Freeware Alternative List (2009/10)

Fleye Graphing Calculator to make life easier for students and professionals in the sciences. Draw and evaluate mathematical functions. Create mathematical graphs for presentation. Helps with Physics, Differential Equations, Calculus. Streamlined and customizable interface.

Click image to see more screenshots

December 11, 2009

There's an older freeware version available on the downloads page.
http://arturdev.com/index.php?section=down

Sorry. Didn?t visit the downloads section. Saw the "features" part and it said the program was shareware, they don?t mention the older release in the "features" section.

3,512 · December 12, 2009

Programming:

ResourceBlender - http://www.resourceblender.com/

ResourceBlender is an open-source translation and internationalization application which offers an easy way to manage localized resources for inclusion with different applications. Available as an ASP.NET web application and a WPF desktop application, it makes localizing applications a breeze. ResourceBlender generates localized resources in different formats from a central database for inclusion with different applications.

Export resources to .NET .resx files, Java .properties, GNU .po / gettext, XHTML entities and more.
Import / Export translation data as XML spreadsheets to make editing more convenient.
Use one translations database to keep localizations in-sync.
Supports MySQL, SQL Server and SQLite, so no external database is required.
Migrate from existing .resx or .properties files with an import wizard.
Easy for both translators and project owners/admins.
Free and open source.
Automatic machine translation with Google Translate.
Custom templates for resource formats.

Click image to see more screenshots

December 12, 2009

Programming:
ResourceBlender - http://www.resourceblender.com/

ResourceBlender is an open-source translation and internationalization application which offers an easy way to manage localized resources for inclusion with different applications. Available as an ASP.NET web application and a WPF desktop application, it makes localizing applications a breeze. ResourceBlender generates localized resources in different formats from a central database for inclusion with different applications.

Export resources to .NET .resx files, Java .properties, GNU .po / gettext, XHTML entities and more.

Import / Export translation data as XML spreadsheets to make editing more convenient.

Use one translations database to keep localizations in-sync.

Supports MySQL, SQL Server and SQLite, so no external database is required.

Migrate from existing .resx or .properties files with an import wizard.

Easy for both translators and project owners/admins.

Free and open source.

Automatic machine translation with Google Translate.

Custom templates for resource formats.

Click image to see more screenshots

How did you get those extra buttons in the titlebar? Are they native in your window manager? or you used a special application to get them?

1,286 · December 12, 2009

Active Window Manager, for example, provides them. :)

3,512 · December 15, 2009

Video Players:

SPlayer - http://www.splayer.org/index.en.html

I couldn't find a good general description of the program, so I'll try to write my own...

SPlayer is a media player built on the MPC engine, but it has its own built-in binary codecs like VLC. It has a slim interface with on-screen controls which appear when you move the mouse over the window, similarly to WMP12. It supports all popular audio and video formats, including DVD, FLV, SWF, and subtitles.

It has some built-in audio and video filters, including an audio equalizer, volume normalizer, denoise, deinterlace, auto color correction, etc.

SPlayer also supports GPU hardware acceleration.

Click image to see more screenshots

3,512 · December 18, 2009

Desktop Enhancements:

John's Background Switcher (JBS) - http://www.johnsadventures.com/software/backgroundswitcher/

John?s Background Switcher periodically changes the background image on your computer to something interesting. The John?s Background Switcher application sits in your system tray and changes your background at the time interval of your choosing. You tell it where to get pictures from and how to show them.

Individual pictures on your computer.
Folders containing pictures on your computer such as ?My Pictures?.
Flickr photo sharing ? selecting pictures by person, tags, sets or just plain random. You never know what you?re going to get next!
Facebook ? your friends photos on your desktop!
Any Media RSS feed ? choose pictures from sites like DeviantArt, Photobucket, LOLCats and Zooomr amongst many others!
Phanfare web albums ? keep up to date with your friends and family.
smugmug photo galleries ? yours, your friends, anybody?s!
Picasa Web Albums ? choose from specific albums or any search text.
Webshots ? if you?re a Webshots user, you can choose from your photos.
Google Image Search ? get pictures from anywhere across the internet.
Bing Image Search ? not a Google fanboy? Then Bing is for you!
Yahoo! image search ? the internet is your oyster!

Click image to see more screenshots

3,512 · December 18, 2009

I'm going to be updating the list again. Somehow, I've got a list of over 300 programs I haven't posted yet (I browse too many software sites :pinch:), so I've got enough programs for an update. I'll be doing more than updating the list though, and it might take me a couple months or longer.

Recategorize the List

Some of the categories have too many programs in them. Also, some categories have programs in them which don't really make sense. For example, Desktop Enhancements has everything from file searchers, keyword launchers, hot key launchers, alarm clocks, and magnifiers.

I'm going to start from scratch and recategorize everything. I'm also going to use many sub-categories for everything. For example, Audio can be split up into Audio Creation, Synthesizers, Audio Converters, Audio Editors, Audio Taggers, etc.

I want all programs to have at least a brief description. This means "General Utilities and Other Applications" is gone, and there will be no "Miscellaneous" sub-categories.

Keywords

Since this is the Freeware Alternative list, I want to add keywords to some categories to make it easier to search the list. For example, CD burners would have "Nero" as a keyword, and photo editors would have "Photoshop" as a keyword.

Online Services

Since cloud computing is becoming more popular, I think it would be appropriate to start adding online services to the list. So for example, Dropbox could go under online backup services.

Online services will be clearly highlighted and tagged so they are easily distinguished from regular offline programs. For example:

DirSyncPro http://directorysync.sourceforge.net/

Dropbox - http://www.dropbox.com/ (Online)

ERUNT - The Emergency Recovery Utility NT - http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

Plug-ins

Though they require a third party program, some plugins are pretty powerful and useful. For example, last time I updated the list, I added some Firefox add-ons including DownThemAll and ChatZilla.

My rule is that plugins must be for freeware programs only. This means no photoshop plugins.

Also, like the online services, plug-ins will be clearly highlighted and tagged. The tag will also link to the required program.

DownThemAll! - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/201 (Plug-in)

Operating Systems

I'm not sure about this one, but I think some might find it useful to have a list of free operating systems. And not just the popular Linux distros, but things like ReactOS, Google Chrome OS, and even Android.

I'm not too familiar with these operating systems, so if somebody could build me a good list, it would be helpful.

I'm going to take my time updating the list, only doing a handful of programs at a time. I kind of rushed the list last time and made some mistakes. So I suspect it might take me a couple months or longer to finish the new list. In the mean time, I'll continue to post new programs here every few days as I already do.

If you have any suggestions, send me a PM or reply to this thread.

1,286 · December 18, 2009

Your ideas sound really fine. :)

I'll check my personal list of applications again, if there's something special in them...

Ah BTW: When you write "plug-in", a link to the software is not enough. Mozilla.com, for example, hosts a real bunch of applications, so do a few more. Maybe you'll state "Firefox plug-in", "Mozilla plug-in" (for everything based on it), "Vim plug-in" and so on?

December 18, 2009

nice list!! Thank you!!!! :D :D :D :D

3,512 · December 18, 2009

Ah BTW: When you write "plug-in", a link to the software is not enough. Mozilla.com, for example, hosts a real bunch of applications, so do a few more. Maybe you'll state "Firefox plug-in", "Mozilla plug-in" (for everything based on it), "Vim plug-in" and so on?

Good point. I'll make sure it points directly to the program.

The reason I only used 'Plug-in' and not 'Firefox Plug-in' is to make searching the page quicker. Suppose you're looking for an alternate web browser, so you just search for "Firefox". You would have to jump over all the Firefox plugins to get to the web browser category.

I dunno, I'll probably do it your way since I think people would prefer that.

December 19, 2009

for folder customization folderico is great

http://eng.softq.org/folderico

3,512 · December 21, 2009

None of the categories I'm going to be using are official yet. I have ~1300 programs to dig through, so many categories are likely to change.

System -> Monitoring -> Hardware:

Speccy - http://www.piriform.com/speccy

Speccy will give you detailed statistics on every piece of hardware in your computer. Including CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Graphics Cards, Hard Disks, Optical Drives, Audio support. Additionally Speccy adds the temperatures of your different components, so you can easily see if there's a problem!

If you need to add more memory to your system, for example, you can check how many memory slots your computer has and what memory's already installed. Then you can go out and buy the right type of memory to add on or replace what you've already got.

Click image to see more screenshots

1,053 · December 24, 2009

None of the categories I'm going to be using are official yet. I have ~1300 programs to dig through, so many categories are likely to change.
System -> Monitoring -> Hardware:

Speccy - http://www.piriform.com/speccy

Speccy will give you detailed statistics on every piece of hardware in your computer. Including CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Graphics Cards, Hard Disks, Optical Drives, Audio support. Additionally Speccy adds the temperatures of your different components, so you can easily see if there's a problem!

If you need to add more memory to your system, for example, you can check how many memory slots your computer has and what memory's already installed. Then you can go out and buy the right type of memory to add on or replace what you've already got.

Click image to see more screenshots

I tried it when it was was first released, and it's still having the same problem on my system it gets stuck analyzing the graphics, I let them know about it, and it's still not fixed.

3,512 · December 24, 2009

Backup and Synchronization -> Files and Folders:

SpiderOak (Online) - https://spideroak.com/

SpiderOak provides an easy, secure and consolidated free online backup, sync, sharing, access & storage solution.

Our top priority is to ensure your information is always private and secure. SpiderOak utilizes the latest encryption technology to ensure your data's protection. And further, because we never store your password or the plaintext version of your encryption keys, no one but you will ever have access to the folders and files you store with SpiderOak including our staff. The only information we will ever know is how much data you are storing.

Access all your data in one de-duplicated location
Configurable multi-platform synchronization
Preserve all historical versions & deleted files
Share folders instantly in web ShareRooms w / RSS
Retrieve files from any internet-connected device
Comprehensive 'zero-knowledge' data encryption

Click image to see more screenshots

3,098 · December 25, 2009

Video Players:
SPlayer - http://www.splayer.org/index.en.html

I couldn't find a good general description of the program, so I'll try to write my own...

SPlayer is a media player built on the MPC engine, but it has its own built-in binary codecs like VLC. It has a slim interface with on-screen controls which appear when you move the mouse over the window, similarly to WMP12. It supports all popular audio and video formats, including DVD, FLV, SWF, and subtitles.

It has some built-in audio and video filters, including an audio equalizer, volume normalizer, denoise, deinterlace, auto color correction, etc.

SPlayer also supports GPU hardware acceleration.

Just a quick warning about this. It's a really nice player but don't let it apply file associations. I lost thumbnail previews for all my video formats and it took a bit of googling around to find reg files to restore the default associations.

Edited December 25, 2009 by protocol7

3,512 · December 27, 2009

Audio -> Equalizers:

Electri-Q posihfopit edition (VST Plug-in, Winamp Plug-in) - http://www.aixcoustic.com/index.php/Electr...osihfopit/30/0/

'Electri-Q' - posihfopit edition' is a simple, intuitive, but powerful minimum phase EQ, which makes it very easy to adjust the magnitude of any audio material. Due to its flexibility, it can be used on every track or even as a mastering equalizer.

The plugin offers two different algorithms. The algorithm 'Analog' was modelled on a transistor based circuit of a real analog EQ. On the other hand 'Digital' is a pure and neutral digital EQ without any coloration. 'Electri-Q - posihfopit edition' has up to 64 bands and offers several filter types.

up to 64 bands
two basic algorithms ('Digital' and 'Analog')
64-bit Assembler optimized
Economy Mode for less CPU Usage
all basic filter types (Peak, HighShelf, LowShelf, Highpass, Lowpass, Bandpass, Notch)
30+ special filters
Mono/Stereo (linked)
exact edit of frequency, gain, bandwidth
neatless Add/Delete of a band
customisable Default
A|B compare
import/export posihfopit presets
50 Presets

December 27, 2009

Video Players:
SPlayer - http://www.splayer.org/index.en.html

I couldn't find a good general description of the program, so I'll try to write my own...

SPlayer is a media player built on the MPC engine, but it has its own built-in binary codecs like VLC. It has a slim interface with on-screen controls which appear when you move the mouse over the window, similarly to WMP12. It supports all popular audio and video formats, including DVD, FLV, SWF, and subtitles.

It has some built-in audio and video filters, including an audio equalizer, volume normalizer, denoise, deinterlace, auto color correction, etc.

SPlayer also supports GPU hardware acceleration.

Click image to see more screenshots

built on MPC? so its opensource right???

3,512 · December 27, 2009

built on MPC? so its opensource right???

Yes. You can find the source code page here (not in english):

http://www.splayer.org/svn.html#googtrans%28zh-CN|en%29

Make sure you read that protocol7 said:

Just a quick warning about this. It's a really nice player but don't let it apply file associations. I lost thumbnail previews for all my video formats and it took a bit of googling around to find reg files to restore the default associations.

3,512 · December 30, 2009

Security -> Sandbox:

Sandboxie - http://www.sandboxie.com/

Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.

Secure Web Browsing: Running your Web browser under the protection of Sandboxie means that all malicious software downloaded by the browser is trapped in the sandbox and can be discarded trivially.
Enhanced Privacy: Browsing history, cookies, and cached temporary files collected while Web browsing stay in the sandbox and don't leak into Windows.
Secure E-mail: Viruses and other malicious software that might be hiding in your email can't break out of the sandbox and can't infect your real system.
Windows Stays Lean: Prevent wear-and-tear in Windows by installing software into an isolated sandbox.

Click image to see more screenshots

Sandboxie is free for personal use. They do a very good job of keeping this a secret, but it's true. I found the one sentence on their website which confirms this:

If you do not agree to these terms, you may continue to use Sandboxie free of charge, as long as you are not in violation of any of the conditions of the End-User License Agreement.
http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?RegisterSandboxie

More importantly, if you don't register within 30 days, you get this nag popup. The second line clearly states, "Personal use of Sandboxie is permitted free of charge for as long as you wish".

6,599 · December 30, 2009

Wow thanks for the Splayer link ive been using MPC for ages now and im getting tired of the classic theme look of it.

1,657 · January 1, 2010

Sandboxie is a superb piece of software imo when used correctly, 32bit only though so if your on 64bit don`t bother. Can`t believe this has only just been added :p

1,053 · January 1, 2010

Sandboxie is a superb piece of software imo when used correctly, 32bit only though so if your on 64bit don`t bother. Can`t believe this has only just been added :p

Sandboxie would be even better, if they were able to get it to run on x64 versions of Windows, because they can't, it's a subpar piece of software.

3,512 · January 1, 2010

Sandboxie would be even better, if they were able to get it to run on x64 versions of Windows, because they can't, it's a subpar piece of software.

Windows x64 contains a security feature called PatchGuard, which prevents any software from patching the kernel. This is what is preventing Sandboxie from running on x64. So I wouldn't call it subpar for that reason. If it weren't for that limitation, there would be an x64 version of Sandboxie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandboxie#64_Bit_Windows

The only way to get Sandboxie working on x64 is to rewrite it from scratch using an alternate method like virtualization. I'm not sure the developers are interested in starting over when they've already put in so much work into their current product.

1,053 · January 1, 2010

Which means their application will die out, once x64 becomes the defacto standard.

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