Great free software you might also like
This post serves as my simple tribute to some not so popular free programs for Windows yet are very valuable, listed below in alphabetical order by name. I placed heart icons to show my fondness of them, not as a rating of how good or bad. If the links of the home pages are dead, try searching at Google, or find them at download sites like FileHippo, MajorGeeks, Softpedia, AfterDawn, etc.
Attribute Changer
- Romain Petges
- unicode support
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A shell extension (context menu) which can mass change file and folder time/date stamps and attributes (eg. read-only, hidden, system, archive, index, compression, etc) recursively and by filtering. It can also modify exif time and date. Attribute Changer is stable as it can handle numerous files without crashing. And so far doesn't corrupt files in my experience.
FastCopy
- Shirouzu Hiroaki
- unicode support
-
This is probably the best bulk copier in terms of size, speed, performance, and stability. Compact and doesn't hog cpu or slow down system operation, especially when Auto Slow is enabled. It has shell extension option, filtering, verification (to avoid corrupt transfers), and job queuing. Very valuable on old computers with old systems like Windows 98/Me/XP. FastCopy though may be a little bit confusing to use at first.
When copying or moving too many files like in the ten thousands or more, other competing copiers tend to abort in error, or incomplete number of files are transferred. FastCopy so far in my experience never ended in such nor corrupted the source files. I have tried similar tools like TeraCopy and Ultracopier which are also great, but FastCopy tops my list.
Foxit Reader
- Foxit
- unicode support
-
If you are frustrated of Adobe Reader's slow performance, especially its sluggish setup, then Foxit Reader is for you. Shorter installation time, fast startup, and quick loading and reading of PDF documents (even on older systems). Stable, regularly updated, and with the necessary tools needed for navigation of pdf's. All these benefits with the same professional look.
HaoZip
- Ruichuang Network Technology
- unicode support
-
If you're looking for a freeware archive manager very similar to WinRAR, this is the one. Almost identical gui and appearance you are accustomed to, but with additional functionalities: virtual CD drive emulator, built-in image viewer and converter, batch renaming, and changeable skins and toolbars.
HaoZip though has no support for 3rd-party virus scanners, as it has its own built-in engine which may be optionally downloaded. If you compare the performance speed between HaoZip and WinRAR, the latter is still faster.
Imagine Viewer
- Chun Sejin
- unicode support
-
One of the best ACDSee 3.1 alternative along with XnView. This image viewer and manager comes with more tools than ACSee 3.1, and the much longed for unicode support. Small install size, no bloatware, with add-on plug-in support (eg. plug-in to decode newer image formats like WebP), and ini-based settings. Fast, but still not as fast as ACDSee 3.1.
Lingoes
- Kevin Yau
- unicode support
-
If you're looking for a potentially powerful yet free dictionary, this is the one. Lingoes can be easily expanded by downloading additional thesauruses, dictionaries, glossaries, translators, appendices, and other add-ons from its site. Quite numerous databases to choose from, free, so visit and see for yourself. You can also contribute by creating your own, which may require hard work of course.
Lingoes comes with its own unicode font, in case you don't have one. It can connect to online dictionaries and sites like Wikipedia. It has TTS support and text capture plug-ins for the major browsers too.
MetaEditor
- kiwi.software.NET
- requires: .NET Framework 3.0 (might also work with 2.0)
- unicode support (but not for tags)
-
A very handy tool for batch editing of metadata of images like Jpeg and Tiff. Can handle Exif, Iptc, and Gps. Most free exif editors out there cannot add a tag if there is none existing, but MetaEditor can. It has a Wizard for easily modifying common fields. It can also edit geo tags. Saving is lossless, so you can edit over and over if you commit mistakes especially when you have overwritten the source image. Auto-creation of a backup is possible. MetaEditor though lacks the ability to add or modify existing thumbnails.
WordWeb
- Anthony Lewis
-
A convenient freemium dictionary which is also a partial thesaurus. Stable, fast and doesn't eat resources. No adware, no bloatware. Medium-sized yet still comprehensive. A must have for quick reference and everyday use.
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