The 50 Free Apps We're Most Thankful For

(Lifehacker.com)

1. Dropbox

   See also: Dropbox Syncs and Backs Up Files Between Computers Instantaneously, The Cleverest Ways to Use Dropbox That You're Not Using, and Create a Highly Organized, Synchronized Home Folder with Dropbox
   

2. VLC (Video Lan Client)

   See also: Master Your Digital Media with VLC, Set a Video as Your Wallpaper with VLC, and VLC 1.0 Records Video from DVDs
   

3. Google Chrome

   See also: The Power User's Guide to Google Chrome, 2009 Edition, Create Your Own Google Chrome Themes, How and Why Chrome Is Overtaking Firefox Among Power Users, and Top 10 Must-Have Browser Extensions
   

4. Firefox

   See also: Power User's Guide to Firefox 3, Top 10 Firefox 3.5 Features, and Top 10 Must-Have Browser Extensions
   

5. Opera

   See also: Opera 11 Beta Introduces Tab Stacking for Customized Grouping, Opera 11 Alpha Brings Chrome-Like Extensions to the Speedy Browser, and Top 10 Must-Have Browser Extensions
   

6. Google Apps

   See also: Trick Out Google Apps for Your Domain, Seven Easy Ways to Integrate Your Google Apps Collaborate with Co-Workers Using Google Apps Team Edition, A First Look at Google Voice,Top 10 Clever Google Voice Tricks, and Turn Gmail Into Your Ultimate GTD Inbox
   

7. Simplenote and Notational Velocity

   See also: The Holy Grail of Ubiquitous Plain-Text Capture, Simplenote Offers Synchronized Notes on iPhones-And Now It's Free, and mNote Syncs Your Simplenote Notes with Android Phones
   

8. CCleaner

   See also: CCleaner 2.0 Decrapifies Your PC, Run CCleaner on a Schedule to Keep Your PC Crap-Free, and CCleaner Enhancer Makes CCleaner Even Better, Now Cleans 270 New Apps
   

9. uTorrent

   See also: uTorrent 3.0 Alpha Adds Web Interface Support for iPad, Android and How to Boost Your BitTorrent Speed and Privacy
   

10. Transmission

    See also: Manage Your BitTorrent Downloads with Transmission and Transmission 2.0 Adds a Whole Lot of Stability to the Popular BitTorrent Client
    

11. sabnzbd+

    See also: How to Get Started with Usenet in Three Simple Steps
    

12. Open Office

    See also: A First Look at OpenOffice.org 3.0, OpenOffice.org 3.2 Improves Startup Times, Office 2007 Compatibility, and OpenOffice.org 3.1's Usability Tweaks
    

13. Skype

    See also: our full Skype coverage
    

14. Evernote

    See also: Expand Your Brain with Evernote and Clever Uses for Evernote
    

15. GIMP

    See also: Is GIMP better than Photoshop?, Tweak GIMP to be More Like Photoshop, and Cartoonify Photos with the GIMP
    

16. KeePass

    See also: Best Password Manager: KeePass and Eight Best KeePass Plug-Ins to Master Your Passwords
    

17. LastPass

    See also: The Intermediate Guide to Mastering Passwords with LastPass
    

18. 7-zip

    See also: Hive Five Winner for Best File Compression Tool: 7-Zip
    

19. ImgBurn

    See also: Download of the Day: ImgBurn (Windows), Hive Five Winner for Best CD and DVD Burning Tool: ImgBurn, and Turn Your PC into a DVD Ripping Monster
    

20. Microsoft Security Essentials

    See also: Microsoft Security Essentials Ranks as Best-Performing Free Antivirus and Stop Paying for Windows Security; Microsoft's Security Tools Are Good Enough
    

21. AutoHotkey

    See also: Automate Windows with AutoHotkey, Turn Any Action into a Keyboard Shortcut, and The Best Time-Saving AutoHotkey Tricks You Should Be Using
    

22. Pandora

    See also: Best Music Discovery Service: Pandora, Discover new music with Pandora, and How to access Pandora from outside the U.S.
    

23. FileZilla

    See also: Hive Five Winner for Best FTP Client: FileZilla, FTP File Transfer Across Platforms with Filezilla 3.0, and Build a Home FTP Server with FileZilla
    

24. TrueCrypt

    See also: Best File Encryption Tool: TrueCrypt and Geek to Live: Encrypt your data
    

25. HandBrake

    See also: Best DVD-Ripping Tool: HandBrake, Rip DVDs to Friendlier Formats with HandBrake, and Calculate the Perfect HandBrake Video Encoding Settings for Your Device
    

26. VirtualBox

    See also: The Beginner's Guide to Creating Virtual Machines with VirtualBox and How to Run Mac OS X in VirtualBox on Windows
    

27. Audacity

    See also: Digitize and Clean Your Analog Audio Collection with Audacity, Learn how to use Audacity for podcasting, and Remove Vocals from MP3s with Audacity
    

28. Paint.NET

    See also: Download of the Day: Paint.NET 3 (Windows), Pinta Brings Paint.NET's Just-Enough Image Editing to Every Computer, and Basic image editing with Paint.NET
    

29. iTunes

    See also: Geek to Live: iTunes power tips, Install iTunes Without the Extra Bloat, The 23 Best iTunes Add-ons, and our full iTunes coverage
    

30. Thunderbird

    See also: our full Thunderbird coverage and Backing up Gmail with Thunderbird
    

31. Foobar2000

    See also: Hack Attack: Roll your own killer audio player with foobar2000 and Screenshot Tour: The beautiful and varied world of foobar2000
    

32. Pidgin

    See also: Chat Across IM Platforms with Pidgin 2.4, Ten Must-Have Plug-ins to Power Up Pidgin, and Use Dropbox to Sync Your Pidgin Profile Across Multiple PCs
    

33. Adium

    See also: our full Adium coverage
    

34. avast!

    See also: Avast Free Antivirus 5.0 Adds Behavior Monitor, Heuristics Engine, and Improved Performance and Free anti-virus roundup
    

35. TeamViewer

    See also: Download of the Day: TeamViewer (Windows) and TeamViewer Arrives on Android for Small-Screen Remote Control and Tech Support
    

36. TweetDeck

    See also: Best Twitter Client: TweetDeck, TweetDeck Offers Features Twitter Lacks, and Use Evernote with TweetDeck for Better Twitter Memory
    

37. Launchy

    See also: Integrate Everything Search Tool and Launchy, Take Launchy beyond application launching, and Screenshot Tour: Tweaking Launchy
    

38. Quicksilver

    See also: Hack Attack: A beginner's guide to Quicksilver and Top 10 Quicksilver Plug-ins
    

39. Instapaper

    See also: Battle of the Bookmark-and-Read-Later Apps: Instapaper vs. Read It Later
    

40. ReadItLater

    See also: Battle of the Bookmark-and-Read-Later Apps: Instapaper vs. Read It Later
    

41. XBMC

    See also: Build a Silent, Standalone XBMC Media Center On the Cheap, Turbo Charge Your New XBMC Installation, Transform Your Classic Xbox into a Killer Media Center, and Turn Your XBMC Media Center into a Video Game Console
    

42. PuTTY

    See also: Put PuTTY in the Tray with PuTTY Tray, Add Tabs to PuTTY with PuTTY Connection Manager, and KiTTY Adds Session Saving, Portability, and More to PuTTY
    

43. Cyberduck

    See also: FTP for Free with Cyberduck and Cyberduck FTP Client Updates with Google Docs Support, New S3 Features
    

44. Perian

    See also: Perian Makes Nearly Every Video Playable in QuickTime
    

45. XAMPP

    See also: Run Your Personal Wikipedia from a USB Stick
    

46. Windows Live Essentials

    See also: First Look at Windows Live Essentials Beta's New Social Features and Lifehacker Faceoff: iLife '11 vs. Live Essentials 2011
    

47. Winamp

    See also: Manage your music with Winamp and Control Winamp Remotely from Any Browser
    

48. TeraCopy

    See also: Speed up file copying with TeraCopy and Hive Five Winner for Best Alternative File Copier: TeraCopy
    

49. Eclipse

    See also: Tips for Using Eclipse Effectively
    

50. MediaMonkey

    See also: MediaMonkey 3.2 Syncs with More Devices, Adds Auto Folder Watching