Cool Free Stuff

Here's a look at the Computerworld staff's favorite no-cost software

By Computerworld staff

December 21, 2004 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch -- at least when it comes to software. Not every piece of freeware is of value, of course, but over the years, we've found some real gems.

Here, Computerworld reporters, editors, developers and IT staff share our favorite no-cost software downloads. From graphics applications to utilities to fun stuff -- whether you run Windows, Linux or Mac -- there's surely something here you'll want to try!

Graphics

Application: Irfanview

What it is: Lightweight image viewer/manipulator

Why we like it: Small, free, fast. Allows cropping, scaling and color adjustment. Has a slide-show function, a "Set as Wallpaper" function and a nice screen-capture utility built in.

Platform: Windows

Where to get it: www.irfanview.com

Recommended by: Peter Smith, lead developer

Application: Easy Thumbnails

What it is: Batch resizer of graphics files

Why we like it: Lots of software can resize a photo -- and if you want to crop, remove red eye or otherwise fiddle with an image, this isn't the application for you. But if all you want to do is resize a dozen or two holiday photos to post on the Web, this is definitely worth a download. Easy Thumbnails does one thing and one thing only, but it's simple, quick and pain-free.

Platform: Windows

Where to get it: www.fookes.com/ezthumbs

Recommended by: Sharon Machlis, online managing editor

Utilities

Application: Google's Desktop Search

What it is: It searches Web pages, Outlook and Microsoft Office files, saved AOL instant messages and text files on a local hard drive.

Why we like it: It's vastly better than the search tool in Microsoft Windows. It's very fast and gives detailed results in a format similar to Google's Internet search engine. Thumbnails of Web pages are shown. It can be used to delete files. A major limit is its inability to search Lotus Notes. There's probably some nasty security risk involved in using this tool (in fact, we published an article about one yesterday [see story]), but for now it's well worth the free download.

Platform: Windows

Where to get it: desktop.google.com

Recommended by: Patrick Thibodeau, senior editor

Application: MenuMeters 1.2

What it is: Preference pane for Mac OS X

Why we like it: MenuMeters places icons that give Mac OS X users information on how their computers are working. It shows disk activity, network traffic and throughput, memory use, paging activity and CPU use. The icons can be stylized to fit your Menu bar and can be reordered, allowing Macintosh users to monitor how their computers are doing at a glance.

Platform: Macintosh OS X 10.2 or later

Where to get it: www.ragingmenace.com/software/menumeters

Recommended by: Ken Mingis, online news editor

Application: Temperature Monitor 2.3

What it is: Internal temperature tracker for most recent Apple Computer Inc. computers

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Additional Resources

POLL RESULTS

Leading IT Pros Weigh In on Top IT Issues

Accelerate your knowledge of the IT world you inhabit by viewing the results of a series of polls taken by your IT peers. These polls of 100+ IT professionals each are available for full viewing. They cover key topics such as virtualization, processor performance, green IT, cloud computing and many others. Be a part of the buzz.

WHITE PAPER

For Best Results, Think Beyond the Box

Technology is complex. Keeping it running productively shouldn't be. To that end, you want to minimize the number of solutions needed in-house to simplify operations, maintenance, and support. Kodak offers a best-practices model. One company provides support for both scanner and software, for fast problem resolution without vendor finger-pointing. Download now!

WHITE PAPER

Accelerating the Path to Demand Intelligence with a Demand Signal Repository

Utilizing demand intelligence improves the precision of pricing, product assortments, channel/store placement, and promotion, which are all essential for sustainable revenue management performance. Learn more, download this free whitepaper today.

White Papers & Webcasts

Differentiating With Technical Support: JBoss Customer Support Study
JBoss' expert technical support services is clearly acknowledged by its client base. The comprehensive nature by which their service is unsurpassed. Every category...

Managing And Protecting Your Ever Increasing Mobile Assets
(Source: Absolute Software) Your users are becoming more mobile each day. This is great for productivity - yet challenging for IT control. Natalie...

The JBoss SOA Assessment Tool: Spend Less, Do More
SOA does not have to be overly complex or expensive. The JBoss SOA Assessment Tool can help you chart a course to a...

IDC Webcast: Linux Adoption in a Global Recession
Join Al Gillen from IDC and Michael Applebaum from Novell in this on-demand webcast to see how Linux has emerged as an even...

The CIO's New Guide to Design of Global IT Infrastructure
Is it possible to eliminate the impact of distance? This paper explores the 5 key principles successful CIOs are using to redesign IT...

Novell Opens PR Video
Is the Linux desktop for me? Customers are looking for ways to be more flexible and save money. Using Linux offers a great...

IBM Lotus Notes Performance Brief
This is a Performance Brief that illustrates how Riverbed Steelhead appliances accelerate Lotus Notes R7....

2 Minutes to IT workload automation
Take just 2 minutes to watch this short CONTROL-M flash video. Well show you how BMC CONTROL-M can put money back into your...

Business Value of Performance IDC Whitepaper
Are you looking for a comprehensive solution that addresses insufficient or congested bandwidth, impaired application performance, slow remote backup and replication or obstacles...

Security Configuration Management
In this web video, follow along with Jim Hansen, Senior Product Manager with Big Fix, as he explains why Security Configuration Management is...

All White Papers | All Webcasts