- NO ADWARE. This includes Opera.
- No explicit limitations. Anything that's a "limited functionality demo" or has an expiration date is not acceptable. Lite or free versions are OK, e.g. Winamp
- Be picky. Don't list crap like IE because it is free. I'll just reply "thanks for nothing" then call you a dumbass. This include WMP and any other bloatware that is poor at doing all the excessive unnecessary functions built into it.
- Please add a category, preferably in boldface, to the software you are listing.
- If possible, add a link to it.
- If some freeware was better in an older version, like Adobe Acrobat, explicit the version
- Nagware's OK, as long as it mantains its complete functionality
Off the top of my head (and then some, thanks guys! )
Browser
Mozilla Firefox
Download Manager
Star Downloader
E-mail/Newsgroup Client
Thunderbird
Spam Filter
POPFile
Spyware Cleaners
Spybot Search and Destroy
Adaware SE personal
Instant Messaging
GAIM
Trillian
Personal Firewall
Kerio
Sygate Personal Firewall
Search tools
Google toolbar - the best there is, with even better plug-ins created for Firefox here and here!
FTP Client
FileZilla
AceFTP Freeware¹
FTP Server
FileZilla Server
GuildFTPd
IRC Client
BitchX
Remote Connectivity
RealVNC
SSH
PuTTY
Video Players
Media Player Classic
BSPlayer
VideoLan (and streamer!)
Video Editing and Utilities
VirtuaDub
DScaler
Codecs
Real alternative
Quicktime alternative
XviD
Audio Players
Winamp
Audio Editing
GoldWave
[url=http://bim.km.ru/gap/view.asp?id={039D5BBB-8B77-4930-8859-1C48806E663C}]GAP[/url]
LAME
Audio Encoding
OGG
Optical Media Authoring
Feurio
Image Viewer
IrfanView
Image Manipulation
The GIMP
Office Productivity Suite
OpenOffice
PDF Reader
Adobe Acrobat 5.1
Anti-virus
AVG Free version
Avast! Antivirus
AntiVir Personal Edition
Computer Maintenance
SiSoft Sandra
MemTest86
Prime95
Paranoia
IANAG Security Tweaker
XP Antispy
Secure Hard Drive Deletion
Macro / Automation / Scripting
AutoHotKey
File Compression
7-Zip
WinRAR
Virtual Drive Emulation
Daemon tools (find it yourself)
Edit > BIG UPDATE
¹ Adware
EDIT: now stickied for your pleasure (mattsteg)