It will be great if everything was freeware, but some apps are just worth the money, so post them as well.
I'll start with a few:
Litestep:
Litestep is a shell replacement for Windows. Meaning it replaces explorer.exe. It has a helluva lot of features, skins, themes, utilities etc. You name it, litestep has it. Its probably the closest a Windoze user can get to *nix.
Some features:
-Virtual Window Manager (ala Linux)
-Lots of themes
-Modular Design, meaning, if your current theme doesn't use a feature, it doesn't get loaded, meaning its less memory intensive and alot faster than explorer (except if you load a bunch of modules).
-Cool Modules: Winamp control, Volume Control, System Information (CPU meter, memory usage etc.), etc.etc.etc.
-Very customizable
Cons:
-Very customizable. If you are not very computer savvy, then Litestep is not for you. If you don't like editing textfiles to make changes, then Litestep is probably not for you.
-The VWM has a bug that makes windows jump from one desktop to another when used in conjunction with StyleXP (its minor, its works fine when with WindowBlinds or when visual styles are turned off)
Download from LiteStep.net (NOTE: if the link doesn't work, then try to google for litestep to find alternate downloads)
EDIT: Here is a screenshot of my current desktop with litestep (themename is nonstep)
Directory Opus File Manager: (Windows)
This is a personal favourite of mine (although its Australian
). A replacement for explorer. Pros:
-It replaces explorer.
-Its faster, and uses less memory than explorer.
-It has multiple views/layout, including an Nortan Commander style dual folder view (which its handles better than Total Commander IMHO).
-Its very customizable
-It has alot of little features. (Animated thumbnails for videos, EXIF info in JPEG tooltips, etc. etc.)
-Does not take long to get going, it has an initial explorer look-and-feel, until you customize it
Cons:
-Its not free, though its well worth the AUD $85.00
-It can take a while to realise its potential and to discover all the features.
Download a 60-day trialGP Software wrote: Powerful File Manager & Explorer Replacement
User-definable File Display Views
User-definable Toolbars, Menus, File Types
Advanced built-in Image and File Viewers
Built-in ZIP and Advanced FTP
Visually Synchronize Files & Find Duplicates
Advanced Search and Rename Functions
More Configurable than any other program
Easy Slideshows...and much more..
EDIT: Forgot a cool feature - If you hover your mouse over a movie file it gives you the following info in a tooltip (depending on the type of file)
~Dimensions
~Video Codec
~Audio Codec
~FPS
~Duration
~Data Rate
~Bit Rate
~Sample Rate
GetRight: (Windows95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP)
A download manager, similar to DAP
Pros:
-Very stable downloads, even on slow connections (like my ISDN dialup)
-have multiple connections per files - speeds up downloads
-automatic search for mirrors
-download from several mirrors at once
-pause/resume downloads
-handles weird characters in URLs without problems
-Click-monitors browsers, including Opera, Mozilla. Copy a url in clipboard and automatically brings up the save-as dialog.
Cons:
-Full version is not free ($25)
Download GetRight
Konfabulator: (WindowsXP/Windows2000/MacOSX)
Konfabulator is a program that allows you to run little applets (written in JavaScript/XML) called widgets. These widgets reside on your desktop, and can be anything from alarm clocks, calculators, can tell you your WiFi signal strength, will fetch the latest stock quotes for your preferred symbols, and even give your current local weather.
Pros:
-Very usefull, lots of widgets available, and easy to make your own
Cons:
- a Bit heavy on the resources (about 10MB memory footprint on my machine, and I only have one widget running at the moment)
Download Konfabulator.
Alternatively, try Object Desktop
Rainlender: (Windows)
A calender "widget" than resides on your desktop. Plus a todo list. I find it better than the todo's and calenders that comes with Konfabulator, so I run it seperately. Its free.
Note: Rainlender is included with litestep, so if you are going to use litestep, there is no need to download Rainlender.
Download Rainlender
StrokeIt (Windows)
My Favourite app of all time. Gives you the ability to perform mouse gestures in ANY windows app, as seen in Opera and FireFox. Attach gestures to most commonly used commands, to lauch programs, send hotkeys etc. etc. Its very customizable, and has the ability to learn new gestures.
You can disable it per application, so it won't interfere with games, Opera, Firefox or any other applications that require the right mouse button. You can also hold the CTRL key to disable it.
Freeware - download from here
