This is an early version. I'm trying to find a suitable CSS for this. Any suggestions for inclusions in this list are more than welcome.


Graphics & Web Design Software


GIMP
About as close to a free Photoshop as you're legally going to get.

Paint.net
Supports many pro paint package features and is a worthy alternative to GIMP.

Open Canvas
The last free version of Open Canvas.

Art Weaver
Paint program with natural media brushes for that traditional look.

Inkscape
Free vector art package. Excellent drawing tools.

Terragen
Free 3D landscape generation software. Impressive results, but untested.

Blender
Free 3D software. Untested.

Bryce 5.5
Impressive free 3D software. Untested.

Dreamspark
Free for university students and teachers only.

Creature House Expression
An earlier version of the above. You need an MSN account to download for free.

Notepad++
A source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages.

Photoscape
A simple, easy to use photo editor.

Photoshop Brushes:
Trendy Robot
PS Brushes
Brusheezy


System Tools


Tweakui
A very useful Microsoft utility that lets you sort out numerous issues with XP that for some reason they didn't provide as standard with XP. Remove autorun, “shortcut to” prefix and alter a whole load of other things you wish they'd given you the option to sooner.

Power Toys
This is the rest of the Microsoft Power Toys. It also includes Tweakui, but I found that particular download to be broken. Hence the previous link.

JKDefrag
An efficient replacement for the standard Defrag that comes with Windows.

AL Tools
A whole host of free tools. AL Zip in particular is recommended.

7Zip
While ALZip handles 7Zip files, some may still prefer the original.

CCleaner
Cleans the crap out of your system and registry.

RegClean
There's not much to it, but this tool from Microsoft might help speed up your machine by fixing registry problems and clearing clutter.

Daemon Tools
Mounts iso images as virtual drives. Ideal burning companion.

Imgburn
A lightweight burning application for CD, DVD and Blu-Ray.


Internet & Security


Firefox 2
For those who aren't so keen on Mozilla's latest, here's a link to where FF2 is archived.

Google Chrome
Google's internet browser is presently lacking in features, but there's no denying that Chrome has a pretty solid foundation.

Opera
Another extremely competent internet browser.

Mozilla Thunderbird
It certainly beats Outlook Express.

ZoneAlarm Firewall
I've used quite a few free firewalls, but this one is the most intuitive and secure of the ones I've tried.

Avast Anti Virus
The best free anti-virus software there is. It's also not just an annoying advert for the full software either (like AVGfree is). Registration is required, but free.

FileZilla
The best free FTP software that I've used.

Adaware
Adware detection and removal.

WinSCP
Another free FTP program. Untested.

Spybot S&D
Spyware remover. Untested.


Entertainment & Multimedia


Foobar
This media player offers full support for all major music file types, directory playing, volume levelling and mass ID3 tag editing. It's also very light on memory usage. It doesn't get any better than this.

VLC Media Player
Plays music and video.

Super
Plays and encodes music and video. Untested.

Audacity
While it's not too pretty, Audacity does a good job of editing audio.

Codecs:
Free Codecs.com


Office


Open Office
If you want free office software then this is without equal.