Application Launchers

• Launchy (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Launchy , Take Launchy Beyond Application Launching (Feature) , Tweaking Launchy (Screenshot Tour)
• Quicksilver (Mac OS X, open source)
  Previous coverage: A Beginner's Guide to Quicksilver , Advanced Quicksilver Guide , The Quicksilver Video Extravaganza , Nine Time-saving Quicksilver Triggers , Top 10 Quicksilver Plugins , Quicksilver Creator on the Future of QS (Exclusive Lifehacker Interview) .

Backup Utilities

• SyncBackSE (Windows, local backup, freeware)
  Previous coverage: Automatically Back Up Your Hard Drive with SyncBack (Feature)
• Time Machine (Mac OS X, local backup, built into Leopard)
  Previous coverage: The Simplicity of Time Machine Compels You , Schedule Your Time Machine Backups with TimeMachineScheduler
• Mozy (Windows/Mac, online backup, up to 2GB free)
  Previous coverage: Back Up Files with Mozy

BitTorrent

• uTorrent (Windows, Free)
  Previous coverage: Organize Your BitTorrent Downloads with uTorrent
• Transmission (Mac OS X, open source)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Transmission
• ted (Windows/Mac/Linux, free)
  Previous coverage: Automatically Download Your Favorite TV Shows with ted
• See also: A Beginner's Guide to BitTorrent , Intermediate Guide to BitTorrent

Bookmarks

• Foxmarks (All platforms with Firefox, free)
  Previous coverage: Synchronize Firefox bookmarks with Foxmarks , Yes, Foxmarks beats Google Sync when it comes to bookmarks , Back up and Sync your Firefox Bookmarks to Your Own FTP Server with Foxmarks
• del.icio.us (Web, free)
  Previous coverage: LIfehacker posts tagged del.icio.us

Calendar

• Google Calendar (Web)
  Previous coverage: Black Belt Scheduling with Google Calendar , Better GCal Firefox Extension (Exclusive Lifehacker Download)

Desktop Search

• Google Desktop (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, free)
  Previous coverage: Master Google Desktop search , Get More from Google Desktop

Disk Space Visualizers

• WinDirStat (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Visualize Your Hard Drive Usage
• JDiskReport (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, freeware)
  Previous coverage: Visualize Your Hard Drive Usage

DVD Rippers

• DVD Shrink (Windows, freeware)
  Previous coverage: One Click DVD Rips with DVD Shrink and AutoHotKey (Feature) , Copy DVDs to Your iPod (Feature)
• Handbrake (Mac OS X/Windows/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Back up DVDs on a Mac

File Syncing

• FolderShare (Windows/Mac OS X, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: FolderShare , Sync Your Firefox Extensions and Profiles Across Computers with FolderShare
• SyncToy (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Synchronize Folders with SyncToy 2.0

Image Editing

• Paint.NET (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Paint.NET 3 , Power replacements for built-in Windows utilities
• Picnik (Web)
  Previous coverage: Edit your images online with Picnik , Edit Your Photos Directly in Flickr with Picnik

Image Viewers/Managers

• IrfanView (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: IrfanView (Windows)
• Picasa (Windows/Linux, free)
  Previous coverage: Organize Your Digital Photos with Picasa (Feature) , Publish and Map Your Photos with Picasa (Feature)

Instant Messenger

• Pidgin (Windows/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Pidgin Instant-Messaging Client , Encrypt Your Instant Messages with Pidgin (then Gaim)
• Adium (Mac OS X, free)
  Previous Coverage: Download of the Day: Adium X
• Meebo (Web)
  Previous coverage: Connect to popular IM services with Meebo , Meebo Adds Video and Voice Chat to Web-Based IM , Transfer Files over IM with Meebo

Macro Makers

• AutoHotKey (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Turn Any Action into a Keyboard Shortcut

Media Players

• VLC (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: VLC Free Media Player , Rip DVDs with VLC
• MediaMonkey (Windows, freeware with paid upgrade)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: MediaMonkey (Windows) , Whip Your MP3 Library into Shape, Part I - Level the volume , Whip Your MP3 Library into Shape, Part II - Album art , Alpha Geek: Whip your MP3 library into shape, Part III: Metadata
• foobar2000 (Windows, freeware)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: foobar2000 , Roll Your Own Killer Audio Player with foobar2000 , The Beautiful and Varied World of foobar2000 (Screenshot Tour)

Password Managers/Helpers

• KeePass / KeePassX (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Securely Track Your Passwords , How to import saved Firefox passwords into KeePass , Download of the Day: KeePassX , Make KeePassX Leopard Compatible
• Firefox's built-in password manager (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, open source)
  Previous coverage: Secure your saved passwords in Firefox (Feature)
• BugMeNot (Web)
  Previous coverage: Bypass Web Site Registration with BugMeNot

PDF Readers/Writers/Editors

• Foxit Reader (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: Foxit Reader 2.0
• Preview (built into Mac OS X Leopard)
  Previous coverage: Do More with Preview in Leopard
• CutePDF PDF writer (Windows, free)
  Previous coverage: Create a PDF from any document
• See also: Top 10 PDF Tricks

Personal Finance/Money Managers

• Wesabe (Web)
  Previous coverage: Organize Your Money in 2008 with Wesabe
• Mint (Web)
  Previous coverage: Is Mint Ready for Your Money?

Start Pages

• NetVibes (Web)
  Previous coverage: Trick out your Netvibes
• iGoogle (Web)
  Previous coverage: Show Us Your iGoogle (Screenshot Tour)
• See also: The Start Page Showdown

Telephony Managers/Helpers

• Skype (Windows/Mac OS X, free)
  Previous coverage: Lifehacker posts tagged Skype
• GrandCentral Virtual PBX (Web)
  Previous coverage: One Phone Number to Rule Them All , Consolidate Your Phones with GrandCentral (Screenshot Tour)

Text Editors

• Notepad++ (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Top 10 Windows Downloads, 6. Notepad++ (text editor)
• TextWrangler (Mac OS X, freeware)
  Previous coverage: TextWrangler Free, Full-featured Text Editor for Mac

To-do List Managers

• Remember the Milk (Web)
  Previous coverage: Get Organized with Remember the Milk
• Rainlendar (Windows, free with paid upgrade)
  Previous coverage: Rainlendar desktop calendar and todo list
• Anxiety (Mac OS X Leopard, free)
  Previous coverage: Anxiety Task Manager Integrates with iCal and Mail

Virus Killers and Malware Cleaners

• AVG Free Edition (Windows, free with paid upgrade)
  Previous coverage: AVG Free Anti-Virus
• ClamWin (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Free Windows virus protection with ClamWin
• Ad-Aware (Windows, free with paid upgrade)
  Previous coverage: Cleanse thy PC with Ad-Aware
• See also: How to fix Mom and Dad's computer

Web Clippings

• Google Notebook (Web/Firefox, free)
  Previous coverage: Clip and collect the web with Google Notebook , Getting Things Done with Google Notebook
• Scrapbook (All platforms with Firefox, free)
  Previous coverage: Save and annotate the Web with Scrapbook

Wikis

• PBwiki (Web, free)
  Previous coverage: PBwiki
• MediaWiki (All platforms, open source)
  Previous coverage: Set Up Your Personal Wikipedia

Zip File Extractors

• 7-Zip (Windows, open source)
  Previous coverage: Lifehacker Top 10: Free Windows Downloads
• The Unarchiver (Mac OS X, free)
  Previous coverage: Download of the Day: The Unarchiver

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