converter Win98-Vista, FLV to AVI Converter
VirtualDubMod Win98-Vista, video editing
Windows Movie Maker WinXP, Make movies easily
Graphics:
XnView Win9x-XP, View, resize, and convert images--I love this program.Paint.NET Win2K-XP, photo and image editing tool
IrfanView Win9x-Vista, View, resize, and convert images
VCW VicMan's Photo Editor Win9x-XP, photo and image editing tool
MWSnap Win9x-XP, screen capture tool
Jalbum Win9x-Vista, photo album/web gallery
Photoshop.com online editing and gallery
Security:
Microsoft Security Essentials WinXP-Win7, Virus scan, spyware, malware, etc.AVG Free Edition Win2K-Win7, Virus scan
avast! Home Edition Win2K-Win7, Virus scan
COMODO Firewall Pro Win2K-Vista, Firewall
Windows 7 Firewall Control Win7, Firewall
Ad-Aware Win2K-Vista, Remove spyware, malware, etc.
CCleaner Win9x-Win7, system optimization and privacy tool--I love this program.
Glary Utilities Win9x-Win7, system optimization and privacy tool
Truecrypt Win2K-Win7, disk encryption
Back Up:
EASEUS Todo Backup WinXP-Win7, create image or clone diskKaren's Replicator Win9x-Win7, copy and sync files between drives
HoboCopy Win2K-Win7, backup/copy tool
XP Themes:
Zune XP Theme WinXP, Windows XP Theme (see screenshot above)Royale Noir XP Theme WinXP, Windows XP Theme
ClockWork Orange XP Theme WinXP, Windows XP Theme
Luna Element 5 XP Theme WinXP, Windows XP Theme
Kid's Stuff:
Minisebran Win2K-XP, Preschool learning gameSebran Win9x-XP, Elementary learning game
MathFlash 12 Win9x-XP, Math Flash Cards (multiple choice)
Flashcards Win9x-XP, Math Flash Cards
Utilities:
Microsoft PowerToys for WinXP Includes Tweak UI, Image Resizer, ClearType Tuner, etc.RegCleaner Win9x-XP, Get rid of old and obsolete registry entries (standalone)
Orthos This one is for dual core processors, Stress test cpu (standalone)
CrystalCPUID Win9x-Vista, Displays cpu, bios, chipset info. (standalone)
JkDefrag Win2K-Vista, disk defragmenter and optimizer
Memtest86+ Win9x-Vista, Advanced memory diagnostic tool
TPFanControl Win XP-Vista, Control fan speed (Thinkpads)
Discover Win9x-Vista, Prevents windows from going under taskbar
Unlocker Win2K-Vista, Unlock folder or files (or usb drives) that are locked
Miscellaneous:
Agent Ransack Win95-Win7, file searching utilityAlarmClock Win98-XP, Set it for a daily reminder
LeechFTP Win9x-XP, FTP client
PureText Win9x-XP, Copy text from web pages without the formatting
WeatherWatcher Win98-XP, Display weather in system tray
Klipfolio Dashboard Win2K-Vista, Desktop widgets (including weather)
NuonSoft ShellEnhancer XP-Vista, Enhance the default shell of Windows--nice transparency feature!
Bliss screensaver WinXP, Microsoft pastoral scene (.avi)
4T Tray Minimizer Win9x-Win7, Minimize running applications as System Tray icons
Iconize Win9x-Win7, Minimize running applications as System Tray icons (if 4t Tray doesn't work for you)
DAEMON Tools Win9x-XP, Virtual CD/DVD drive for reading CD image files
TClock Light for WinXP, Display Time, Date, & Day in Taskbar, adjust transparency, hide start button
TClock 32 (includes 32 & 64 bit versions) for Vista-Win7, Display Time, Date, & Day in Taskbar
Start Killer Win9x-Win7, Remove Start button from taskbar. Since most keyboards have a Windows key, this button is unnecessary. (Use only if your version of TClock lacks this function)
AudioShell Win9x-XP, ID3 tag editor
Taskix WinXP-Vista, Reorder taskbar tabs
AceMoney Lite Win9x-Win7, Personal Financial Manager--free version is limited, but still very useful
Free&Easy Font Viewer Win2K-Vista, View the fonts installed on your system
Roboform Win9x-Win7, Password Manager--free version is limited, but still very useful
Wallpaper Changer WinXP, Changes wallpaper periodically
Nexus Dock Win2K-Win7, Mac style dock (see screenshot above)
Download Tinted Leopard Theme for Nexus Dock (see screenshot above)