Which free software to exploit the full potential of your computer … and your mobile ?

Note : This page has been translated into English from French by a machine translation tool

This content is a follow-up to the article The software you will certainly need. If you haven’t read it yet, we invite you to read it before continuing on this page.

However, some may consider that the software we have discussed in the latter has a major flaw, which is to allow access to their services only in exchange for a few dollars. Today, and fortunately, more and more computer software, utilities or digital services are offered free of charge. Thus, we will see here some of these free software that may very well meet the needs of some of you. We will also present you with some additional categories for which, as you will see, there is a wide variety of utilities that you can enjoy without having to pay a cent.

Office automation

The software suites presented below are free alternatives to Microsoft Office suites that may be sufficient for basic use.

• iWork (macOS and iOS)
  • Pages
  • Numbers
  • Keynote
• OpenOffice (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• LibreOffice (Windows, macOS, Linux and Android)

Note taking

When you don’t want to forget anything in your daily life and you like to write down everything that crosses your mind, whether it’s to think about taking the bread when you get out of work or to note your future life projects, these utilities will be of great interest to you. You can also use them to save media files such as images or videos that have left a lasting impression on you so that you don’t lose them.

• Microsoft OneNote (Windows, macOS, Android and iOS)
• Evernote (Windows and macOS)
• Simplenote (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS)

Messaging

You are looking for an alternative email client to Microsoft Outlook to manage another account or you simply want a free utility with interesting features. You can make your choice from the list below…

• Mozilla Thunderbird (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Opera Mail (Windows and macOS)
  • Opera Mail is no longer supported and there will be no more updates offered. However, it remains available for download…
• Mailspring (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Wavebox (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Polymail (macOS and iOS)

Instant messaging

• Franz (Windows, macOS and Linux)

We have put aside this utility because it offers both a messaging service to manage, for example, your Gmail account but it is also compatible with instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger offering the possibility of registering a multitude of accounts.

Security

The rapid growth in the number of endpoints connected to the Internet in recent years goes hand in hand with the increase in network threats to your most sensitive data or hardware. In order to fight against these digital threats, you can turn to one of the programs below which are free versions of the applications presented in our article The software you will certainly need.

• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free (Windows, macOS, Android, iOS et Chrome OS)
• SpyBot Search & Destroy Free (Windows)

Password management

You want to connect to one of the e-commerce sites on which you are used to order or even worse you need to connect to your bank’s site in order to stop your credit card that you just lost but you forgot your password. In order to avoid the more or less obvious and secure use of solutions to recover your passwords, you can use a password management tool…

• SafeInCloud (Windows, macOS, Android and iOS)
• LastPass (macOS)

These applications are also available as extensions for most popular web browsers.

Speed and system optimization

This will come as no surprise to anyone, a computer becomes saturated with unnecessary data over time and your hard drive becomes fragmented, which means that it slows down because of a large volume of files divided into fragments that are increasingly difficult for it to process and make it harder for it to access the items it needs. To combat this, you can use the utilities below to clean and defragment your system and give it a second lease of life. Some of them are the free versions of the applications presented in our article The software you will certainly need but you will also benefit here from a small addition…

• CCleaner (Windows and macOS)
• Auslogics Disk Defrag Free (Windows)
• Defraggler Free (Windows)
• PC Decrapifier (Windows)
• Windows10Debloater (Windows)
• AppCleaner (macOS)
• OnyX (macOS)

Entertainment

• Audio players
  • Tomahawk Player (Windows, macOS, Linux and Android)
  • VOX: MP3 & FLAC Music Player (macOS)
• Multimedia players
  • IINA (macOS) : video player
  • Kodi (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS) : multimedia file reading platform
  • Plex Media Server (Windows, macOS and Linux) : like Kodi, it is a platform for reading multimedia files
  • iTunes (Windows and macOS)
    • iTunes is no longer available under macOS since the macOS Catalina update. If you are using this version of the operating system, you can choose one of the other software above or use the Music, TV, Podcast and Books applications recommended by Apple for its replacement.

If you are a user of Microsoft’s Windows Media Player for your media files and enjoy it, you have the option of choosing a codec package to expand the number of supported formats. To do so, you can install one of the following applications…

• Codecs
  • Media Player Codec Pack (Windows)
  • K-Lite Codec Pack (Windows)

Display

• f.lux (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS)
  • f.lux allows you to adjust the color temperature of your screen according to your location and the time of day to reduce eye fatigue and the potentially negative effects of the famous blue light

Visual communication

• Skype (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS)
  • Skype is a free service as you already know. However, it is a tool that also allows you to make calls to cell phone numbers. This feature, however, will require you to get your hands on your wallet if you want to take advantage of it.

File compression

You have just received by e-mail a password-protected compressed file in ZIP format or you have just downloaded an application or a multimedia file in RAR format. Here are some applications that will allow you to open them but also to generate them in your turn…

• 7-Zip (Windows)
• 7ZX (macOS)
  • This is the equivalent of 7-Zip for macOS
• UnRarX (macOS)
• The Unarchiver (macOS)

Web browsing

• Google Chrome (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and Chrome OS)
• Mozilla Firefox (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS)
• Opera (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS)
  • Opera GX (Windows and macOS)
• Safari (Windows, macOS and iOS)
• Microsoft Edge (Windows)
• Vivaldi (Windows, macOS, Linux and Android)
• UC Browser (Android and iOS)
• Brave (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS)
  • It provides an alternative to previous solutions by being an open source solution based on Chromium, the open source base of Google Chrome, and is intended to be a faster and more powerful tool for protecting user data.

Storage and backup

No device is eternal, we know that. Your data, on the other hand, usually needs to last much longer than the devices on which it is stored. So, making a backup on the Cloud guarantees that you can both separate your data from your hardware so that it does not disappear with it and that you can easily restore it if necessary once you have replaced it. The services offered via the applications below will allow you to keep this data safe. Their download is free and these services provide you with up to 5GB of storage capacity for free.

• Microsoft OneDrive (Windows, macOS, Android and iOS)
• Cozy Drive (macOS)
• Dropbox (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS)

Data recovery

If, despite all the precautions taken to protect your hardware and protect your data with the tools presented above, you are victim of a sudden disappearance of all or part of this data from your hard drive following a failure of the latter, the infiltration of malicious software on your system or even a deletion by clumsiness, you can try to recover it. To do so, you can turn to one of the following applications which are free versions of the programs presented in our article The software you will certainly need.

• Recuva Free (Windows)
• Disk Drill Basic (Windows and macOS)
• EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free (Windows and macOS)
• MobiSaver Free (Android et iOS)

Free software for all your uses

Image processing

We integrate in this category all the software allowing to work on images whether it is a question of in-depth modification of images, creation of effects or photographic development.

• GIMP (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• PhotoFiltre Studio (Windows)
• Paint.NET (Windows)
  • Paint.NET, as the name implies, requires the presence of the Microsoft .NET Framework on your system to work (see our article Utilities to install on your PC to get the most out of Windows 10 to learn more about Microsoft .NET).
• Fotor Photo Editor (macOS)
• Autodesk Pixlr (Windows and macOS)
• RawTherapee (Windows, macOS and Linux)

Video editing

• Avidemux (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• VSDC Free Video Editor (Windows)
• Shotcut (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• AVID Media Composer First (Windows and macOS)
• Hitfilm Express (Windows and macOS)
• Lightworks (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• DaVinci Resolve (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• VideoPad Video Editor (Windows, macOS, Android and iOS)
• Kdenlive (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• iMovie (macOS)

Computer music and music production

• GarageBand (macOS and iOS)
• Audacity (Windows, macOS and Linux)

Desktop Publishing (DTP)

• iBooks Author (macOS)
  • This application allows the creation of digital books and their export, particularly in EPub format, so that they can be consulted on digital readers or on computers and mobile devices with the help of dedicated applications

Text editors and development environments

• Visual Studio Code (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Sublime Text (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Komodo (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Notepad++ (Windows)

If you are already a user of one of the applications presented here or if you are a very satisfied user of another software solution, we invite you to specify it in the comments…