i recently came across a program called skype (www. skype.com) its a lot like any other instant message service but it has a call feature that lets you actually verbally talk to other users and actually make telephone calls though you have to pay for those calls (5 cents a min i think) anyhew you can also have conference calls (no video conferencing 
). i know there are other free programs that do similar things but i was surprised by the ease of use. so the point of this thread is who knows any really cool free programs and would like to share. they can be anything.
Umm, why would you download a program to make a phone call as opposed to picking up the telephone? 
why use a phone instead of skype (its just another way) becuase it has outher cool features but yes it just like a cell but then agian why use IM rather than calling people? becuase its cool. also the point of the thread is to exchange cool programs not point out obvious stupidities of aspects of the internet
Well, you could just use Skype for itās original purpose and do voice imāsā¦ 
One product that I used to use was http://www.freeworlddialup.com/, which allowed you to make free phone calls to any land line worldwide, yet I do not know if the program still works anymore, ever since they started to use Pulver Communicator as their medium of choice.
Firefox is also this neat little web browser that is near impossible to hijack and it doesnāt accept spyware as easily as Internet Explorerā¦ I think some people may have heard of it here as well 
OMG how I <3 Firefox. Anyways My IM program of choice right now is Trillian.
My family uses Skype to ācallā my siblings over in Europe (in London, Kiev, and Budapest). The whole āfreeā thing sure beats international rates! 
Dave
Yeah, Skype is great for international stuff. I used up a 600 minute phone card in 25 minutes talking to friends overseas. Insane. I got skype and my pair of headphonesā¦ free international call. Itās nothing Iād use to replace a real phone, but itās handy if you want to talk overseas.
okay its cool everyone loves Skype . but i made this post to see if people had any other cool free programs that they use.
Ok this is my list of my favorite Free Programs (though you can pay for some)! Also Yay for Open Source!
Firefox-Itās the offical nerd success story mozilla.org
Trillian/Gaim-No matter what operating system you are on these programs are a must for Instant Messaging Trillian (for windows) Gaim (for everything else)
Open Office-Total Owns Word Download here!
Spybot S&D 1.4-Well its the best spyware removal tool you can get here
Skype-Call me @ cdr1122334455 and if you donāt have it get it here
Winrar- No one can compact a file like they do it owns winzip
VLC Media Player-Its Small, efficent, and plays frigging everything, did i mention its free and Ad less unlike every other media player out there get it!
WindowBlinds-Itās got a lot of adās and stuff, but its my favorite skinning tool for windows looks pretty cool
i think thats most of the free programs i use.
yeah winrar really rocks
Because itās a lot cheaper, and free if you call another skype userā¦
Get yourself a copy oif Knoppix, itās a Linux live cd that comes with tons of cool software.
also for any of you who are looking for a free and great compiler. Dev-C++
Gaim is awesome, so is skypeā¦Iāve taken a liking to it quite wellā¦Firefox is a must!
For those who like graphics, try Pixia.
Lavasoftās Ad-Aware. Itās a spy-ware/ad-ware removal tool like Spybot, but much more thorough.
AstonShell - replaces Explorer as your Windows shell. VERY cool. www.astonshell.com
For the best is open source audio editing, you canāt go wrong with Audacity.
For general ripping needs, I use CDex, also free. Downloads here. .
Those are my favorites, off the top of my head.
-Andy A.
see this is what i like all these really amazing programs that no one ever hears about plus alot of really usefull ones to boot
Here are some that havenāt been mentioned yet.
RamBooster "With RamBooster you can continuously monitor the amount of RAM. If the amount of free RAM goes too low, free more with RamBooster. RamBooster can do this automatically if you wish.
Iāve had this on my laptop for awhile and it seems to work when your system gets sluggish.
My favorites include ClearType Tuner, Alt-Tab Replacement, Power Calculator (nice replacement for the normal calc), and Tweak UI (lots of nice hidden things you can edit with this).
Microsoft AntiSpyware formerly known as GIANT AntiSpyware
This program works well for scanning and deleting spyware on your laptop. The program is similar to most antivirus software.
A good multimedia program for playing all sorts of file types.
A great skinable desktop calendar. This is one of my favorite programs for my laptop.
A great program for listening to other peoples iTunes music when on a network.
Graphical Alt-Tab replacement for XP.