Free / Open-Source Software (FOSS) for Windows

List of Software I use on my computer. For an average computer user who only does these things, the list will give you everything you'll need -

• Browse web pages
• Chat with friends (text / audio / video)
• View / Touch-up / Manage Photos
• Watch downloaded/online movies
• Listen to music
• Create / Edit Office files ( Text files, SpreadSheets & Presentations - for you MSOffice addicts, that's .doc, .xls & .ppt :p )
• Other miscellaneous things which don't correspond to a line of work.

Note 1: Win -> Windows XP/Vista/7, Lin -> Linux, any modern distro, Mac -> OSX 10.4 or later
Note 2: You may notice that many of these tools are from Google. I'm a fan, yes. But if you can find better tools, do tell me.
Note 3: When installing any software, always choose the 'Custom'/'Advanced' option (where available) and deselect anything with the words 'toolbar', 'search' or anything else you didn't intend to install when you downloaded the software. However, always enable automatic update checks.


Basic List

• Google Chrome - Browser - Win/Lin/Mac - www.google.com/chrome/
• Google Transliteration IME - Type in Malayalam and/or other languages using chat-lingo - Win - www.google.com/ime/transliteration/
• Voice & Video Chat in Gmail - Win/Lin/Mac - www.google.com/chat/video
• Picasa - Photo Management & Basic-to-Intermediate Editing - Win/Lin/Mac - http://picasa.google.com/ ( Mac version at http://picasa.google.com/mac/ , Linux version at http://picasa.google.com/linux/ )
• Picasa Photo Viewer (auto-installs with Picasa) - Photo Viewer - Win - (none)
• VLC Media Player - Video CD/DVD/Stream/File Player - Win/Lin/Mac - http://videolan.org/vlc/
• Windows Media Player - Audio Player (Can - but don't - use for Videos/Photos) - Win - www.microsoft.com/windows/mediaplayer
• LibreOffice - Productivity Suite (Create/Open/Edit Office Files) - Win/Lin/Mac - www.libreoffice.org/
• CCleaner - Maintenance tool - Win - www.piriform.com/ccleaner
• Microsoft Security Essentials - AntiVirus - Win - www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
• Nitro PDF Reader - PDF Reader/Editor & Virtual Printer to create PDF Files - Win - www.nitroreader.com/
• WinRAR - Archive Manager (Compression/Extraction) - Win/Lin/Mac - www.rarlab.com/

Intermediate List

• IrfanView - Fast Image Viewer / Editor - Win - www.irfanview.com/
• ImgBurn - CD/DVD/BD/DiscImage Burner - Win - www.imgburn.com/
• Everything - Search-As-You-Type file finder - Win - www.voidtools.com/
• Defraggler - Disk Defragmenter - Win - www.piriform.com/defraggler
• Recuva - File UnDeleter - Win - www.piriform.com/recuva
• Handbrake - Video Converter - Win/Lin/Mac - www.handbrake.fr/
• Miro - Video Downloader (Supports BT) - Win/Lin/Mac - www.getmiro.com/
• Mp3Tag - Tag Editor - Win - www.mp3tag.de/en/
• TrueCrypt - File/Drive/Disk Encryption with Plausible Deniability - Win/Lin/Mac - www.truecrypt.org/
• WinDirStat - Disk Usage Profiler - Win - http://windirstat.info/

Advanced List

• CrossLoop - Remote Support - Win - www.crossloop.com/ Note: Click on 'download' link at the top of the site to get the installer. You don't need to sign-up to use it - click 'skip' if it prompts you to, when run (after install).
• Speccy - System Information Tool - Win - www.piriform.com/speccy

Developer Tool

• PSPad - Code/Hex Editor - Win - www.pspad.com/en/

End Note: I do have much, much more. But this should get you started :)

Gmail Tip : Access your Addressbook in One Click

All of my contacts are stored in my Gmail Contacts list : emails, phone numbers, addresses, IM usernames (available in Gmail 2.0). The advantages of having a central access point available from anywhere is a great advantage, but getting the info quickly has been quite a pain. Waiting for the full-fledged Gmail UI to load is quite time-consuming - even for getting a single email address, you have to wait several seconds.

Not anymore! The new Contact Manager, available in Gmail 2.0 (The new version of Gmail, with preloaded messages, attachment icons etc..) can be accessed via its own URL. Just bookmark the link below.

Gmail Contacts Manager : http://mail.google.com/mail/contacts/ui/ContactManager

Of course, you'll have to be logged into your Google Account for this to work.

Update: The Official Google Blog has a post with a few tips as well.