Essentially free

Audio editor AudacityAudacity is a powerful audio editing software that can record multiple tracks of audio and supports batch processing You can add sound effects edit audio tracks and even import music into the programme The editor works with upto 32bit audio without using too many resources You can run the programme on almost any computer because of the low hardware requirement The program also supports a wide variety of file types letting you import and export from and to any audio program Audacity is a great program for fledgling podcasts or musicians trying to create their first demo Audacity is available for Windows macOS and LinuxWhere to download wwwaudacityteamorgDesktop publishing suite ScribusScribus is a crossplatform free alternative to Adobe InDesign The software is great for people who want to create publishing materials complete with page numbers colour separation and crop marks If you have never used a Desktop Publishing Suite before the learning curve is a little steep but if you are coming from InDesign or QuarkXPress the software is pretty easy to use and understand You can create everything from a newspaper to a brochure to a magazine directly from this application The issue with Scribus is that you cannot save your file or export it to other desktop publishing file formats which is a little disappointing The software is available on Windows macOS and LinuxWhere to download wwwscribusnetImage editing software GimpAdobe Photoshop is perhaps the most famous image editing software but that versatility comes at a heavy price which is unaffordable for some Gimp short for GNU Image Manipulation Program offers a similar feature set to Adobe with a very familiar interface The program over the years has turned into a worthy rival to Photoshop packing a variety of tools Gimp is also capable of opening most image file formats saving the edits in any format the user chooses It is available on Windows macOS and LinuxWhere to download wwwgimporgIllustrator InkscapeAdobersquos Creative Suite is very expensive but the tools they provide are invaluable It is one of the best programs to make illustrations in Adobe Illustrator However if you donrsquot have the budget then Inkscape is a great alternative The application works on several platforms including Windows macOS and Linux Inkscape packs in a lot of pro designing tools and works even on old computers It is compatible with most other illustration programs and can open and export The only dowside is that the software looks clunkierWhere to download httpsinkscapeorgOffice suite LibreOfficeMicrosoft Office has dominated the office suite for decades but they can get expensive especially if you keep upgrading to the latest version Libre Office offers a viable free alternative They have Writer a word processor similar to Word Calc which is their version of Excel and Impress for presentations LibreOffice can open and save the files in many different formats LibreOffice is available on several platforms including Windows macOS and LinuxWhere to download www libreofficeorgVideo editor DaVinci ResolveDaVinci Resolve is a video editing software made by BlackMagic a company that makes powerful but compact video cameras The software is comparable to Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premier and includes several features Most other free clones donrsquot come close to the DaVinci Resolve and this is mostly because the company wanted to build something that their camera users would love It must be noted that there is a Pro Studio version of DaVinci Resolve as well but the free version is just as powerful as the Pro and there isnrsquot much of a difference for most people who use it The program is available on Windows macOS and LinuxWhere to download wwwblackmagicdesigncominproductsdavinciresolveEBook reader CalibreIt is unbelievably difficult to find a decent eBook reader on Windows Calibre is one of the few good eBook readers for Windows it is also available for Linux and macOS If you arenrsquot comfortable installing the software you can even run it from a USB stick Calibre can read almost any file format including epub CBZ AZW Mobi and PDF Calibre also acts as a library for your eBooks organizing them with ISBNs tags and even a summary The app has an inbuilt editor that can be used to add notes to your favourite books Calibre can also automatically download interesting stories from magazines and newspapers It has tieups with leading content houses to allow you access to the latest news from around the world Where to download httpscalibreebookcomdownloadFile compressor 7ZipZipping tools are needed to save bandwidth while sending files across the Internet You can use 7Zip to unpack almost any compressed file format and its 7Z format The zipped files are encrypted and password protected The software can also install context Menus in Windows where you can zip or unzip a file just by rightclicking While 7Zip is an excellent program it does take much longer to compress filesWhere to download httpswww7ziporgVideo player VLCVLC or VideoLAN client is a powerful video player that has a lot of hidden features just waiting to be discovered You can pretty much run any video format on the player it also plays a variety of audio formats You can stream videos directly on the player and with a few plugins that can be downloaded from the Internet you can also stream videos from sites like Vimeo Youtube and other websites The player also lets you do some basic video editing but I wouldnrsquot recommend anyone attempting to do so The app is also available on multiple platforms including Windows macOS Linux iOS Android and several moreWhere to download httpswwwvideolanorgvlc