Personal Computer World

Skype v1.3.0.57

Freeware

Software that enables you to make very low cost phone calls, via your computer, across the world. You know how Skype to Skype calls are free and work? Well, weÆve taken the same recipe and applied it to file transfers. It works from Windows to Mac to Linux and the other way around. No platform problems here.

Requires: Windows 2000 or XP only

OpenOffice.org v2 beta

Freeware

With over 16 million downloads, this free Office suite has become a de-facto standard. Shipping with a Microsoft Office compatible word processor, spreadsheet, drawing tool and more. This is a the latest beta from the forthcoming v2 release, along with a new user-interface and much more.

Requires: Windows 98SE, 2000, Me or XP

Everest Home Edition v2

Freeware

System information and benchmarking tool with full hardware & software information. Built-in hardware database and physical information for CPU, motherboard, hard disks, optical drives, chipset and much more. On-screen info, printed, or saved as a report in HTML or text format.

Requires: Windows 98SE, 2000, Me or XP

Startup Inspector 2.2

Freeware

When you install software, the applications automatically set themselves so they start when you boot your computer, slowing your machine. Choose what you want to startup, or simply disable unwanted applications, using this inspector.

Requires: Windows 98SE or higher

Audacity 1.23

Freeware

Record and play sounds and import and export sound files. Edit your sounds using cut, copy, and paste features, mix tracks, or apply effects to your recordings. Built-in amplitude-envelope editor, a customisable spectrogram mode, and a frequency-analysis .

Requires: Windows 98SE, 2000, Me or XP

CutePDF Writer v2.3

Freeware

PDF is the de facto standard for the exchange of electronic documents and forms around the world. Installs itself as a "printer subsystem". This enables virtually any Windows applications (must be able to print) to create professional quality PDF documents - with just a push of a button!

Requires: Ghostscript (include - second 'install' button)