Best Essential Free Software For Windows
Several times a year, we invite you to discover the best free software available on the web. Here is a selection of Windows programs that will allow you to take advantage of a completely free and really powerful software library.
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Tom’s Guide invites you to find the compilation of essential programs to build up an ultimate, complete and free software library! In total, here is a selection of about twenty free software that you absolutely must install on your computer, in addition to the best software to install on your PC as a priority.
Free software to match the paid?
We therefore present to you the Top free software: from office automation to messaging, including games, security tools such as antiviruses (not to be underestimated!) And everything relating to management and retouching. photos and videos.
The majority of these programs largely live up to what is done in paid mode, at least for consumer use. So why pay for licenses when you can have almost as good free software?
This selection is for software that all runs on Windows and occasionally on other platforms. All-Mac apps are the subject of another folder that we update regularly.
But which versions of Windows are affected?
Unless otherwise indicated, all the software mentioned here works under Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. If you have an OS older than Windows 7 (Vista, XP… or even older?), Most of the programs listed in this selection should work, although we can’t recommend updating your configuration enough.
Finally, some programs come in the form of applications accessible from the Windows Store. For these software in question, and only those, you will need to have Windows 10 (or Windows 8.1, even if this OS is now obsolete). But rest assured, in order not to harm anyone, these applications are still few in number. Because the fleet of machines equipped with Windows 7 remains substantial, even if this OS is at the end of its life and that Microsoft has encouraged for several years to switch to Windows 10.
Are all of this free software safe for my PC?
We have tested all of the programs presented here and have never detected any suspicious behavior or viruses. However, like never say never, you are never safe from a small adware (software that will serve advertisements for other online programs or services). This could very well have been randomly slipped from a new version of any of the software mentioned in this dossier and could have escaped our monitoring tools. As a precaution, it’s best to have an antivirus first, like one of those mentioned later in this article. Once the antivirus is installed, you are ready to take advantage of the 20 software presented in this folder. On the way !
PDFCreator: create a PDF without the hassle
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As the name suggests, PDFCreator allows you to build PDF documents from text or image files. As it is simple and light to load, it would be a shame to deprive yourself of it if you regularly have to convert files to PDF.
The GIMP: A great OpenSource tool to do everything with your photos
You might as well know it right away, this software has an impressive fan base. And rightly so. If this is one of Internet users’ favorite image editing software, it’s because it is one of the best free software available today. It is very rich in features, and is constantly evolving. In addition, The Gimp is equipped with scripts that aim to automate the most recurring tasks. This program requires the installation of GTK + and is unfortunately not very suitable for beginners. But its possibilities are immense!
XnView: The essentials for viewing and converting images
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Here we present an advanced viewer. This software allows you to view as well as convert your images (in nearly 50 different formats, and in whole batches). It also supports animated files, and you can of course do a lot of basic settings: trimming, adjusting brightness and contrast, applying filters and effects, and more. Bonus: its slideshow mode is very attractive.
Irfanview: it knows how to manage all of your multimedia files
Irfanview
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Finally, discover this very light program that will allow you to manage all of your multimedia files. The list of compatible formats is endless and you can add many plugins to the program to be able to read even more types of files. Impressive.
Plex Media Server: a powerful and efficient multimedia manager
Plex Media Server
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Plex allows you to play and manage all your media files. The software lets you do it as easily as possible, and access it from another device. A very useful app if you like to store all your media on one device (perfect with a NAS, for example) and want to play it back on your tablet, console, etc.
Shotcut: the best of editing software
Shotcut
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This powerful editor can do absolutely everything: import any format, manage 4K, “clean” an audio track, add effects to a video, etc. It will support you every step of the way, and whether you need to edit a video in minutes or make a full movie, Shotcut should meet all expectations.
STDU Viewer: to convert any format
STDU Viewer
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This tiny application lets you view any file format without having to install any third-party programs. It offers to display most image formats (JPG, GIF, PNG, PSD, etc.), as well as the most common text files (TXT, PDF, XPS, Djvu etc.). And with its support for a huge number of formats, why not use STDU Viewer as a “universal” format converter?
Lightworks: a simple and free video editing tool
Lightworks
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For Windows users who want to do more editing than basic system tools, Lightworks might be a suitable free solution. Lightweight and fairly easy to use, it provides good quality results for your videos.
MAME: a great emulator for arcade games
MAME
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The problem with the Arcade of the ’80s and’ 90s is that unless you were content with ports to consoles or computers, which rarely matched those of the original version, it was very difficult to play at home. MAME is an emulator that will allow you to catch up and find old and recent coffee games. The application allows you to indulge in several thousand titles, with all their possible variations. A must for emulation.
DosBox: replay all your games running under DOS
DosBox
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The 80s and 90s offered a large number of high-quality games, which unfortunately were incompatible with our modern computers. This is partly because these games used mostly DOS, something that is not really present in the latest versions of Windows. This detail is therefore corrected by DosBox, which allows you to launch these games in exactly the same way as a computer running DOS.
Firefox: the Internet browser still in the race
it knows how to manage all of your multimedia files
Finally, discover this very light program that will allow you to manage all of your multimedia files. The list of compatible formats is endless and you can add many plugins to the program to be able to read even more types of files. Impressive.
Plex Media Server: a powerful and efficient multimedia manager
Plex Media Server
Download Plex Media Server (will open in a new window)
Plex allows you to play and manage all your media files. The software lets you do it as easily as possible, and access it from another device. A very useful app if you like to store all your media on one device (perfect with a NAS, for example) and want to play it back on your tablet, console, etc.
Shotcut: the best of editing software
Shotcut
Download Shotcut (will open in a new window)
This powerful editor can do absolutely everything: import any format, manage 4K, “clean” an audio track, add effects to a video, etc. It will support you every step of the way, and whether you need to edit a video in minutes or make a full movie, Shotcut should meet all expectations.
STDU Viewer: to convert any format
STDU Viewer
Download STDU Viewer (will open in a new window)
This tiny application lets you view any file format without having to install any third-party programs. It offers to display most image formats (JPG, GIF, PNG, PSD, etc.), as well as the most common text files (TXT, PDF, XPS, Djvu etc.). And with its support for a huge number of formats, why not use STDU Viewer as a “universal” format converter?
Lightworks: a simple and free video editing tool
Lightworks
Download Lightworks (will open in a new window)
For Windows users who want to do more editing than basic system tools, Lightworks might be a suitable free solution. Lightweight and fairly easy to use, it provides good quality results for your videos.
MAME: a great emulator for arcade games
MAME
Download MAME (will open in a new window)
The problem with the Arcade of the ’80s and’ 90s is that unless you were content with ports to consoles or computers, which rarely matched those of the original version, it was very difficult to play at home. MAME is an emulator that will allow you to catch up and find old and recent coffee games. The application allows you to indulge in several thousand titles, with all their possible variations. A must for emulation.
DosBox: replay all your games running under DOS
DosBox
Download DosBox (will open in a new window)
The 80s and 90s offered a large number of high-quality games, which unfortunately were incompatible with our modern computers. This is partly because these games used mostly DOS, something that is not really present in the latest versions of Windows. This detail is therefore corrected by DosBox, which allows you to launch these games in exactly the same way as a computer running DOS.
