5 Free (As in Speech) Windows Programs

... that don't get enough love. All of them are open-source and unrestricted, and usually better than the stuff Microsoft tries to dump on you. Tell a friend.

• Gaim — Multi-protocol (AOL, ICQ, MSN, etc.) instant messaging program that just works. It looks and runs exactly like regular AOL-style, you don't have to turn off a "ticker," "headlines," "buddy alerts" and 20 other options when you start, there's no ad space at the top of your buddy list, and, for those who need/want it, encrypted IM and tabbed conversations.


• avast! home edition — Anti-virus software that keeps itself up to date, doesn't burrow into (and leech resources from) every single aspect of your operating system, and lets you choose whether to check e-mail, Web and IM stuff, rather than duplicating services you may already have. (Some folks dig Clam Win, but I like avast!'s interface and less memory-hoggy qualities).


• VLC Media Player — a.k.a. "The End of Files That Just Won't Open In Windows Media Player." Seriously — if it ever was something involving sound or image, VLC can probably play it. And it doesn't dial back to the mothership to ask for "licenses" on those files that, you know, fell out the back of a truck.


• Firefox / Thunderbird — I won't repeat what you might already have heard about this browser and its sister e-mail client being safer and (usually) faster. Instead, I'll just pimp how awesome it is to be able to click one or two buttons and have ads completely blocked, PDFs under control, and bookmarks synced up with your del.icio.us acount. Oh, and both of them can be changed to look any old way you want.


• Audacity — It edits audio. It does it really well. You don't have to pay four figures for it. And if you just need something to convert files between formats, it can do that too.