My Top 5 Freeware for Windows

We the Computer Engineer's all know that Firefox (Ahmet Salih's favorite for ITU's registirations) is pretty much the greatest free web browser known to man and that OpenOffice (Dogukan's favorite word processor for reporting) is a pretty decent open source alternative to the Microsoft Office suite … but those are obvious, right? What about all those sweet, free (as in food) software programs out there that no one’s really ever heard off? Don’t they deserve some love, too? Don't you want to get familiar with the tools that i have been using so much ?

Granted, a lot of the programs that get me excited are perhaps a bit obtuse, but let’s go with it. Without further adieu, here’s my short list for friends and beginners for programming containing 5 of the coolest unknown freeware for Windows (in no particular order for me :) )

1. PuTTY Connection Manager - DOWNLOAD

What?! You haven’t heard of PuTTY? It’s only the fastest, greatest, FREE terminal emulation client for Windows (for those of you who are freaked out by Unix terminals alone, much less ones ported to Windows, don’t worry - there are plenty of guides for why you’d use it and how to use it best).

(I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who prefer VanDyke’s SecureCRT, but it costs money, and being as I’m cheap, I don’t want to plunk down $99 for a program whose functionality PuTTY pretty much encapsulates)

However, there’s ONE thing that SecureCRT has that PuTTY doesn’t: tabs! Once you start administering several systems at once, you begin to get angry at how quickly those multiple terminal windows clog up your screen. For the longest time, I harbored envy of SecureCRT’s tabbed window that contained all terminal sessions in one screen … until I stumbled upon PuTTY Connection Manager.

This gem of a program “swallows” instances of PuTTY into one tabbed screen, complete with direct access to PuTTY’s native connection management screen and a tree-style list of all servers you currently have setup. Couple the bookmarks features and the Quick Connect options, and this program (which is still in beta) is looking pretty sweet next to commercial variants.

2. SyncBack - DOWNLOAD

Like most people, I never really thought about backing up anything on my hard drive. Then it happened - I remember I had to Photoshop some large project for a class and with the deadline looming, the power went out at my house. And I hadn’t saved a thing. And don’t even talk to me about about having a reliable UPS (see above mention of my “cheapness”). It was in those frustration-induced moments that I decided I needed to do a little backup.

Being a fan of freeware, I immediately Google’d for freeware backup utilities, and after trying a few (rather inadequate) ones, I found the free Community edition of SyncBack. This app still blows me away - the myriad of features it contains - synchronization/backup, FTP, ZIPing, and profiling, to name a few - is just unbelievable and should satisfy any personal backup you might need. Be sure to check out the sweet guide on SyncBack by Gina over at Lifehacker.

P.S: there’s a Enterprise version of SyncBack, but I can’t really see what I would need it for - check it out, though, because it might fit a need of yours that the Community edition doesn’t)

3. Belvedere - DOWNLOAD

So, being a computer scientist, I’ve taken it upon myself to be familiar with all types of computers - which is a snazzy way for me to justify being both a Mac user and a PC user. Some time ago, I ran across an awesome program for the Mac called Hazel, a rule-based program designed to keep files on your computer in order. Want your downloads folder - where you dump everything you download in Firefox - cleaned every week? Hazel can do it. Want any screenshots you take to automatically be placed in your Pictures folder? Hazel can do that, too.

Needless to say, this awesome experience immediately had me searching for a Windows equivalent. And what did I find? Nothing! I resigned myself to existing in an unorganized PC landscape for the rest of my days.

This last January, Adam at Lifehacker rode to the rescue with Belvedere, his attempt to create a direct clone of Hazel for Windows. While it doesn’t contain exactly the same functionality as Hazel (yet!), it has rules for modifying, deleting, moving, and otherwise heckling files that fit certain criteria. Given that I have folders all over my PC accumulating with junk, Belvedere is a set-it-and-leave-it app that ensures crud gets moved where it needs to go on a regular basis.

4. VirtuaWin - DOWNLOAD

Oh boy, I am a sucker for screen real estate. I just recently got myself a second monitor, and frankly, I don’t know how I ever lived without one. But it gets better - the other day, I saw a system administrator friend of mine using Linux’s virtual desktops with a dual monitor (in case you don’t know what virtual desktops are, check out this Wikipedia page on the subject). With 4 virtual desktops, his computer basically had 8 screens worth of information. 8!

Now, I would love to switch to Linux full time, but there are a lot of things on Windows that I need … but Windows doesn’t come with virtual desktops out of the box (the Microsoft PowerToys group has a virtual desktop implementation, but it’s nasty-slow). Once again, Google to the rescue: Sourceforge-hosted VirtuaWin was the answer.

This guy is lightning fast, and the FAQ on the site has tips for speeding it up under Windows. Add that to the fact that you can instantly switch to different virtual desktops (via mouse click, mouse movement, or hotkey), move windows between desktops, and create default application sets, and this is one sweet application for people starved for desktop space.

5. Komodo Edit - DOWNLOAD

This is one of those programs where you go, “How in the world is this free??”

Web development was one of my favorite areas for CE - I’m always on the lookout for tools that will help me get the job done better and faster (and are for free!).

Now, for a long time, I’ve been envious of Komodo IDE, what with its debugging qualities, DOM viewer, and code browsing. Unfortunately, it costs $$$, so it’s out the window.

But behold! ActiveState has a smaller, parred-down version of Komodo IDE for free! Komodo Edit only has three of Komodo IDE’s main features - editing multiple languages, project managers, and general toolbox - but I find that those are plenty. My favorite feature? Code completion for functions I’ve written

What about you guys? Any freeware for Windows we should know about? Hit us up below.