Obtaining free software

There is a lot of free software available online. Below is a selection of sites you might find useful if you are looking for free applications to download. This isn't a complete list by any means, and we don't actually recommend any particular software, but it should help you in the right direction.

Before downloading any software we'd recommend that you do some research online to see what other people think of it. You could also ask for opinions on specific free software in our forum. If there are any other sites that you can recommend, or if you notice that any of the links below no longer work, do let us know.

Please note: unfortunately we cannot help you install the software or offer support if you consequently experience any problems.

• Sites with links to free software
• Anti-virus
• Backups
• CD / DVD burning
• Database
• Desk top publishing
• File compression
• Office applications
• PDF maker / converter
• Photo / imaging
• Web design
• Web gallery

Sites with links to free software

Please note: these are mostly aimed at Windows users.

Decent downloads

Download.com

FreeDownloadsCenter

Freeware Arena

Freshmeat

Jumbo!

Nonags

SnapFiles

Sourceforge.net

TinyApps.org

TheOpenCD - downloadable disc of free software

Tudogs

Tucows

Versiontracker

ZDNet

Specific applications

Anti-virus

Avast

AVG

You can also refer to our How to: protect your computer guide.

Backups

BackupAnswers.com

CD / DVD burning

CDBurner XP Pro

DeepBurner - Free and Pro version

Database (for membership etc)

OpenOffice - includes the application "Base"

Desk top publishing (for newsletters etc)

Scribus

FreeSerifSoftware - Pageplus

File compression

Zip Central

Office applications

OpenOffice.org - also exports to PDF

PDF maker / converter

Pdf995

Pdfforge - PDFCreator

PrimoPDF

PS2PDF.com - conversion

Also Foxit Reader is an alternative to Acrobat Reader for viewing PDF files.

Photo / imaging

paint .net. This requires the .net framework

Download.com - The Gimp

FreeDownloadsCenter - Babya Photo Workshop Professional 6.5

Irfanview

Inkscape - for vector graphics

Web design

FreeSerifSoftware - Webplus

Nvu

Web gallery

Easy Gallery Generator - EGG

Jalbum

Xyster.net - Galleroo