Cheaper Geek

Spybot Search & Destroy

Free Anti-Spyware utility. On its own it is good but combined with Ad-Aware it provides outstanding protection. Just remember to run it once a week yourself as this program does not feature real time monitoring.

Ad-Aware SE Personal

Another great Anti-Spyware utility. Along with Spybot it provides outstanding protection. Just remember to run it once a week yourself as the free version does not have real time monitoring.

Anti Virus

AVG Free Edition

An outstanding virus scanner that is free for non-commercial home use.

 

Trend Micro - Free online Virus Scan

 

A great online Antivirus Scan.

---

Office and Productivity

OpenOffice.org

       Free office suite comparable to Microsoft Office. Also has the ability to read and save Microsoft Office files.

 

mpsoftware

 

Makers of the free programs HTML Gate and PHP Designer. These programs are good for HTML design and PHP Coding work.

 

Nvu - The Complete Web Authoring System for Linux, Macintosh and Windows

 

Based on the Mozilla Composer project this full featured web designer also features WUSIWUG editing that allows you to see how the page will look without needing to edit any actual code.

---

Internet

Firefox - Rediscover the web

 

Free browser that is standards compliant fast and customizable.

 

Thunderbird - Reclaim Your Inbox

 

E-Mail Client to compliment Firefox. Features a fast, customizable E-Mail client that also has smart spam filtering.

 

Google Chrome - A new web browser for Windows

 

An outstanding free FTP Client.

---

Utilities and Misc

 Yahoo! Widgets

 

Allows you to place little mini applications, called WIDGETS, on your desktop. They can do everything from tell the time or report the weather.

 

Google Earth - Home

 

Allows you to download and browse satellite imagery from all over the world and view it on a 3D Globe. Too many features to list.

 

WinZip

 

Utility for decompressing .zip archives. This is a must have utility for anyone who does not have Windows XP as older versions of Windows do not natively support the .ZIP format.

 

Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

Allot of documents on the internet, especially things like downloaded technical manuals or flyers, use a format called .PDF. Adobe Acrobat Reader will allow you to view and print these documents.

 

---