Here is my list of 10 free applications I use on my Windows PC. They are great alternatives to paid solutions and some do a better job. Enjoy!

1. 7Zip

7-Zip is a open source file archiver program for windows. It supports packing and unpacking of 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR format files and supports onlu unpacking of RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS. It provides better compression ratio than WinZip for ZIP and GZIP formats. I’d say it’s better than WinZip or WinRAR

2. Aimp

AIMP is a freeware multimedia player that includes an audio converter, recorder, and tag editor. Includes an easy to use interface, small size and minimal use of system resources. AIMP supports various audio file types. AIMP uses BASS audio library, and it was designed to be a robust and feature-rich alternative to more bloated, performance-taxing software.

3. Audacity

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds.Audacity can be used to record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files. cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.

4. Avira

Avira  is a reliable free antivirus solution, that constantly and rapidly scans your computer for malicious programs (such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers etc.), monitoring every action executed by the user or by the operating system and being able to react promptly when a malicious program is detected.

5. FileZilla

FileZilla is a free, open source FTP client for Windows. It supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS protocols. It has all the essential features required for a FTP client. The main features of FileZilla are Ability to resume Uploads/Downloads, Site Manager with folders, Keep Alive system, Timeout detection, Firewall support, SOCKS4/5 and HTTP1.1 Proxy support, SSL secured connections, Upload/Download Queue, Drag&Drop.

6. Firefox

The best cross platform supported web browser available on the net, it doesn’t need any introduction and many of you might be using. The wide range of Firefox Add-On’s make this the most powerful browser for all types of users. Internet Explorer 8 seems to be catching up but it’s still no match for Firefox’s flexibility.

7. Notepad++

What’s that ++ with this Notepad? That’s to make you remember your programming language – C++. This free source code editor doubles up as the Windows Notepad replacement and works beautifully on both fronts, adding features which are dubiously absent in the Windows version. Notepad++ is a WYSIWYG editor which means it also has the ability of printing whatever you see in however form you see.  The most lucrative feature, however, is the ability to see several documents at once and its encodings compatibility.

8. ScreenSnapr

Screensnapr is a light-weight application that not only allows you to capture screen shots effectively, but also lets you  upload and share them with minimal keystrokes. After you have installed ScreenSnapr on your computer, all you need to initiate a screen capture is press Ctrl + 1. Then simply drag out the area you want to capture and the image will automatically be uploaded to the ScreenSnapr servers.

9. uTorrent

uTorrent is a powerful and efficient BitTorrent client for Windows. Most of the features present in other BitTorrent clients are present in uTorrent, including bandwidth prioritization, scheduling, RSS auto-downloading, and Mainline DHT. Additionally, uTorrent supports the protocol encryption joint specification and peer exchange. Unlike many torrent clients, it does not hog valuable system resources–typically using less than 6MB of memory, allowing you to use the computer as if it weren’t there at all.

10. VLC media player

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework  capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, aac) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a media converter or a server to stream  in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on networks.