PC World Reveals List of "101 Fantastic Freebies"

CreativePro Staff

Today, PC World released its “101 Fantastic Freebies” article https://find.pcworld.com/56879, which includes a wide range of free services, downloads, Web sites, and more. Also included is the “People’s Choice Awards” https://find.pcworld.com/56820 survey with input from PCWorld.com visitors. The story is featured in PC World’s May 2007 issue, and will be on newsstands April 10.
For anyone who’s ever wondered which free email service is really the best, or what’s the easiest way to back-up your system, this article delivers valuable information about where to find these freebies. PC World editors tested and evaluated hundreds of downloads and services before narrowing it down to the top 101, with a designated “winner” in each of 23 categories from desktop search tools to video sites. Each service or program had to meet certain criteria in terms of design, usefulness, functionality, and of course, they all had to be free.
From standard services we are all familiar with like IM and e-mail, to freebies that have directly impacted peoples’ lives, PC World editors covered it all. For example, Captain Ronnie Young of the United States Air Force said that Craigslist and Google Earth actually helped save lives during Hurricane Katrina. He and his team used Craigslist to scour the hundreds of postings that listed missing loved ones, and used Google Earth to cross-reference street addresses as existing maps of New Orleans were completely useless since half the city was under water. Young said, “Just because it’s free, that doesn’t mean it’s not up to the task of doing great things…I definitely can credit those free tools for absolutely saving lives.”
Here is the list of our 101 Fantastic Freebies, broken out into 23 categories:

• Desktop Search
  • Google Desktop (winner)
  • Copernic Desktop Search
  • Windows Desktop Search
  • Yahoo! Desktop Search
• Windows XP Tweaks
  • Fresh UI (winner)
  • Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
  • Tweak and Tune
• Windows Vista Tweaks
  • TweakVI Basic (winner)
  • VistaBootPRO
  • Easy BCD
• Instant Messaging, Voice, and Video
  • Meebo (winner)
  • Jajah
  • Skype
  • Gizmo
  • Yahoo! Messenger
  • Trillian
  • Windows GAIM
  • Google Talk
• Security
  • Avast (winner)
  • ZoneAlarm
  • AVG Anti-Virus Free
  • SMAC
  • Microsoft Windows Defender
  • Spybot Search & Destroy
• Entertainment
  • VLC Media Player (winner)
  • iTunes
  • Foobar2000
• Image Editing
  • Google Picasa (winner)
  • Snapfire
  • Irfanview
  • StudioLine Photo Basic
  • Microsoft Photo Info
  • FastStone MaxView
  • Media Purveyor
  • GIMP-GNU Image Manipulation Program
  • Paint.Net
• Email for Free
  • Gmail (winner)
  • Yahoo! Mail
  • Microsoft Windows Live Mail
  • Spamato
  • Thunderbird
  • Eudora
  • IncrediMail
• File Sharing
  • AllPeers (winner)
  • Pando
  • uTorrent
• Backup and File Synchronization
  • Mozy (winner)
  • MediaMax
  • XDrive
  • Microsoft SyncToy
  • Everyday Auto Backup
  • Microsoft Foldershare
• Office Productivity Software & Services
  • Zoho (winner)
  • Portable Apps
  • Google Docs and Spreadsheets
  • Num Sum
  • Ajax 13
  • OpenOffice.org
• Time Management
  • Backpack (winner)
  • Google Notebook
  • Sticky Notes
  • Easy To-Do
• Registry Cleaner
  • TweakNow RegCleaner Standard (winner)
  • Clean My Registry
• Hardware Utility
  • Belarc Advisor (winner)
  • SpeedFan
  • M2 Information
• Personal Web
  • Pageflakes (winner)
  • Netvibes
  • Protopage
  • Google Personalized Home
  • Windows Live
• Blogging
  • Google Blogger (winner)
  • WordPress
  • LiveJournal
  • Microsoft Windows Live Spaces
  • AOL People Connection
  • Yahoo! 360
• RSS Reader-Online
  • Bloglines (winner)
  • NewsGator Online
  • Google Reader
• RSS Reader-Software
  • Sage (winner)
  • Active Web Reader
  • Tristana RSS Reader
  • MCE RSS Reader
• Web Video Site
  • YouTube (winner)
  • Blinkx
  • Yahoo! Video
  • Google Video
• Notepad Replacement
  • NoteTab Light (winner)
  • Crimson Editor
  • EditPad Lite
• Multimedia Tools and Toys
  • Audacity (winner)
  • Free iPod Video Converter
  • PSP Video 9
  • DVD Shrink
• Business Productivity
  • Google Apps for Your Domain (winner)
  • Microsoft Office Live
  • FreeCRM.com
• Other
  • Craigslist
  • Google Earth
  • Last.fm
  • MySpace
  • PureVolume

To see a list of the freebies broken out alphabetically, go to: https://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130045-page,13-c,freeware/article.html?tk=pr_3/28/07 (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser’s address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
In addition to the “101 Fantastic Freebies”, we heard from more than 1,800 PCWorld.com readers who rated their satisfaction with the most prominent free software or services in seven main categories for the “People’s Choice Awards”: Antispyware, Web e-mail, Image editing, Media playback, Instant messaging, Desktop search, and Video sharing. This allowed readers to share their opinions with fellow readers and site visitors.
About PC World Communications
PC World Communications, Inc. is the publisher of PC World, PCWorld.com (https://www.pcworld.com), and home of the PC World Test Center. The winner of the 2005 Maggie Award for Best Computer Magazine/Consumer, PC World has a readership of nearly 4.3 million total purchase influencers (IntelliQuest CIMS, Fall 2006: Total unduplicated, combined Average Issue Audience: Business, Home, and Dual Studies). With an average of over 6.7 million unique visitors per month (HitBox, September 2006 – February 2007), PCWorld.com, winner of the 2005 Neal Award for Best Web Site, is a leading online resource for technology product buyers and users.