1. 7-Zip ( Archiver )

7-Zip is a file archiver and open source software. No need to use winzip or anything else. It does everything for you without paying a single penny:

1. Supports many formats:
   1. Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
   2. Unpacking only: ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI, NSIS, RAR, RPM, UDF, WIM, XAR and Z.
2. Fast.
3. Free and open source.
4. High compression ratio.
5. Works best with Windows operating systems.

• Download 7-Zip

2. VLC ( Media Player )

Great media player which supports almost all formats (audio, video formats DVDs / VCDs, and various streaming protocols) and is stripped down to its most fundamental features (i.e. portable media player). A must have software for all anim and movie fans.

• Download VLC Media Player

3. True Crypt

TrueCrypt is an open source disk encryption tool. It provides disk or USB flash drive encryption for Linux and Windows operating systems. It has the following features:

• It creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
• It provides the following encryption algorithms:
  • AES-256
  • Serpent
  • Twofish

  Mode of operation: XTS

• It can also encrypt a partition or drive in which the operating system is installed.
• It provides two levels of plausible deniability in case an enemy forces it to reveal the password:
  • Hidden volume and hidden operating system
  • 2nd layer of encryption for sensitive contents

4. Calibre ( eBook Converter and Reader )

calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application. It supports the following features:

1. It manages your e-book collection for you. It can sort the books in your library by: Title, Author, Date added, Date published, Size, Rating, Series, etc.
2. Tags – a flexible system for categorizing your collection however you like
3. Comments – a long form entry that you can use for book description, notes, reviews, etc.
4. Search local ebooks or over the Internet using title/author or ISBN.
5. E-book conversion
6. Syncing to e-book reader devices
7. Downloading news from the web and converting it into e-book form (e.g., NYT, TOI, ESPN etc).

Without this software Sony or Amazon ebook reader is virtually useless for non-ebook format pdf reading.

• Download Calibre

5. GNU Cash

GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. Personally I like it because of its rich functionality and easy of use. GnuCash is similar to Microsoft Money and it is used by accountant, small business/home user etc. Features:

1. Double-entry bookkeeping
2. Scheduled Transactions
3. Mortgage and Loan Repayment Druid
4. Small Business Accounting Features
5. Transaction-Import Matching Support
6. Multi-Currency Transaction Handling
7. Stock/Mutual Fund Portfolios
8. Online Stock and Mutual Fund Quotes

• Download GNUCash