Freeware
Linux (Freeware)
- DroidCamX DroidCam turns your Android device into a wireless webcam. DroidCamX is a Windows and Linux desktop client for viewing the camera.
Linux Distributions
- CentOS A community version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
- Fedora XFCE XFCE spin of the Fedora desktop. Useful for lower powered desktops.
- Puppy Linux Extremely lightweight, yet versatile distribution of Linux. Can be run from a USB drive.
- Raspbian The Raspberry Pi Foundation's official operating system for the Raspberry Pi.
- Slax Linux Linux distribution designed to run off of a USB drive or over the network via IPXE. Very minimal. By default, only has a web browser and terminal installed. Anything else that is needed can be installed via apt.
- SystemRescueCd SystemRescueCd is a Linux system rescue disk available as a bootable CD-ROM or USB stick for administrating or repairing your system and data after a crash.
Windows (Freeware)
- 7-Zip Used to archive files. Can be used to open .zip files. Freeware alternative to WinZip.
- Apache OpenOffice If you're not willing to pay for Microsoft Office, this is one of the best freeware alternatives.
- Audacity Record and manipulate audio files.
- CCleaner One of the best Windows optimization tools available.
- CDBurnerXP CD & DVD burning utility.
- Chocolatey Package manager for Windows similar to apt-get or YUM on Linux distributions.
- Chocolatey GUI A graphical user interface (GUI) for Chocolatey.
- Deluge Torrent client.
- Ditto Clipboard manager for Windows.
- DroidCamX DroidCam turns your Android device into a wireless webcam. DroidCamX is a Windows and Linux desktop client for viewing the camera.
- Etcher The best utility for "burning" IMG files to an SD card. Must have for Raspberry Pi projects.
- FileZilla FTP (Client & Server) FTP Client & Server
- GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) Freeware alternative to Adobe Photoshop.
- GNU Wget Command line utility for downloading files.
- Greenshot Capture and edit screenshots.
- HandBrake Transcode videos from one format to another.
- IrfanView Basic image viewer. Great for batch rename or file format change operations.
- LockHunter Helps locate and delete locked files.
- MobaXterm Client for SSH, Telnet, Rsh, Xdmcp, RDP, VNC, FTP, SFTP, Serial, file browser, Shell, web browser, and Mosh
- mRemoteNG Multi-protocol remote access client supporting: RDP, VNC, ICA, SSH, Telnet, HTTP/HTTPS, rlogin, and Raw Socket Connections.
- Notepad++ Notepad++ is a free (as in "free speech" and also as in "free beer") source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages.
- Open Broadcaster Software Studio (OBS Studio) Great for recording screencasts or external video inputs.
- OpenLiveWriter Offline client for writing and publishing blog posts. Supports WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Moveable Type, DasBlog, and others.
- Process Explorer A part of the Microsoft Sysinternals suite. Gives a more in-depth look at the running processes on your Windows computer.
- PuTTY SSH and Telnet client. Great for connecting securely to remote systems running an SSH server (typically Linux & Mac systems). A must have for working on many Raspberry Pi projects.
- RDP Wrapper Enables multiple users to access a Windows desktop via RDP. Useful on systems where Microsoft only allows 1-2 users to access the system remotely via RDP.
- Recuva Assists in the recovery of lost or deleted files.
- Rufus Create bootable USB drives for Windows & Linux.
- Speccy See and export detailed system information.
- TightVNC Allows for remote viewing of a desktop. Not as secure as RDP. TightVNC has a viewer and server available.
- Virtual CloneDrive Mount an .ISO or .IMG file and have it appear as if it were a physical drive.
- VirtualBox Run virtual machines on your computer. Offers a few more features than Hyper-V such as USB controllers and RDP support for guest clients.
- VLC Media Player The best video player available for Windows. Plays almost everything you can throw at it.
- Win32 Disk Imager Useful for "burning" .IMG files to SD cards or reading SD cards into .IMG format.
- WinSCP Free SFTP, SCP, and FTP client.
Paidware
- Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop and Lightroom start at $10 per month.
- Adobe Lightroom Classic CC Great tool for managing and editing your photos. Dual monitor support.
- Adobe Photoshop CC
- Display Fusion Fantastic utility for managing multiple displays. There is a free version. I prefer the premium features.
- iDisplay Add an additional screen to your computer via an old phone or tablet. Not the fastest. Can feel gimmicky.
- Microsoft Office 365 At $10 per month with 1 TB of OneDrive storage included for 5 users; I find it hard not to subscribe to Office 365.
Android (Paidware)
- Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop and Lightroom start at $10 per month.
- Adobe Lightroom Classic CC Great tool for managing and editing your photos. Dual monitor support.
- Adobe Photoshop CC
Mac OS (Paidware)
- Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop and Lightroom start at $10 per month.
- Adobe Lightroom Classic CC Great tool for managing and editing your photos. Dual monitor support.
- Adobe Photoshop CC
Windows (Paidware)
- Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop and Lightroom start at $10 per month.
- Adobe Lightroom Classic CC Great tool for managing and editing your photos. Dual monitor support.
- Adobe Photoshop CC