CorelDRAW

Corel

Corel Draw has been being a reference for graphic design software a lot of years. The new version is called CorelDRAW Graphics Suite and it's an exceptional tool and application pack granting you the possibility to create any vectorial image, bitmap and compose your own designs (even animated ones). It is valid for both novice and professional users, of course these latest ones will take the most out of it. Now CorelDRAW is much easier to use than before and its interface has been updated. Finally, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite includes: · CorelDraw X3. · Corel Photo Paint X3 · Corel Capture X3 · Corel PowerTRACE X3 · Bitstream Font Navigator

DiskGenius Free

Eassos Ltd

GoodSync

Goodsync.com

If you are used to work with different projects and you usually transport information, more than once you would have had troubles when trying to know which one is the most recent file. Good Sync is a totally free application which will help you when synchronizing your stored data, no matter where they are stored: Hard disk, USB key, laptop,... or even two different folders in a same hard disk. Good Sync uses a powerful algorithm for synchronizing and localizing repeated and transformed files showing automatically the scan results. Good Sync supports any filesystem and it doesn’t have a filesize limit. In short, a useful and reliable application with professional results for free.

Clonezilla

Clonezilla

Clonezilla is an open source tool made along the lines of the popular Norton Ghost, it lets you create backup copies and restore your system in case you ever need to do so because of some issue. You can do this by ripping the downloaded image directly onto a DVD, or through a USB device (for which a brief tutorial is included on the author's own website). The application also supports unattended mode so you can 'skip’ almost all the steps by programming them using different commands. Clonezilla is one of the most efficient ways of creating backup copies of your hard disks. Its interface is not very friendly, and may scare off the less brave, but once you get the hang of it, you'll find it to be full of interesting options.

Paint.NET

Rick Brewster

Paint.NET is a totally free photo- and image-editing tool that, although it was created in 2004 as a simple improvement to Microsoft Paint, over time evolved into a much more complete and full-featured program capable of competing with other great image-editing programs for Windows. Paint.NET's interface is definitely one of its greatest strengths. This program is intuitive and easy to use, regardless of the level of experience you have with other similar apps. All your tools, layers, projects, and options are no more than a couple of clicks away. On the official forums, you can find tons of tutorials, plugins, and other forms of help for all levels, no matter whether you're a beginner or a real expert in the field. Another advantage of using Paint.NET is its performance. During development, the efforts of its developers were focused on improving the program's performance. And it shows. You can run Paint.NET on almost any computer, with any CPU and any graphics card, as long as you have about 200 MB free on your hard drive. As usual with this type of program, Paint.NET supports a wide range of formats, including BMP, PNG, TIFF, JPG, and GIF. Likewise, you can save all your projects in more than 20 different formats. Paint.NET is an excellent photo-editing tool, thanks to which you can easily retouch all your photographs in a matter of minutes. With this program, you can use dozens of filters and special effects to give a unique touch to any image. It even keeps an exhaustive history of each action, thanks to which you can undo mistakes you make at any point of the process.

Active File Recovery

LSoft Technologies Inc.

Active File Recovery is a file restoration app that allows you to recover data that has been lost for a variety of reasons, from unintentional deletion to malware infections and system errors. With Active File Recovery, you can rely on a file restoration method for both emergency situations and for continuous protection of your data. Active File Recovery offers you a comprehensive solution to safeguard your files. Active File Recovery allows you to recover deleted or damaged files, even if you have emptied the Recycle Bin or securely deleted the files. Likewise, Active File Recovery can restore data from partitions and volumes that have been lost or formatted, which helps you in cases of more serious data loss. Active File Recovery is capable of recovering over 150 different file types, such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, photos, videos, and more. In addition, the program can work with a variety of storage media, including hard disks, memory cards and USB drives. In this way, Active File Recovery ensures that you can restore your data regardless of the type of files or storage media you have used. Its interface is simple and attractive, and it has a number of practical features, such as the ability to locate lost files by name, date and size. In addition, it includes a recovery wizard that guides you step-by-step through the data restoration process. In summary, if you are looking for a powerful and easy-to-use data recovery solution, Active File Recovery is an excellent choice.

FileZilla Server

Tim Kosse

FileZilla Server is a FTP server which will help you when uploading and downloading files to/from your FTP. It is specially recommended if you use your FTP server from a computer that is used by other users. It allows you to restrict the access by several ways, for example you can establish the IP of the computer that can access to the data or determine a password. You can choose between two different profiles: individual or group. It includes lots of features and it is not difficult to use. Thanks to FileZilla Server you will control the transfer speed and you will be able to manage compressed files. You will not need any guide to use it, it’s really easy to use, just download and install it and you will enjoy your new FTP Server.

Ditto

Scott Brodgen, Kevin Edwards

Ditto is a little tool that adds multiple features to the Windows Clipboard, drastically expanding its capabilities. The program can be configured so that it runs at Windows start-up. It will appear on the taskbar and take the place of the regular clipboard, allowing you to copy as many text fragments as you want and classify them into different categories if necessary. You can also store images there. In order to paste the fragment that you want to use, you just have to select it in the Ditto window and paste it as usual. You can also drag and drop fragments, which definitely makes it even easier to use. In addition, Ditto allows you to configure your own keyboard shortcuts to automate different tasks and keep you from having to do any extra work. So, you will completely forget about all of the limitations of the Windows Clipboard.

UltraEdit

IdmCom

UltraEdit is the perfect editor for any programmer, because it will ease his work, highlighting the keywords of evey programming language (Java, C/C++, VB, Perl and HTML are already preset). It allows autocorrection and autocomplete functions, it includes some advanced features like hexadecimal editor, ASCII table, full featured menus for printing, multifiles,... In addition it allows you to open a FTP connection. If you want more programming languages, you can download them from the Official ite for free (ASP, C++, MathLab, Oracle, PHP, Delphi, etc.)

UltraMon

Realtime Soft

If you often use more than one monitor at the same time, you probably appreciate software that facilitates this task. This is UltraMon. UltraMon is a program that allows you to control various screens and coordinate work amongst them. You can do things like moving windows from one monitor to another or work with more than one application at the same time, using as many screens as you like. Furthermore, UltraMon can add a little taskbar to the bottom of each of the monitors so we can manage them more comfortably, or even re-dimension by itself a video we are playing in case one of the screens doesn´t have the same capacity as the rest. The program also has options that make it visually more attractive, like the possibility to create wallpapers and screensavers that use all the active monitors at the same time, obtaining magnificent and completely surprising results.

Darktable

darktable

Darktable is an incredibly comprehensive photo processing program that lets you edit your RAW image files in a digital darkroom. The idea is to be able to work with your negatives and easily return to the original way in a non-destructive way. The program is compatible with over 400 different camera models, letting you edit your photos completely and professionally with endless features. When it comes to working with your photos, you can import them from your desktop computer or directly from the camera you work with. The great thing about Darktable is that it offers a complete and customizable importation system. For example, it even lets you turn a series of photos into a time lapse, among other options. Once you've opened your negatives, you can go directly to the darkroom where you'll find several panels with all the available options. On the left side menu, you'll find features to catalog the images, get information about them, open the color picker, or manage the masks. Meanwhile, on the right side of the screen, you'll find all the modules available for working with the image itself. One of the great things about Darktable in comparison with other similar tools is that it gives you a non-destructive way to work with your images. Plus, it also offers a change log that you can use to undo any changes or go back to the original at any time. Darktable offers tons of useful tools and features, making it an excellent option for working with your photos. In addition to everything mentioned above, the program lets you work with 4K and 5K monitors, supports 3D RGB LUT, and includes all sorts of modules, shortcuts, and modes that will make your life so much easier when it comes to working with your photos.

Brackets

Adobe

One of the best ways to move forward in web development is to unify and create links between design and implementation. Brackets is an editor for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript developed by Adobe that aims to do just that, offering tools to streamline the page-making process and improve conversion between graphic editors and their interpretation into a given language. Brackets is an open-source tool with a clear and straightforward interface that automatically detects code. It helps in writing it, too, by indenting and color-coding segments for easy identification and organizing all the project elements in a work area where you can categorise everything in a tree and where code files and visual elements make up the page you're programming. One of its most interesting features is the Live Preview mode, where you can open a project in the browser and see the changes you make in the source code in real time. In addition, its functions can be enormously expanded with third-party extensions. One of them, called Extract for Brackets, comes pre-integrated into the program and allows you to export data in the PSD format typical of Photoshop files, although this also requires registering for an Adobe account.

Nexus Dock

WinStep

Windows Start menu is less used day by day. Bars or docks are appearing more and more day by day in all Windows based computers. They are very easy-to-use and give really fast access to all programs included in the dock. Nexus Dock offers us an attractive and easy way to access our favorite programs without having to renounce the start menu nor shortcuts. Nexus Dock appears as a bar in the upper side of the screen and we can place any shortcut to any program or folder there. From that moment, you'll only have to click on the icon and the program will be ru or the folder will be opened. That's easy. Nexus Dock features amazing effects and the aspect can be modified: change the reflections, the size of the icons, animations... Finally, Nexus Dock also includes some widgets and utilities that can be really useful to know more about the CPU status, weather forecast or the status of the recycled bin.

DisplayFusion

Binary Fortress Software

If you usually work with more than one monitor plugged to your computer, for sure that more than once you'll have missed some more configuration settings than those offered by default by Windows. And here's where DisplayFusion comes in: a useful app that allows you more accurately define your ideal monitor setting. Among its many features, DisplayFusion allows you to adapt the specifics of a screen wallpaper to your monitor, for instance, by escalating its size or setting different images for each monitor (if you're using more than one). Furthermore, DisplayFusion offers a link to Flickr, so you can download any image to serve as your desktop's wallpaper.

RocketDock

Punk Labs LLC

Its name is RocketDock and you'll be surprised when you'll install it and you'll see those rolling effects and you'll experience the new look of your desktop. RocketDock renders very fast, and the graphics offered by it are really good, you'll be surprised because of the stability that it offers which is really better than other similar programs. If you have never used a program like this, RocketDock will help you a lot when working because it will save you a lot of time and it will give a great look to your desktop. Organize your shortcuts, programs and running tasks into an attractive and fun animated Dock. In addition, RocketDock is compatible with Mobydock, Y'z Dock and ObjectDock skins, in addition, the developers tell you to send them a screenshot if any skin doesn't work well and they'll try to fix the bug.

Clip Studio Paint

CELSYS,Inc.

Clip Studio Paint is a drawing program that you can use to let your artistic talent shine. Through an intuitive interface, you will have no trouble accessing the software's numerous tools. By doing this, you will get highly polished drawings that you can impress the whole world with. One of the key aspects of Clip Studio Paint is that the program is completely compatible with the main digitizer tablet brands on the market, such as Wacom or Samsung. This means that you always have the basic functions to finish any drawing, comic or manga easily. Simply use the resources as effectively and with as much organization as possible after completing each project. Another interesting function of Clip Studio Paint is that it has a very extensive system of rulers. With these lines, you can take on perspectives and realistic depths that will help you to finish each composition without losing time on outlines. What's more, whenever you need it, there is a multitude of colors and paintbrushes ready for you to use to paint any of the drawings that you've created. All of this will allow you to digitize any picture composition easily. Clip Studio Paint is an outstanding drawing program that lets artists create compositions and digital drawings intuitively. It's as if you were in front of a blank canvas and had the ability to carry out each project until you get the desired result. Lastly, it's worth mentioning that you have the option to export the result in the format and quality that suits you best, so you can print out your drawings or add them to any digital means or post.

Classic Shell

Ivo Beltchev

Despite being designed to work with Windows, the new Start menu, which made its appearance in Windows Vista and was kept in Windows 7, has just never be able to convince many users. Until now, they were happy with the Start menu from XP. It's for this reason that programs like Classic Shell exist, which offers us the possibility to enjoy a similar XP Start menu on Windows Vista/7. The new Start menu is visible from the moment one finishes the installation. On the menu, we can see the typical options in XP: programs, documents, settings, search, help and run. The menus are customizable and we can activate or deactivate functions from the preferences window of the program, in the Configuration section. If, until now, you haven't been able to handle the new Start menu very well, Classic Shell can be the solution to your problems.

Docker

Docker, Inc

Docker is a tool that's very useful for packaging apps with all their dependencies. With the help of lightweight containers, you can package the files you need and transfer them to another server that also has this tool installed. One of the main advantages of Docker for Windows is its ease of use. Even if you want to transfer apps between the same operating system, there are many different versions of the same environment. That's why using a tool like this one is a good idea, as it properly prepares the app for a seamless transfer and installation. On Docker, there are several manuals for learning more about all the commands you can use. As you become more familiar with this platform's capabilities, you can create lightweight containers in just a few minutes. This way, you can easily transfer your apps between Mac, Windows, and Linux, or between several servers with the same operating system. Docker is a must-have tool for programmers who regularly need to move apps between different systems. With a very simple process, you can carry out a perfectly structured and organized file transfer that's guaranteed to save you lots of time and problems.

Dexpot

Dexpot.DE

Dexpot expands your windows working space by up to 20 times! This free program makes your life easier when organizing your icons, windows and applications. How does Dexpot work? Simple. From the tray system you can instantaneously access as many independent desktops as you want. You can have a leisure desktop, a working desktop, a desktop to surf the web...and each will be independent of each other, with different backgrounds, resolutions, etc. Management of multiple desktop is now fast, easy and free.

Atom

GitHub

GitHub is one of the best software development communities on the Internet. Atom, an open-source text editor that can be used as an IDE for a huge array of programming languages, can open up loads of opportunities thanks to continuous support from this community. It includes all the features you could ask for in a code editor, like a syntax highlighter, auto-detect for languages, automatic text completion, the possibility to use several panels and save your project to several folders, support for snippets, and a powerful search tool. The best feature is the modularity of the environment, to which you can add more features by installing extra packages. It also includes a control system for Git so you can publish your content using the GitHub platform. Atom is multiplatform (Windows, Linux, and Mac) and allows cross-platform use for your projects. Customization is the IDE's biggest appeal: At time of writing, there are more than 2,000 packages and 600 themes. Given the degree to which you can customize the program and the number of features already included, this is definitely one of the best web development tools available today. What makes it even better is that it doesn't take up much space on your computer when compared to similar alternatives.

VirtuaWin

VirtuaWin

Virtual desktops are very common in the Unix community and once getting used to this, it is very hard to manage without it. VirtuaWin offers you that feature in a Windows environment. If you use a virtual desktop manager you can organize applications over several "virtual" desktops. By that way you will be able to run different applications in different desktops, having them clean enough. In order to know the wallpaper you are working on, the number of the desktop will be indicated by a small icon in the system tray. You can even use custom icons on the system tray. For using this feature you only need to add them to the icons directory in the install directory of VirtuaWin. VirtuaWin supports up to 9 virtual desktops, we think they will be enough, won’t them?

Vim

Bram Moolenaar

Vim is an excellent text editor that has been designed specifically with programmers in mind and is based on the popular Unix Vi editor. This remake, also available for Windows, stands out mainly thanks to its capacity to work on the same task in different modes: command mode, Ex mode, insertion mode, visual mode, etc. As we mentioned before, Vim is a tool that makes things easier for programmers as it includes several interesting options, such as the capacity to locate compilation errors, show them on a separate window and then guide us back to where they are located so we can correct them. Once this is done, Vim goes back to looking for mistakes until the text is fully revised and corrected. Among its features are a spellcheck, the ability of grouping files in tabs, command auto-complete, file words and names, executed commands history, and an optional graphic interface.

RawTherapee

RawTherapee

RAW-formatted photographs are much higher quality than any other format, but they are almost always incompatible with image editors. RawTherapee is an editor that addresses this problem. This tool is compatible with the majority of formats used by DSLR cameras (like NEF, DNG, and others), and is also capable of processing common formats like JPG and TIFF. The way RawTherapee works - and even the way it looks - may remind you of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and although its effects are applied a little slowly, the results are quite gratifying. The tools included in this program are basic photo processing stuff, like brilliance, contrast, levels, colors, sharpness, and noise, as well as cropping, resizing, history of changes, and photo metadata. It's easy to use; just direct it to your file explorer and open the folder that you need. Once there, you will view all of your images, and can then make use of RawTherapee's scoring and classification system. With this program, you can recover a photograph with little light by using a mixture of curves, smooth the skin of a portrait subject, clean up a photo's coloring, and even eliminate spots, among many other examples.

Geany

Enrico Tröger

Geany is a text edition tool that uses the GTK2 toolkit with some basic integrated features that make programming easier. The main features offered by Geany are syntax corrector, code folding, autoclosing HTML tags, comprehensive symbol lists, simultaneous editing of multiple files in different tabs, and support for C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, Perl, and Pascal. Geany is a full-featured and complex application that will delight any user with programming knowledge and desire to program. If you are getting into this exciting world, Geany can be really helpful.

Start11

Stardock

RJ TextEd

Rickard Johansson

Finally there's a free tool you can use to edit the source code of a huge number of files programmed in different languages like HTML, Java, Pascal, CSS, Perl.... With RJ TextEd, you won't have to change applications every time you open a document programmed in a different language. This tool recognizes the different variables, functions, classes, and reserved words from each language and assigns them different colors. It also lets you group code into blocks through the use of brackets, parentheses, etc. Other interesting features are: - HTML label assistant, which lets you easily enter titles, paragraphs, images, charts, frames ... and correct your page's source code; - Style sheet editor, which you can use to define styles without having knowledge of a particular language; - A tool for encrypting all the resulting files. It also includes an FTP program for uploading the resulting files to a server.

Postman

Postman, Inc.

XAMPP

Apache Friends

If you have ever tried to mount an Apache web server, you will have realised it's not easy. In case you also need to instal a database manger like MySQL or a language fr the server like PHP, that task gets even harder. Thanks to XAMPP you'll be able to install Apache + PHP + MySQL in just 5 minutes. Forget log and hard steps, you only need to follow steps given by this easy wizard. Although those three parts are the most known, XAMPP can install other utilities such as PHPmyAdmin, OpenSSL, PERL or Webalizer, so you'll be able to have a full-featured server without having to work a lot. No matter if you are installing a local server for tests or if you are instaling a real online web server, XAMPP is the easy way to do it.

Lively Wallpaper

rocksdanister

Lively Wallpaper is a free and open source program, that makes it easy to set spectacular animated and interactive wallpapers on your computer. Thanks to its huge community of users, you'll always find new animated backgrounds. And of course, you can also contribute your own creations if you'd like to do so. Once you've installed the program, all you'll have to do is right click on its icon in the taskbar to access all its features. From the main tab, you can quickly select some of the most popular animated and interactive backgrounds. With a single click, you can set them on your desktop. In addition, almost all of the wallpapers have special elements that you can customize to give them a unique touch. Among the most outstanding features of Lively Wallpaper is its high compatibility with all types of monitor setups and resolutions. The program works perfectly in multi-monitor configurations, as well as in ultra-wide aspect ratios; and you won't lose quality in either one of these two cases. Another interesting feature is that when the program is in the background, for example when you start playing any video game, the animated background will pause and stop using resources. This way, it won't affect your computer's performance. Lively Wallpaper is one of the best alternatives that you can find on Windows to customize your desktop and give it a really unique look. Many of the animated and interactive backgrounds that you'll find will make looking at your computer screen without doing anything almost fun.

AquaSnap

Grégory Journé

AquaSnap is a free application that will make possible to power up these two functions by assigning them new operations and multiplying their possibilities. AeroSnap can beassociated to 8 different positions of the screen, allowing us to place windows in 8 different ways. AeroShake let us position the shaken window over the rest and apply transparencies. In addition, AquaSnap offers us the function AquaGlass, that applies transparencies to windows when we move them.