Must Have Free Applications for Windows XP

As you can imagine I have reinstalled Windows XP countless times. I have found it very handy to have a list of links to the free software programs. So I will share with you my post install programs:

Zone Alarm Free Edition
Zone Alarm Free Edition is basically only a firewall however I have found it to be extremely user friendly. You will note when you visit the website that there are different versions you can download however these are non-free. The advantage that using Zone Alarm as your primary firewall is that you will not be vulnerable to exploits in the Windows Firewall.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/
products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

AVG Free edition
The very next application I download is an Anti Virus program. There are quite a few free Anti Virus programs around. I have only used AVG Free edition and have found it to be excellent. It automatically updates itself and you can set it to scan your computer at given times. NOTE: It is important to update your virus database regularly to properly protect against new virus threats. I also use AVG spy ware remover, which can be download from the following link.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5

ThunderBird
Thunder Bird is an open source email client. It is very easy to use and is part of the Mozilla family. It has junk mail and anti phishing filters. Thunderbird also has built in RSS feed reader. An excellent replacement for outlook.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

OpenOffice.Org
OpenOffice.Org is an open source full-featured office suite that is very similar to Microsoft Office. You can even open and save to most Microsoft formats. Documents with highly complex formatting can be error some. OpenOffice.Org contains six applications:

Writer, is a word processor that is very similar to Microsoft Word.
Calc, is a spreadsheet application that has many of the features of Microsoft Excel.
Impress, is presentation software just like Microsoft PowerPoint.
Draw, allows you to produce diagrams and simple 3d illustrations.
Base, is a database type application similar to Microsoft Access.
Math, lets you create complex mathematical equations similar to Equation Edit.
http://download.openoffice.org/
Note: This is a large download, broadband only.

GIMP
GIMP is an open source software application that is similar to Photoshop. It does have a fairly different user interface and people coming from Photoshop might be a bit frustrated. For 95% of the graphics work I do the GIMP is sufficient.

Install Notes
You will need to install GTK+ 2 Run Time Environment before installing the GIMP for Windows. These are both standard windows installers and can be found:
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

Firefox
Firefox is another must have open source application. It has tabbed browsing, live RSS bookmarks, easy plug in integration and increased security features.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Democracy Player
Democracy allows you to play almost any video files. It also allows you to get Internet TV shows and has a built-in channel guide. It allows you to search video sharing websites like YouTube. Finally you can watch videos in full screen HD. This is a must have application.
http://www.getdemocracy.com/

NotePad++
Is a replacement application for the standard windows Notepad. NotePad++ has syntax highlighting, WYSWIG editing, Auto-completion, multi-document view and macro recording and playback to name but a few features.
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm

FreeMind
FreeMind is mind-mapping software that allows for the easy expression of ideas in a chart layout.
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/
Main_Page#Download_and_install

MediaCoder
MediaCoder is an open source application that allows for trans-coding of nearly any media format. Its typical application would be for ripping a DVD to MP4 or other formats.
http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/download.htm