157 software tools. No fees. No expiration dates. No problems. Sometimes even no downloads. No kidding.

Note: We've just released our newest collection of the best free software! Click on over for 173 other pieces of software to unlock the real potential of your PC for free.

We did the math: If you bought popular apps instead of trying their gratis counter-parts, at the manufacturers' list prices you'd be out $5,183 and change! Why spend money when you can get what you need for nothing? Sometimes, you do get what you don't pay for.

Hall of Fame

Adobe Reader

www.adobe.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux | Mobile This simplest of Adobe's PDF programs lets you do just about anything PDF-related (besides create new ones), including online collaboration. It includes a host of features to aid users with disabilities.

AIM

www.aim.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux | Web One of the most widely used pieces of free software ever, AOL Instant Messenger offers a ton of capabilities.

Read our full review of .

Audacity

audacity.sourceforge.net

Windows | MacOS | Linux Whether you're recording or editing, Audacity is all about audio in practically any format.

Firefox

www.mozilla.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux This PC Mag Editors' Choice Web browser has been on top of the heap since version 1.5 came out in late 2005. Read our full review of .

GIMP

www.gimp.org

Windows | MacOS | Linux The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) does most of what Photoshop does; the Gimpshop project (plasticbugs.com) even makes it look like Photoshop. Read our full review of .

iTunes

www.apple.com/itunes

Windows | MacOS When you're attached to the top media player in the land (iPod), success is a given. iTunes continues to build sales and refine its organization of songs, video, games, podcasts, and more. Read our full review of .

OpenOffice.org

www.openoffice.org

Windows | MacOS | Linux You can spend a lot for Microsoft Office or nothing for this suite with full-function word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentations, even an equations editor. Read our full review of .

Skype

www.skype.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux You'll pay to call regular phones, but if you sign up all your friends, Skype provides easy (and even international) calls and video-conferencing for nothing. Read our full review of .

Thunderbird

www.mozilla.com/thunderbird

Windows | MacOS | Linux Mozilla's no-cost e-mail alternative is extensible, fast, and easy to master. And a wealth of free add-ons means there's not much this program won't do, from calendars to encryption. Read our full review of .

Ubuntu

www.ubuntu.com

Linux This Linux-based OS comes with many of these Hall of Fame products (Firefox, OpenOffice.org) preinstalled.

WinAmp

www.winamp.com

Windows After a decade of playing music, the "skinnable" WinAmp has several versions, including one with full CD ripping and burning.

Operating Systems

ajaxWindows

www.ajaxwindows.com

Web A virtual operating system (aka Web OS), it uses Asynchronous Java-Script and XML (AJAX) programming to mimic the look and feel of a Windows desktop in Firefox or IE. It stores files (using Gmail) and runs its own applications, plus Web apps like Meebo and Google Maps. If you can launch a Web browser, you can get work done through ajaxWindows.

eyeOS

eyeos.info

Web This Web OS has ultra-simplified applications, including an RSS reader, satellite maps, a word processor, even a browseryes, for browsing the Web while on the Web.

Freespire 2.0

www.freespire.org

Linux This community-driven OS is based on Linspire (formerly Lindows)a Linux distro that looks like Windows, with an emphasis on compatibility with other platforms.

Glide

www.glidedigital.com

Web | Flash Sleek style sets this Web OS apart, as does the ability (using a separate utility) to sync files, bookmarks, and e-mail from your real OS. Read our full review of .

gOS

www.thinkgos.com

Linux Ubuntu-based and powered by Google's apps (just don't call it Google OS), gOS comes with the $200 PCs from Wal-Mart, but you can download it for any PC.

Antivirus/Anti-Malware

avast! 4 Home Edition

www.avast.com

Windows Spiffy-looking avast! notifies you by e-mail or IM if it catches a virus. You can't schedule scans, but its recovery database can help if a virus damages your files.

Read our full review of .

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

free.grisoft.com

Windows Its control center is awkward, but AVG scans files on demand, upon access, on a schedule, and in e-mail. Its rescue disks will help you recover from disaster.

Read our full review of .

Avira AntiVir Personal Edition Classic

www.free-av.com

Windows AntiVir scans files on demand, upon access, and on a schedule; it doesn't scan e-mail attachments until they're saved, but it does go to work on rootkits. It's especially good at coexisting with other security software. Like most good AV software, it has the Virus Bulletin's VB100% award and certification for virus detection from ICSA Labs.

Read our full review of .

HijackThis

www.trendsecure.com

Windows Run HijackThis, save a log, and then post the log on sites that support the program. You'll quickly get personalized expert help to remove any malware.

NanoScan

www.nanoscan.com

Windows | Web In less than a minute, NanoScan can analyze all processes running on your computer and identify viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, or other malicious programs.

ThreatFire AntiVirus

www.threatfire.com

Windows ThreatFire detects the bad guys by their behavior, not by outdated virus signatures. It's surprisingly accurate and a good companion to standard antivirus apps.

Read our full review of .

Trend Micro HouseCall

housecall.trendmicro.com

Windows Use the venerable HouseCall online scanner to get a second opinion, or use the app for cleanup when malware prevents installation of a local antivirus utility.

Firewalls

Comodo Firewall Pro

www.personalfirewall.comodo.com

Windows This protective dragon for XP and Vista keeps hackers out of your system, controls which programs can access the Net (its whitelist of about one million means you get fewer pop-ups), and blocks tricky "leak test" techniques. It's both tough and good-looking.

Read our full review of .

ShieldsUP!

www.grc.com

Windows | Web Be sure your fire-walls are keeping your always-on Internet connection hidden from attackers. Shields-UP! provides a quick confirmation.

Read our full review of .

SmoothWall Express

www.smoothwall.org

Linux Got a spare PC running a Pentium 200 MHz or higher with 128MB of RAM? Turn it into a dedicated network firewall with this open-source download.

ZoneAlarm Free

www.zonealarm.com

Windows The free edition remains a useful protector against hack attacks and against programs that abuse your Internet connection.

Security

EULAlyzer

www.javacoolsoftware.com

Windows Wonder what you're agreeing to when you click "I Accept"? Don't worry; just drag EULAlyzer's target icon onto the EULA for a quick report on any troublesome language.

Read our full review of .

Hotspot Shield

www.anchorfree.com

Windows Create an instant virtual private network (VPN) tunnel between your laptop and the router at any Wi-Fi hot spot to protect your data from snoops on the public airwaves, even if you're using extra encryption. If you're on a network that limits the use of certain apps (such as Skype), the VPN could give you unfettered access. It even works with your wired connection for an extra layer of security.

Kruptos 2

www.kruptos2.co.uk

Windows Kruptos makes a file accessible only to someone who knows the password; it includes a file shredder.

PC Flank

www.pcflank.com

Windows | Web While ShieldsUP! tests your firewall's ability to stealth all ports, PC Flank performs surgical strikes that emulate specific malware attacks to verify that your firewall blocks them.

SendShield

www.sendshield.com

Windows This Outlook add-on strips out extra info and tracked changes in Word documents attached to messages.

Finance

mint

www.mint.com

Web Mint isn't like Quicken, where you enter in all your transactions. Instead, it syncs with your bank and credit card accounts online, checks your spending habits, and tells you how to improve to save money. If you're not paying attention to your spending, it'll send you regular alerts to inform you where your money has gone (nice for making sure you haven't been ripped off).

GnuCash

www.gnucash.org

Linux Linux users can track their bank accounts, stocks, and expenses in this financial program using a double-entry accounting method.

Office

AbiWord

www.abiword.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Volunteers keep this open-source word processor alive. It closely mimics the look and feel of Microsoft Word 2003 and earlier.

Read the full review of .

Gliffy

www.gliffy.com

Web | Flash An online-only diagramming tool with more options than you can flowchart. The free version is limited to five diagrams.

Google Docs

docs.google.com

Web | Mobile Google's slickly designed office suite offers online shared word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations-and best of all, finally a solid alternative in the office-suite space to the totally dominating Microsoft. Upload or e-mail your current documents for storage and editing.

Read the full review of .

IBM Lotus Symphony

symphony.lotus.com

Web | Mobile A much prettier version of OpenOffice.org, Symphony is prepped for presentations, spreadsheets, and word processing in a single window (but lacks OO's drawing and database modules).

Read the full review of .

KompoZer

www.kompozer.net

Windows | MacOS | Linux A full WYSIWYG Web-page authoring tool akin to Dreamweaver, KompoZer integrates an FTP site manager for file uploads.

NeoOffice

www.neooffice.com

MacOS This version of OpenOffice.org has the same great tools and price (free), but with an interface designed specifically for the Mac OS.

Notepad++

notepad-plus.sourceforge.net

Windows Notepad++ handles text--especially source code-in ways the basic Windows Notepad could only dream of, with embellishments like tabs and color coding.

Read the full review of .

Scribus

www.scribus.net

Windows | MacOS | Linux This open-source page layout tool has features comparable to big names like PAgemaker, plus support for PDFs and scalable vector graphics (SVG).

Windows Live Mail

get.live.com

Windows Live Mail not only reads your Hotmail, but also can check POP, IMAP, or HTTP mail accounts. It works as an RSS feed reader and a newsreader.

Zoho

www.zoho.com

Web | Mobile Zoho features every tool you could want-word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, database, even a wiki-and several you never knew you needed. Some are also available off-line.

Read the full review of .

Calendar/PIMs

Plaxo

www.plaxo.com

Web Perhaps the ultimate online address book, Plaxo is enhanced with the superpowers of a social network and plug-ins for many Web-based services like Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and LiveJournal for sharing across the Internet.

Backpack

www.backpackit.com

Web Backpack is more than a to-do list site. Your five easy-to-update pages send reminders via e-mail or SMS and include a whiteboard for online collaboration.

Read the full review of .

EssentialPIM Free

www.essentialpim.com

Windows Imagine taking the e-mail out of Microsoft Outlook to get a killer personal information manager (PIM). That's what EssentialPIM is all about.

Google Calendar

calendar.google.com

Web | Mobile Featuring seamless integration with other Google products, sharing capabilities, and SMS reminders, this Web app does for calendars what Google did for search.

Read the full review of .

Lightning

www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning

Windows | MacOS | Linux To be more like Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird needs a calendar. Lightning provides that, plus a to-do list. It can even sync with Google Calendar.

Power Calculator

www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx Windows This XP-only PowerToy replaces the lame Windows calculator with a mathematical powerhouse.

Remember The Milk

www.rememberthemilk.com

Web | Mobile Never forget another grocery item, or anything else, using this extensible online task manager. It'll send reminders via e-mail, SMS, and IM.

Sunbird

www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird

Windows | MacOS | Linux Sunbird is Mozilla's standalone calendar for tracking events and upcoming tasks. It's a sister to Lightning, which adds the same functions to Thunderbird.

30 Boxes

www.30boxes.com

Web One of the best-looking online calendars, 30 Boxes features easy-to-grasp pop-ups for adding events and viewing schedule details.

Yahoo! Calendar

calendar.yahoo.com

Web Track your schedule and share it with friends, then sync your calendar with Outlook or your phone. It's a great place to back up a handheld.

Backup/Sync

Allway Sync

www.allwaysync.com

Windows Sync files between your PC and an external drive, filtering by folder, file name, or file type. The program displays warnings about questionable files before syncing.

DriveImage XML

www.runtime.org

Windows Make an image of your entire hard drive for backup and restore purposes.

FolderShare

www.foldershare.com

Windows | MacOS Install the utility on multiple computers, create an online account where you identify each computer, and pick folders to synchronize. Up-to-date data becomes available on all those PCs whenever you make a change in a folder, with sync taking place in the background so you're never disturbed, just happy to find your files wherever you work.

Read the full review of .

MozyHome Free

www.mozy.com

Windows | MacOS MozyHome provides automatic online backup for up to 2GB of your data.

PassPack

www.passpack.com

Web Pack away all your passwords in this secure online vault; it even logs you in to Web sites.

SyncToy v2.0

www.microsoft.com/downloads

Windows Make sure folders across your networked computers contain the same files, even on drives that change location and name.

WinClone

www.twocanoes.com

MacOS Bootcamp users: Now you can clone (back up) your Windows XP/Vista partition for reinstall on a new Mac.

App Launchers

Launchy

www.launchy.net

Windows Launchy launches (duh) applications, files, folders, or searches via a command-line-esque interface.

ObjectDock

www.stardock.com

Windows Organize your application shortcuts in a toolbar that mimics the look and feel of the Macintosh dock, complete with icon animations. It will even mimic Windows Taskbar buttons. Add in extras (docklets) like real-time clock and weather forecasts, even a fully functional Windows Start button and Recycle Bin, to get everything you need.

QuickSilver

www.blacktree.com

MacOS This open-source launcher takes plug-ins that allow it to do almost anything you want in the MacOS.

Utilities

Absolute Uninstaller

www.glarysoft.com

Windows Replace the Add/Remove Programs control panel in XP to get batch uninstalls and clear out leftovers that Windows frequently misses when uninstalling.

CCleaner

www.ccleaner.com

Windows The extra C is for crap, and that's what CCleaner gets rid of: all the detritus left behind in the course of using Windows.

CoolMon

www.coolmon.org

Windows CoolMon displays all of your system's vital statistics, including use of your CPU, RAM, and hard drives, internal PC temperature, and more.

Defraggler

www.defraggler.com

Windows Defragment your entire hard drive-or just one heavily fragmented file at a time.

DriverView

www.nirsoft.net

Windows DriverView lists every single device driver running on your system, with extra info on each.

Eraser

www.heidi.ie/eraser

Windows Shredders are popular in the office, so why not have the digital equivalent? Eraser adds a right-click menu that will do away with a file or folder forever.

FileZilla

www.filezilla-project.org

Windows | MacOS | Linux Download this FTP client for accessing multiple sites or to use as an FTP server. In both cases, FileZilla has convenient drag-and-drop support.

Glary Utilities

www.glaryutilities.com

Windows Glary offers a ton of utilities for cleaning, optimizing, and securing Windows in one package.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc

Windows Install anything-DOS, OS/2, or any earlier version of Windows-as a virtual machine. It'll run in a separate window on your Vista or XP desktop.

Read the full review of .

SandBoxie

www.sandboxie.com

Web Place a layer of "transient storage"-a sandbox-between your applications and your hard disk to stay safe.

SecureZIP

www.securezip.com

Windows Compress and decompress files on the fly, even in e-mail through Outlook integration, and encrypt archives as desired.

Task Killer

www.rsdsoft.com

Windows Stop any Windows process dead; this is handy for clearing frozen applications.

TinkerTool

www.bresink.com

MacOS Get access to additional preference settings in Mac OS X to turn on hidden features.

Uniblue ProcessScanner

www.processlibrary.com

Windows | Web You can do the Ctrl-Alt-Delete salute in Windows to see what's bogging down your PC, but can you understand the results? ProcessScanner, coupled with the online Process Library, provides extra information on each process (like whether it autostarts or not, and who makes the software in question), and even lists the security risk to your system for running it.

Downloads

BitLet.org

www.bitlet.org

Web Who needs a BitTorrent client? Just find the torrent metafile link on a tracker site, plug it in at BitLet.org, and let it retrieve the file as if you were downloading it from a regular Web site.

Universal Extractor

www.legroom.net

Windows See what's inside any archive fileZIP, RAR, even EXE.

uTorrent

www.utorrent.com

Windows The tiniest BitTorrent client around (only 214K) comes with all the torrent download features you crave.

Interface Enhancement

Battery Status

users.rcn.com/tmtalpey/BattStat

Windows This app runs in the system tray and takes advantage of smart battery support in XP/Vista to provide loads of info on laptop-power usage.

Google Desktop

desktop.google.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Let Google index and search your hard drive contents. The sidebar adds graphical widgets to your desktop.

miniMIZE

aquaria.za.net

Windows miniMIZE puts thumbnails of your minimized applications on the desktop for easier access.

Quero Toolbar 4

www.quero.at

Windows Replace the Internet Explorer address bar to integrate ad blocking and make IE7 look more like IE6.

Vista Drive Icon

drvicon.sourceforge.net

Windows Add one of Vista's best features to XP: smart drive icons showing the current capacity of each hard drive.

XYplorer

www.xyplorer.com

Windows Multiple tabs and improved search enhance and replace the boring old Windows Explorer.

Yahoo! Widgets

widgets.yahoo.com

Windows | MacOS Fill your desktop with tiny interfaces for everything from stock picks to RSS feeds to weather forecasts (using Doppler radar!) to Wi-Fi sensors to remote desktops to countdown clocks-to name a few. Pick from over 4,300; some are more useful than others, but almost all are interesting to look at.

File View/Conversion

Foxit Reader

www.foxitsoftware.com

Windows Perhaps the fastest PDF reader around, Foxit includes a free annotation tool. Add-ons enable support for new file formats and UI languages.

Samuraj Data

view.samurajdata.se

Web You can display PDF files in your Web browser when no other reader is available.

ScanR.com

scanr.com

Web | Mobile Instantly perform optical character recognition (OCR) on pictures by e-mailing them from your phone to ScanR.com.

YouConvertIt.com

youconvertit.com

Web This site turns just about any file into a different kind of file, even online videos from YouTube. It also converts units of energy, force, length, and more.

ZamZar

www.zamzar.com

Web File conversion is no longer a complete nightmare. Just go to ZamZar, upload a file, choose from a long list of extensions (including image, doc, music, video, and compression types), and enter your e-mail address. When it's done, ZamZar will send you the converted file.

Networking

LogMeIn Hamachi

secure.logmein.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Instantly create a free, peer-to-peer VPN connection between your computer and other people's. Download the software, create a network with a unique name, give it to friends you want to join, and start sharing files with themeven your iTunes folder.

NetStumbler

www.netstumbler.com

Windows Use it to detect any Wi-Fi network in your vicinity and see if it's open for use, or just use it to troubleshoot your own.

PrinterAnywhere

www.printeranywhere.com

Windows Share your printer with others over the Web; in turn, send jobs to other shared printers, no matter their location.

Blogging

Blogger

www.blogger.com

Web | Mobile Blogger was one of the first blog-publishing tools. Years after Google bought it, it remains one of the best, especially for newbies. Create a brain-dead simple weblog and let Blogger host it (with a blogspot.com name) using the slew of provided templates, or use it to publish a blog on your own domain.

w.bloggar

www.wbloggar.com

Windows This post and template editor can handle multiple blogs, across multiple blogging systems.

Windows Live Writer

get.live.com

Windows Live Writer is not a word processor, but a universal, WYSIWYG blog-posting tool more powerful than most blog services' own tools.

WordPress

www.wordpress.com

Web It lacks the simplicity of Blogger or Vox, but the commercial offshoot of WordPress.org offers some of the best tools of any hosted blogging service.

RSS Readers

Bloglines

www.bloglines.com

Web | Mobile Keeping track of your daily Web news reading can be a nightmare. This Ask.com-owned news aggregator is one of the cleanest and most straightforward methods for keeping your RSS feeds under control, and the new beta version features a great new interface that steals some of the best features of Google Reader.

Google Reader

reader.google.com

Web | Mobile Google Reader is arguably the best RSS/newsfeed reader on the Internet. Read feeds while off-line or on your mobile phone.

Netvibes

www.netvibes.com

Web This is a handsome combination of online RSS reader and podcast aggregator, with some widget apps thrown in.

Instant Messaging

Meebo.com

www.meebo.com

Web This polished Web app aggregates your AOL, Gmail, ICQ, Jabber, Windows, and Yahoo! buddy lists into a single, Web-based instant-messaging and chat-room experience. Meebo is building in extras, such as games you can play with IM buddies, as well as video and audio chat you'd find with your regular IM client software.

Pidgin

www.pidgin.im

Windows | Linux Open source tackles instant messaging in this client, which supports more IM networks than you've ever heard of.

Trillian

www.ceruleanstudios.com

Windows Access all your IM accounts (AIM, ICQ, Windows Messenger, Yahoo!, and more) from a single interface that also logs all your conversations, if you desire.

Communication

GizmoProject

www.gizmoproject.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Gizmo competes with Skype to offer free, peer-to-peer, over-the-Internet phone and video calls, but uses open standards.

Gmail

www.gmail.com

Web | Mobile What to do with nearly limitless e-mail storage spacethat's the enviable quandary of Gmail users, who can store up to 5.5GB worth of e-mail and chats. And the amount is constantly growing. Other perks include advanced search options, real-time updates, and "conversations," in which e-mail chains are stored in one continuous thread for easy perusal.

Mail Redirect

addons.mozilla.org

Windows | MacOS | Linux This add-on for Thunderbird lets you bounce a message to the proper recipient without revealing that you got the message first.

ooVoo

www.oovoo.com

Windows | MacOS ooVoo video chat is more P2P than Skype (no supernodes!), with a better picture. It supports up to six co-videoconferencers, file transfers, and group text chat.

SightSpeed

www.sightspeed.com

Windows | MacOS SightSpeed has better video quality than ooVoo, but in a less attractive interface. More than two video chatters will cost you, as will file transfer and group chat.

Audio

Juice

http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net

Windows | MacOS | Linux Aggregate all your favorite podcasts in one place for easy listening.

Levelator

www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator

Windows | MacOS | Linux Levelator adjusts the levels of your audio files to give the perfect balance.

Reaper

www.cockos.com/reaper

Windows | MacOS The name is short for Rapid Environment for Audio Production, Engineering, and Recording. That pretty much says it all.

Wavosaur

www.wavosaur.com

Web A low-price and low-profile audio editor, Wavosaur doesn't even need installation. Just click the executable to start processing and recording sounds. It lacks some of the features of full programs like Audacity, but for quick-and-dirty MP3 editing it can't be beat.

Video

Cinelerra

www.osalt.com/cinelerra

Linux This is professional video-editing software for the Linux crowd.

Eyespot.com

www.eyespot.com

Web Upload your clips, mix via drag-and-drop, and share your finished videos in one spot.

HandBrake

handbrake.m0k.org

Windows | MacOS | Linux Convert your DVDs to MPEG-4 video (or just the audio) for backup purposes.

Jing

www.jingproject.com

Windows | MacOSx Jing shares what's showing on your monitor with others online, or records it for future viewing.

Jumpcut.com

www.jumpcut.com

Web This online app provides Flash-powered video editing.

Miro

www.getmiro.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Miro combines BitTorrent downloads with video playback to become the next best thing to your DVR.

MythTV

www.mythtv.org

Linux Use your Linux box as a homespun digital video recorder (DVR).

Songbird

www.songbirdnest.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux The open-source answer to iTunes (from the makers of WinAmp) plays your music and videos.

TVersity

www.tversity.com

Windows Turn your computer into a server to stream video and audio to just about any device on your network.

Ustream.tv

www.ustream.tv

Web Our reviews call this the absolute easiest way to broadcast live video from your webcam across the Internet.

Videora Converter

www.videora.com

Windows Convert nearly any video you can find online (or on DVD) for use on any video-capable iPod or iPhone.

VLC media player

www.videolan.org

Windows | MacOS | Linux Forget Windows Media Player. VideoLAN's open-source VLC can replace it, and nearly every other player, too. VLC supports almost every audio format and video codec imaginable and doubles as a server for streaming your music and video to other PCs. Change its skin to make it look like the player you wanteven WMP.

YouTube Uploader

www.youtube.com/multifile_installer

Windows | MacOS If you've got a lot of YouTube videos ready to go online, upload them to the site all at once with the Uploader.

Graphics

IrfanView

www.irfanview.com

Windows IrfanView previews images (or even audio and video) and then converts or optimizes them without opening a separate editor.

Paint.NET

www.getpaint.net

Windows This program is probably the closest thing to Photoshop you can get free, courtesy of a student project.

Picasa

www.picasa.com

Windows | Linux Google's photo manager makes it easy to get pictures off a digital camera, organize them, and even edit and share them.

Picnik

www.picnik.com

Web | Flash Instantly edit pictures in this Web site. Upload images from your computer, Flickr, Picasa, or elsewhere.

pikifx.com

pikifx.com

Web Another online pic editor, pikifx.com emphasizes special effects such as added text and borders.

rsizr.com

rsizr.com

Web | Flash With one of the best Web interfaces yetall in Flashrsizr.com incorporates smart resizing to avoid distortion.

Splashup

www.splashup.com

Web | Flash Another beauty with a Flash interface, Splashup sets itself apart with multi-image editing and a full-screen mode.

Windows Live Photo Gallery

get.live.com/photogallery

Windows Windows Live Photo Gallery gives Picasa (above) a run for its money, with many of the same photo-enhancing and sharing featuresred-eye reduction, exposure adjustment, cropping, color, sharpen, and auto-adjust. What's more, Microsoft serves up histogram adjustment, panorama creation, and photo-CD burning.

Browsers

Flock

www.flock.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Another browser based on Mozilla, Flock emphasizes interaction with social networks and services. It also accepts many add-ons from the Firefox browser.

Maxthon

www.maxthon.com

Windows Replace IE or Firefox (but still use their rendering engines) with this highly customizable, multilanguage, tabbed beauty.

Opera

www.opera.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux | Mobile Possibly the nimblest and most usable of all the browsers available, Opera did tabs first and still does them best. Added usability features like Speed Dial and Tab Preview keep popping up in new versions.

Prism

labs.mozilla.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Prism is a site-specific browser, meaning you simply load a Web app (Gmail, for instance) and let it run like any other application on the desktop.

Browser Add-Ons

DownThemAll

www.downthemall.net

Windows | MacOS | Linux You don't have to download one item at a time from a Web page anymore. DownThemAll manages batch downloads, splitting files into pieces so they arrive faster.

Foxmarks 2.0

www.foxmarks.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Foxmarks can synchronize your Firefox bookmarks across multiple PCs, even multiple operating systems.

Googlepedia

code.google.com/p/googlepedia

Windows | MacOS | Linux In Firefox, Googlepedia loads the most relevant Wikipedia entry it finds alongside your Google search results.

Google Toolbar

toolbar.google.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux The toolbar brings Google's search and other functionality directly to IE or Firefox. It offers extras like auto fill, spell-checking, and one-click RSS feed subscriptions.

Greasemonkey

www.greasespot.net

Windows | MacOS | Linux Add this extension to Firefox and then extend it again with thousands of scripts that change the appearance and functions of almost any Web site.

IE7Pro

www.ie7pro.com

Windows Adds a load of extras to IE7, including control over tabs, spell-checking, ad blockingeven Greasemonkey-esque scripts (see above).

IE Tab

ietab.mozdev.org

Windows Do you prefer Firefox but still need to look at some sites in IE? IE Tab will load a site in a Firefox tab using the IE rendering engine.

ScribeFire

www.scribefire.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux This Firefox add-on sets up an interface for instant blogging on just about any blog system.

Tab Mix Plus

addons.mozilla.org

Windows | MacOS | Linux Take total control of how tabs work in Firefox. Adjust how they look, revive those you closed by accident, send tabs to new browser windows-essentially any tab action you can imagine.

Zotero

www.zotero.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Zotero makes it easy to keep track of all your research on the Web, including how to cite it in future reports.

Games/Fun

Eyezmaze.com's Grow

www.eyezmaze.com

Web | Flash It's not a single game but a series that involves choosing "growing" items that are added to an online environment.

Geni.com

www.geni.com

Web | Flash Share your genealogy with everyone in the family. They can contribute more individual profiles until your family tree is complete.

Google Earth

earth.google.com

Windows | MacOS | Linux Fly over familiar terrain or foreign lands with Google Earth, a searchable database of satellite images and geographical dataeven images of the heavens. You can go a step further with all sorts of downloadable, gee-whiz applications from scientists, media outlets, and other third-party developers to trick out your Earth-moving experience.

Google Maps

maps.google.com

Web | Mobile This interactive mapping tool goes beyond driving directions. View destinations in Street View, Satellite, or Terrain modes; check traffic updates; or look up info on nearby businesses.

Kongregate

www.kongregate.com

Web | Mobile Only 2,598 free games (as of this writing) to keep you busy online? Bring 'em on.

Second Life

www.secondlife.com

Windows | MacOS This 3D virtual world has hundreds of thousands of denizens. Access is free, but you'll pay a bit if you want to get some real estate, or even fancy clothes for your avatar.

Free (Okay, Cheap) Hardware

Manufacturers of even the most basic devices generally don't give anything away. And you're not likely to find breakneck performance at bargain prices. But it is possible to get fully computerized without spending a fortune. Read on to find the best tech bargains around the Internet.

DESKTOP

EverexTC2502 gPC

$199 street

www.everex.com

Green or Google, it doesn't matter what the "g" stands for. Just know that this is the lowest-cost desktop on the market today. Available at Wal-Mart.

Read the full review of the .

MONITOR

Sceptre DCL20A 20" Widescreen LCD

$159.99

www.tigerdirect.com

TigerDirect offers the occasional bargain display, such as this 20-inch screen with $50 instant rebate.

LAPTOP

ASUS color Eee PC 2G Surf

$299 direct

asus.com

This tiny Linux notebook has just a smudge of a screen (7 inches), but you won't find a better combination of price and functionality.

PRINTER

Lexmark Z1300

$29.99 direct

www.lexmark.com

Since it includes an ink cartridge worth $18.99, the actual price of this compact color ink jet printer is arguably around $6. Out of ink? Buy a new printer.

Read the full review of the .

CAMERA

JAZZ JDC5 QVGA 3-IN-1 Digital Camera

$10 street

audio-discounters.com

Small enough to hang on a keychain, this tiny shooter uses a single AAA battery to capture images measuring 352 by 288 pixels.

MEDIA PLAYER

Coby MP-C833 128MB MP3 Player

$10 street

www.cobyusa.com

It plays MP3s and WMA files and has all the music control buttons you'll need, plus it doubles as a USB thumb key for file storage.

MOBILE PHONE

Motorola C139 from Tracfone

$14.99 direct

www.tracfone.com

It may lack the sex appeal of an iPhone, but the C139 makes calls. They'll cost you 10 cents per minute, prepaid.

Read the full review of the .

SCANNER

Canon CanoScan LiDE 25

$49.99 direct

www.usa.canon.com

This no-frills, three-button flatbed scans pictures at 1,200 pixels per inch over a slow but workable USB 1.1 connection.

Read the full review of the .