Not all of the best applications have to paid for. There are a huge amount of quality freeware applications out there that are that are just as good, if not better than, the paid-for alternatives.
Here is some of my favourite freeware applications around right now.
Click on the image of any of these applications to visit the website of the software manufacturer.
GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image conversion, image composition and image authoring.
AUDACITY
Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to: Record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together, change the speed or pitch of a recording and more!
AVIDEMUX
Free video editing software that supports a wide variety of video codecs including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4, ASF and even FLV formats.
Very handy for splicing together those youtube videos.
CCLEANER
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner
DEFRAGGLER
A great little freeware defrag program.
Simply run it, select the file and defragment in seconds. No more struggling with the Windows defragmentation tool!
CDBURNERXP
CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free.
K-LITE CODEC PACKS
Probably the best codec packs on the net.
Available in various packages (basic/full/mega etc.)