Favorite Freeware authors/companies?

[Susan Bugher]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
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Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[Ron May]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

Susan

Karen Kenworthy - http://www.karenware.com/

Mark Russinovich & Bryce Cogswell - http://www.sysinternals.com/

Nir Sofer - http://www.nirsoft.net/

http://www.analogx.com/

I use at leat a half dozen apps from EACH of the above sources. It
would take me hours just to write short thumbnail sketches of all the
apps on my system from them. Someone new to the freeworld could spend
the better part of a couple of days browsing what's available.

 

[ceg]

AnalogX and Pablo Van Der Meer...both have small, clean programs

 

[GoodTime Barnie]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

Susan

Nir Sofer - http://www.nirsoft.net/
just counted and I have 18 of his little proggies and use them all
regularly

http://www.analogx.com/
5 from here, trying out his Torrent proggie right now but haven't
made up my mind about it yet.

http://www.sysinternals.com/
Didn't count but I agree with Ron May some very good stuff here.

GoodTime Barnie

 

[Lennart]

Op Wed, 01 Feb 2006 20:12:02 -0500 schreef Susan Bugher:

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

Susan

xtort.net - some small apps i really like (eg xint, xsyspad). Has also good
program suggestions.

 

[Azzman]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more
apps that you use and like? What's special about them?

Susan

Matthew Allen
http://www.memecode.com/
small, no install, just nice programs.

Pablo van der Meer:
http://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com/
ditto.

and I would try anything by Irfan Skiljan, so far just one:
http://www.irfanview.com/
no introduction needed.

 

[Lou]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

Here is a summary of what was posted by about 8:20 EST


Karen Kenworthy - http://www.karenware.com/

Mark Russinovich & Bryce Cogswell - http://www.sysinternals.com/

Nir Sofer - http://www.nirsoft.net/

http://www.analogx.com/

I use at leat a half dozen apps from EACH of the above sources. It
would take me hours just to write short thumbnail sketches of all the
apps on my system from them. Someone new to the freeworld could spend
the better part of a couple of days browsing what's available.

Ron M.

***********

AnalogX and Pablo Van Der Meer...both have small, clean programs

From “ceg”

***********
Nir Sofer - http://www.nirsoft.net/
just counted and I have 18 of his little proggies and use them all
regularly

http://www.analogx.com/
5 from here, trying out his Torrent proggie right now but haven't
made up my mind about it yet.

http://www.sysinternals.com/
Didn't count but I agree with Ron May some very good stuff here.

GoodTime Barnie

***********

xtort.net - some small apps i really like (eg xint, xsyspad). Has also good
program suggestions.
(From Lennart)
***********
Matthew Allen
http://www.memecode.com/
small, no install, just nice programs.

Pablo van der Meer:
http://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com/
ditto.

and I would try anything by Irfan Skiljan, so far just one:
http://www.irfanview.com/
no introduction needed.
Azzman
***********

 

[Jeff Needle]

Great list -- thanks!

Karen Kenworthy - http://www.karenware.com/

Mark Russinovich & Bryce Cogswell - http://www.sysinternals.com/

Nir Sofer - http://www.nirsoft.net/

http://www.analogx.com/

I use at leat a half dozen apps from EACH of the above sources. It
would take me hours just to write short thumbnail sketches of all the
apps on my system from them. Someone new to the freeworld could spend
the better part of a couple of days browsing what's available.

 

[cmdrdata]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

I have used Kristen Tandee(s?) microCD in the past and it was a nice,
quick and simple program for burning CDs (www.silentnight2004.c0m). I
think shes heading toward payware now, though.

 

[B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try?

No. I just try software which I need at a given time or which I think
may come handy sometimes. There's no such thing as a blank cheque for
testing to anybody. ;-)

But there is a couple of freeware authors I check first when need for
a new tool arises.

Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like?

I don't even try to count them. (Big thanks to *all* of them,
nevertheless!!)

Some of my favorite authors already have been mentioned. Or let's
put it the other way round: Except Karenware tools no author seems
to have been listed in this thread by now, whose apps I don't like.

Other authors - I think particularly competent - are:

Bruce Guthrie:
http://users.erols.com/waynesof/bruce.htm
Bob Ferguson:
http://hello.to/ferguson
Christophe Grenier:
http://www.cgsecurity.org
Diamond CS:
http://www.diamondcs.com.au
Horst Schaeffer:
http://home.mnet-online.de/horst.muc
Veit Kannegieser:
http://kannegieser.net/~veit/programm

What's special about them?

All of them write gems often found nowhere else. The programs are of
very good quality and small in size, but very powerful. Most programs
are written for the command line. So they can be used to automate
every-day tasks. (Which makes life much more simple.)

That's the reason I don't care checking Karens tools, anymore. I only
look into the resource hogs written with Visual Basic as a last resort.
And Karen sometimes multiplies problems with inept programming
strategies. (Totally IMHO.) But there are lots of people wo think
different. So life gets more colorful.

BeAr

 

[Susan Bugher]

That's the reason I don't care checking Karens tools, anymore. I only
look into the resource hogs written with Visual Basic as a last resort.

LOL, we're going to have to start talking about "Boomer AND BeAr" size
apps. I too agree that small is beautiful.

I'm a bit surprised - no one has mentioned Mike Lin or Marek Jedlinski
yet. . .

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
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Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[John Fitzsimons]

Op Wed, 01 Feb 2006 20:12:02 -0500 schreef Susan Bugher:

xtort.net - some small apps i really like (eg xint, xsyspad). Has also good
program suggestions.

Answers here should really be considered for a "Freeware Hall of Fame"
listing.

Top of the list would be Kan Yabumoto.

http://www.xxcopy.com/index.htm

http://www.xxclone.com/

People like Alex Balfour should be there as well :

http://www.stokepoges.plus.com/

Regards, John.

--
****************************************************
,-._|\ (A.C.F FAQ) http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html
/ Oz \ John Fitzsimons - Melbourne, Australia.
\_,--.x/ http://www.vicnet.net.au/~johnf/welcome.htm
v http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/

 

[Renan]

sudo rm -rf /home/Susan Bugher:

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

Mediachance (www.mediachance.com) has some nice "Digital Camera Tools"
(http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/index.html). I like their programs
so much that I ended up buying one of their commercial products ([OT]
Photo-Brush, a image editor that IMHO beats the hell out of [OT] the
more expen$ive Photoshop)

 

[SeaMaiden]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always* try?
Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps that
you use and like? What's special about them?

Susan

Anything made by Javacool Software or Merijn Bellekom.

 

[Azzman]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

One more: if he ever turns up again and starts programming again, I would
certainly try his software:
Alex Kaufman
Small no install abandonware:
http://www.geocities.com/kaufmansoft/

 

[Susan Bugher]

I'm curious. . . Are there authors whose new programs you *always*
try? Which Freeware authors (or companies) have created two or more apps
that you use and like? What's special about them?

Many thanks for the answers so far. I'm hoping for more. I've been
having trouble remembering names - decided maybe others are too.

so. . .

I sorted out the authors who have more than one program listed on the
ACF program information pages. FWIW - there are over 3000 authors listed
on those pages ATM, about 350 of them have more than one app listed.
That "small select group" of authors is listed alphabetically below
(apologies for the length of the post).

If you especially like some of these authors please post their names and
what you like about their programs.

Susan


(Adam Stiles)
(Adrian Carter)
(Alain Lecomte)
(Alex Fauland)
(Alex Kaufman)
(Alexander Grau)
(Analog X)
(Anders Petersson)
(Andrew West)
(Angus Johnson)
(Antoine Potten)
(Antonio Da Cruz)
(Armin Müller)
(bCheck)
(Bill Reid)
(Björn Ischo)
(Bram Bos)
(Brian Apps)
(Brian Shepherd)
(Cyril Cambien)
(Daisyman)
(Dale Nurden)
(Daniel Hoppe)
(Dariusz Stanislawek)
(Darrell C. Sydlo)
(David Taylor)
(Detlev Schaefer)
(Dirk Paehl)
(Dominik Jain)
(Don Neufeld)
(Eitan Gilboa)
(Elias Fotinis)
(Eric Nitzsche)
(Eric Pörsel)
(Erik Deppe)
(Ernie Negus)
(F.T. Fuchs)
(Falk Petro)
(Finn Ekberg Christiansen )
(Florian Balmer)
(Francis Li)
(Frank Brower)
(Gael Schwarz)
(Greg Lorriman)
(Gregory Braun)
(Gregory Conti)
(Guido Vollbeding)
(Helmut Dersch)
(Hiroyuki Hori )
(Horst Schaeffer)
(Hutch)
(Ian Sharpe)
(Jackass JoeJoe)
(James Garton)
(Jan Goyvaerts)
(Jan Horn)
(Jan Verhoeven)
(Jason Levine)
(Jem Berkes)
(Jim Willsher)
(Johannes Wallroth)
(John Newbigin)
(John Walker)
(Jouni Vuorio)
(Jozsef Ladányi)
(Juan M. Aguirregabiria)
(Karen Kenworthy)
(Kent Briggs)
(Kevin Solway)
(KinKo (Kintoen))
(Kristof Gajsek)
(Kurt Zimmermann)
(L. A. De Buys)
(Lado Brisar)
(Lars Hederer)
(Leif Claesson)
(Lennert Ploeger)
(Leroy Dissinger)
(Luis Cobian)
(Luisa Arevalo Klose)
(Luzius Schneider)
(Marek Jedlinski)
(Marianne Wartoft)
(Mark Howard)
(Mark Overmars)
(Markus Stephany)
(Merijn Bellekom)
(Miha Psenica)
(Mike Lin )
(Mouser)
(Nakashima Tomoaki)
(Nikola Dachev)
(Nikos Bozinis)
(Noël Danjou)
(Paul A. Roberts)
(Paul Bowlay)
(Paul Lutus )
(Paul Lutus)
(Paul McKnight)
(Peter Bone)
(Peter Theill)
(Philip Perkmann)
(Phillip Sassano (dos-man))
(Pierre-E Gougelet)
(Pierre-Marie DEVIGNE)
(Piro)
(Randal Ford)
(Robert Thivierge)
(Robert Vasicek)
(Robin Keir)
(Roger Sondermann)
(Sam Franke )
(Satish Kumar)
(Skip Bremer)
(Stefan Pettersson)
(Steffen Gerlach)
(Stephan van der Palen)
(Stephen J. Weeks)
(Steve Seymour)
(The Info-ZIP Group)
(Thomas Bigler)
(Tim Charron)
(Tim Kosse)
(Tom Revell)
(TsuruZoh Tachibanaya)
(Ulli Meybohm)
(Ulrich Krebs)
(Vampirefo)
(Vassili Bourdo)
(Victor Sapojnikov)
(Vtie)
(W. Speek)
(Weird)
(Xtort)
2BrightSparks
ACD Systems
AcroPDF Systems Inc.
Adobe Systems Inc.
AltaVista
AM Productions (Anish Mistry)
AmberRor Software
AMPsoft (Alberto Martinez Perez)
ArcSoft
Arisesoft
Art Plus
AutoDesk
Axogon (Alexei Vetchinin and Alexei Galakhov)
Babya Software Group (A. A. Fussy)
BackTec Software
BAxBEx Software
Bernie-Built Manufacturing (Bernie Madigan)
BirdCage Software
BlackSun Software
Blaiz Enterprises
Bluefive software (David De Groot)
Bobyte Software (Heri Lesmana)
Boolean Dream
BooZet (Budy Setiawan Kusumah)
Borland
Brad Smith Software (Bradford Smith )
BySoft
Catch22 Productions (James Brown)
Cetus Software
Chaos Software Group Inc.
Chesterway Web Services (Brian)
Chime Softwares Ltd
Coda Music Technology
CoffeeCup Software
Cogitum LLC
Contact Plus Corporation
ContextMagic.com
Convar
Copernic Technologies Inc.
Corel
Cosmic Wolf Software
COWON America (JetAudio)
Cox SoftWare
CursorArts Company
darkwet network
DC Software Design Inc. (David Ching)
Dexadine Inc.
Diamond Computer Systems Pty. Ltd.
Digi Tallis
Digiarch.org (P. Maas & T. Hoekstra)
DLSoftware
Duality Software
EasyCool Software
Emogic Software
Emsa Systems Ltd.
Emsi Software GmbH
EnigmaticSoftware (David M. Pochron)
EnTech Taiwan
Epsilon Squared Inc. (Gavin Stark)
ESB Consultancy
ESTSoft
Ethridge Software
FastStone Soft (Andrew Lu)
FlashPeak Inc.
FortuneCity (Mehrdad Hatteffi)
Foundstone (a division of McAfee) (Robin Keir)
Freebyte
Freebyte (Henk Hagedoorn)
FreshDevices Software
Funduc Software
GD Software
Geac Computer Corporation Limited
Geekcorp Software
GEOSoft (Bindar Dundat)
Gibin Software House
Gibson Research Corporation (Steve Gibson)
Google
Green Eclipse
GridinSoft
Grig Software
Groone's World (Groone)
Gulf Coastal Software
Hamrick Software
HarmWare
Hilgraeve Inc.
Home Plan Software
Hover Inc. (Thibaud Djian; Russ Schwenkler)
Huntersoft
Iconico (Nico Westerdale)
IMSI
Informative Graphics Corp.
Intermute Inc.
Iomega
Ipswitch
Javacool Software LLC
JDMCox Software (Doug Cox)
Jetico Inc.
Kana Solution
KanastaCorp
Kent's Internet (Kent H.)
KissySoftware
Kobayashi Software
Kreatives.org
Kurtz-Fernhout Software (Paul D. Fernhout and Cynthia F. Kurtz)
Lavasoft
LeechGet 2002 (Martin Albiez)
Leeos Software (Lior Ostrowsky)
Leo van Opstal (Topdownloads Network)
Lexacorp
Lexun
LIGHTNING UK!
Lion Tech (Peter Stuer)
LitePC Technologies Pty Ltd (Shane Brooks)
Lucersoft
Lux Aeterna
Magical Jelly Bean Software (Aleks Ozolins)
Max2k
MechCAD Software
Mediachance
MeeSoft
MemeCode Software (Matthew Allen)
MetaProducts Software Corp.
Micromega Software System
Microsoft
Mirek's Free Windows Software (Mirek Wojtowicz)
Moon Software
Moor Computer Productions (Peter Moor)
Mozilla.org
mpesch3's mp3 tools (Martin Pesch)
MPSOFTWARE (Michael Pham)
Myriad Software
NASA
NCH Swift Sound
Neogie Software (Gilles Guédikian)
New Breed Software
NirSoft (Nir Sofer)
NirSoft (Nir Sofer)
Nokia
Nullsoft
NuonSoft
O&O Software GmbH
ornj.net (Mark McIntyre)
Outer Technologies
Overware Systems (Bob Dolan)
Pablo Software Solutions (Pablo van der Meer)
Palware
Panopsys
Patrick Computer Services
PawPrint
PC Mag
PGP Corporation (Phil Zimmermann (original author))
Phoxel Inc.
Pine Grove Software
Pirate Pete's Software Emporium (Jack R. Voltz)
PLWorx Software Development
pmaSoftware
POKLUDA
Price Media
protonFX (Dirk T. Manders)
Pyrenean
Qualcomm
Really Slick Screensavers (Terry Welsh)
RealNetworks Inc.
Resplendence Software Projects Sp.
RjH Software
RJL Software
Sadhu Systems
Sarasoft
Serif
Siber Systems
SillySot Software
SilverAge Software
Singer's Creations (Mike Singer)
Skylark Utilities
SlavaSoft Inc.
Smart Projects
SoftCentre Inc. (Steve Teale)
Softnik Technologies
Software602
Software995
South Bay Software
Space Dolphin (Laurent Berger)
Spadix Software
Splinterware Software Solutions
Starglider Systems (Luiz Marques)
SUN Microsystems
Survivor
Symantec
Sysinternals (Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell)
Sysinternals (Mark Russinovich)
TawbaWare
Tek Design
TeraByte Unlimited
thyanté Software (M.-M. Christen)
Tinnes Software
ToniArts (Toni Helenius)
TonTin Press
TriVista
Two Pilots
TypingMaster Inc. (Tommi Utriainen)
ULEAD
UltraFunk
UniDream Marketing Technologies Inc.
Ur I.T. Mate Group (Steven Burn)
V Communications Inc.
Vallen-Systeme GmbH
Virdi Software
Visicom Media
WASEO (Thorsten Helbing)
Welshware (Carl Harrison)
Wheatworks Software
WhitSoft Development
Widget Technologies (Alex Gagnon)
WinAbility Software Corporation
WiredPlane Labs
xCAT-Industries
XemiComputers
xiberpix.com (GJR Jones)

*************

 

[SeaMaiden]

Susan Bugher wrote:
If you especially like some of these authors please post their names and
what you like about their programs.

(Analog X)

small, simple, user-friendly, reliable (except for DLL Archive, which I
don't like).

(Kurt Zimmermann)

RegCool has a beautiful XP-style interface, not plain old Win9x style. I
just wish it weren't expireware. It is the best free registry editor I have
ever found anywhere. Many authors don't take the time to make a nice
interface or to let the user change fonts/colors. He does, and functionality
is just as nice.

(Merijn Bellekom)

Great small security tools. BugOff patches exploits for which there is no
Windows patch. Very reliable software (except for StartupList 2.0, which
still has bugs.) StartupList 1.52.1 is great. HijackThis is great, but you
should get advice from an expert before removing anything. Luckily, there
are still forums to help you with that.

(Pierre-E Gougelet)

He is the creator of XnView, the best free graphics viewer around. It
supports over 400 image formats and it has a lot of features for editing
pictures. Like Kurt Zimmerman, Pierre puts a lot into the interface so the
user can change toolbar skins and fonts/colors. I like that his apps have
different versions (different sizes) and plugins, so the user can download
only the one(s) they want. Available in multiple languages. Compatible with
Windows 95 and up. Great support forum.

BAxBEx Software

Their stuff is shareware. What's free?

Chaos Software Group Inc.

I love Atomic Clock Sync and don't know why X-cleaner flags it as having
adware. There are several time servers to choose from. I do wish Chaos
Software would lower their price on their shareware stuff (too expensive).

FreshDevices Software

You get many features for free. No ads in their programs, just on their
website and in their emails. Three of their programs are great, but their
support sucks big time.

Funduc Software

New & innovative. ZonedOut is a program I've wanted someone to write for
years. Glad someone finally did. Still needs some features, though.

Gibson Research Corporation (Steve Gibson)

Many free security-related tools. Patches exploits for which there is no
Windows patch. Small, safe, easy.

Javacool Software LLC

Many free security-related tools, a few which have become standard in the
fight for spyware. Small, safe, reliable, nice interface.

Lavasoft

Ad-Aware is a great companion for antispyware, but it is still a resource
hog and should not be your primary antispyware program. At least it is now
skinnable.

Microsoft

Though some of their programs are still way too expensive, you do still get
a lot of nice programs and tools for free. Their website is EXCELLENT with
lots of documentation. Their programs go through a lot of testing before
they are released. Anything made by Microsoft is most likely safe and is
probably compatible with Windows. Their tech support may be expensive (and
credit-card only), but I love that they have so many different newsgroups
you can turn to for free. Some people love MS. Some hate MS. You can't
please everyone all the time. Every company has its good and its bad.

Mozilla.org

Firefox is indeed the next generation browser, and it's a very safe and
secure browser. It's giving Internet Explorer some serious competition. I
love that Firefox and Thunderbird are open source. Their website has a lot
of documentation and a great support forum.

NASA

So many great space pictures for FREE!

 

[Doc]

New & innovative. ZonedOut is a program I've wanted someone to write for
years. Glad someone finally did. Still needs some features, though.

ZonedOut is FunkyToad software.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Their stuff is shareware. What's free?

These apps are free for personal use or just plain free:

bxNewFolder
FolderBox
IrfanView ShellExtension
OpenExpert

http://www.baxbex.com/products.html

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[dszady]

Many thanks for the answers so far. I'm hoping for more. I've been
having trouble remembering names - decided maybe others are too.

so. . .

I sorted out the authors who have more than one program listed on the
ACF program information pages. FWIW - there are over 3000 authors listed
on those pages ATM, about 350 of them have more than one app listed.
That "small select group" of authors is listed alphabetically below
(apologies for the length of the post).

If you especially like some of these authors please post their names and
what you like about their programs.

[...]

Author: Linus Torvalds
Program: The Linux Kernel