我是开源软件(source software)的忠实粉丝，因为它是免费的，并且通常具有与商业应用程序相同的功能！开源软件(source software)的一个缺点是缺乏支持，但这个问题通常是由狂热的追随者发起的活跃论坛和社区线程来弥补的。
有大量免费软件应用程序可供您下载用于办公生产力(office productivity)、互联网(Internet)、多媒体、绘图、Windows 实用程序(utilities)等，但如果您不熟悉开源软件(source software)，您可能不知道哪个程序是最好的无数的选择。这是免费软件唯一的另一个缺点：其中一些包含垃圾软件，例如捆绑的应用程序或烦人的工具栏。
在本文中，我将提到几个我在寻找安全、干净的 免费软件应用程序(freeware apps) 下载时经常访问的网站。
Gizmo 的免费软件评论
Gizmo 的免费软件评论(Gizmo’s Freeware Review)网站必须是网络上寻找优秀免费软件应用程序的最佳网站。有很多网站拥有大量免费软件程序列表，每个程序的概述很少，但 Gizmo 的网站非常受欢迎，因为他们花时间编写详细的评论并测试他们审查的每个程序以确保其按预期工作。
您可以直接导航到页面顶部的类别，例如Windows、Mac、Linux、 iPhone/iPad 等。以前，它们仅涵盖Windows 和 Mac(Windows and Mac)，但最近它们已扩展到涵盖所有最流行的操作系统.
您还可以向下滚动并单击面板：最佳免费软件列表、免费软件类别和安全向导(Freeware Categories and Security Wizard)。我强烈建议您阅读安全向导(security wizard)，因为它为您提供了针对您的操作系统(operating system)、您的计算机专业知识水平(expertise level)以及您接触有风险的在线活动的安全软件列表。(security software)该向导还将告诉您如何确保您的PC(PC isn)没有受到感染，并为您提供有关如何在未来保护自己免受恶意软件、间谍软件和病毒侵害(spyware and viruses)的建议。
除此之外，该网站还有一个博客，其中包含大量关于各种有用技术主题的文章。他们从他们的评论页面链接到的许多文章，它使您对主题有非常深入的了解。
尼特
Ninite是另一项非常受欢迎的服务，我在设置新计算机或必须在计算机上重新格式化和重新安装操作系统(operating system)时经常与我的朋友和家人一起使用它。基本上(Basically)，它是一个程序，可让您一次下载多个免费软件应用程序(freeware apps)并安装它们，而无需单击下一步(Next)、下一步(Next)、下一步(Next)！
只需选择您要安装的应用程序，然后单击获取安装程序(Get Installer)按钮。
除了制作超级容易安装的免费软件应用程序之外，它还有其他几个主要好处。首先，所有软件都超级安全和干净。即使应用程序包含像Java这样的工具栏，Ninite也会阻止它安装工具栏。它还直接从官方网站下载最新版本的程序并检查哈希值以确保完整性。
其次，您应该将安装程序保存在计算机上的某个位置，而不是删除它，因为再次运行它会自动检查所有免费软件应用程序并下载(freeware apps and download)更新版本（如果有）。如果您已经安装了最新版本，它将跳过该程序。因此，使用安装程序就像拥有一个免费程序，它也会自动更新您的所有应用程序！
我最喜欢的是，如果我在 64 位操作系统(operating system)上运行安装程序，它将安装 64 位版本的软件。这个程序简直太棒了，将为您节省大量时间。
尼尔软件
如果您阅读了我以前的大量帖子，您就会知道我只是喜欢NirSoft的人们。它基本上是一个站点，其中包含为非常具体的任务而设计的许多小型实用程序。
想要复制存储在(Want)浏览器缓存(browser cache)中的视频文件？有一个实用程序(utility for that)。想通过鼠标滚轮控制计算机的音量吗？有一个实用程序(utility for that)。想查看存储在浏览器中的所有密码吗？有一个实用程序(utility for that)。你懂的图片！有超过一百个这些非常有用的实用程序运行得非常好。它们也不包含捆绑的垃圾软件或其他任何(crapware or anything)东西。
便携式应用程序
你有一个USB记忆棒(USB stick)吗？那么为什么不在那里安装PortableApps呢！它是存储在USB 记忆棒(USB stick)上的所有免费软件应用程序，您可以在任何机器上的任何位置使用。他们拥有多达 300 个合法版本的应用程序，这些应用程序经过改造后可在USB 记忆棒(USB stick)上便携运行。
这些应用程序经常更新，没有广告，没有间谍软件，没有广告软件，没有时间限制等。它完全免费，如果您经常出差，它会非常方便。真正令人敬畏的是，您可以将整个内容放入 Dropbox 文件夹(Dropbox folder)中，然后直接从那里运行所有内容！您甚至不必担心随身携带闪存驱动器。
文件河马
FileHippo已经存在了很长时间，它仍然是寻找优秀免费软件程序的更好的网站之一。我最终使用FileHippo最重要的是下载旧版本的程序。这并不常见，但有时您不想要最新版本的程序。可能是因为它无法在较旧的系统(older system)上运行，或者因为它存在导致系统出现问题的错误，所以唯一的选择是下载较早的版本。
我最近在该站点上看到的唯一问题是，某些程序（但不是全部）现在带有FileHippo专有下载器，而不是直接下载程序。此捆绑包会尝试在您的系统上安装广告软件，因此您在安装程序时必须小心取消选中它。我只能通过几个程序找到这个，所以绝大多数仍然直接链接到程序文件，但由于这种新行为和网站上的太多广告，我不能强烈推荐该网站。
可提及的网站
除此之外，我还访问了其他几个网站，但它们往往包含较短的概述，没有真正的评论或其他任何内容。您仍然不会在这些网站上找到间谍软件或恶意软件。(spyware or malware)
MajorGeeks – 看起来它是在 90 年代设计的，可能从那时起就已经存在，但它是许多技术工具的绝佳站点。很多很多其他地方都很难找到的技术实用程序。
SnapFiles – 一个干净的网站，广告最少，免费软件、共享软件等分类清晰。我通常会根据用户评分和评论来确定免费软件应用程序(freeware app)的价值。
FileForum BetaNews – 您通常可以先在此处找到最新的免费软件应用程序(freeware apps)，然后才能到达其他下载站点。不知道他们是怎么做的，但你会在这里找到最新的软件。
要避免的网站
您可能想知道为什么我没有提到像SourceForge 和 CNET(SourceForge and CNET)这样的免费软件网站？好吧(Well)，那是因为我不再推荐这些网站了。他们走的是赚钱(money and don)的路，不链接(t link)到实际的官方下载，而是让你下载他们自己的专有安装程序。
CNET是最糟糕的，因为它让您在安装您想要下载的实际应用程序之前通过几个屏幕试图让您安装垃圾软件。对我来说，避免所有垃圾很容易，但是很多人最终会在他们的计算机上安装广告软件并且不知道为什么。不幸的是，像Download.com和CNET一样的网站在搜索结果中的排名很高，这使得它们更难避免。CNET上的大多数内容都可以在我上面提到的网站之一上找到。享受！
Essential Free Software Downloads for Windows
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There are tons of free software applications that you can download for office productivity, Internet, multimedia, drawing, Windows utilities, etc, but if you’re not familiar with open source software, you might not know which program is the best out of the myriad of choices. That’s the only other downside about freeware: some of it contains junkware like bundled apps or annoying toolbars.
In this article, I’m going to mention a couple of the websites that I visit quite often when looking for safe and clean freeware apps to download.
Gizmo’s Freeware Reviews
Gizmo’s Freeware Review site has got to be the best site on the net for finding great freeware apps. There are a bunch of sites that have huge lists of freeware programs with tiny little overviews of each program, but Gizmo’s site is insanely popular because they spend time writing detailed reviews and testing each program that they review to make sure it works as intended.
You can navigate directly to a category across the top of the page like Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone/iPad, etc. Previously, they only used to cover Windows and Mac, but recently they have expanded to cover all the most popular operating systems.
You can also scroll down and click on the panels: Best Freeware Lists, Freeware Categories and Security Wizard. I would highly recommend going through the security wizard because it gives you a list of security software tailored to your operating system, your expertise level with computers and your exposure to risky online activities. The wizard will also tell you how to make sure your PC isn’t already infected and will give you suggestions for how to protect yourself in the future from malware, spyware and viruses.
In addition to all of that, the site has a blog with a huge number of articles on all kinds of useful technical topics. A lot of the articles they link to from their review pages and it gives you a very in-depth understanding of the topic.
Ninite
Ninite is another very popular service that I use a lot with my friends and family when setting up new computers or when I have to reformat and reinstall the operating system on a computer. Basically, it’s a program that lets you download multiple freeware apps at once and install them without having to click Next, Next, Next!
Just select the apps that you want to install and click the Get Installer button.
Outside of just making is super easy to install freeware apps, it also has a couple of other major benefits. Firstly, all the software is super safe and clean. Even if an app has a toolbar included like Java, Ninite will prevent it from installing the toolbar. It also downloads the latest versions of the programs directly from the official websites and checks the hash values to ensure integrity.
Secondly, you should keep the installer somewhere on your computer instead of deleting it because running it again will automatically check all the freeware apps and download newer versions if available. If you already have the latest version installed, it will just skip that program. So using the installer is like having a free program that will update all your apps automatically too!
What I like best too is that it will install the 64-bit version of the software if I’m running the installer on a 64-bit operating system. This program is simply awesome and will save you a ton of time.
NirSoft
If you’ve read a decent number of my previous posts, you’ll know that I simply love the folks over at NirSoft. It’s basically a site with a bunch of tiny utilities designed for very specific tasks.
Want to copy video files that are stored in your browser cache? There’s a utility for that. Want to control the volume of your computer from the wheel of your mouse? There’s a utility for that. Want to see all the passwords stored in your browser? There’s a utility for that. You get the picture! There are over a hundred of these really useful utilities that work extremely well. They also contain no bundled crapware or anything else.
PortableApps
You got a USB stick right? So why not installed PortableApps on there! It’s all your freeware apps stored on a USB stick that you can use anywhere on any machine. They have up to 300 legal versions of apps that have been retrofitted to run portably on a USB stick.
The apps are updated often and there are no ads, no spyware, no adware, no time limits, etc. It’s just plain free and it can prove very handy if you happen to travel a lot. What’s really awesome is that you can throw the whole thing in a Dropbox folder and run everything straight from there! You don’t even have to worry about carrying a flash drive with you.
FileHippo
FileHippo has been around for a very long time and it’s still one of the better sites for finding good freeware programs. What I end up using FileHippo more for than anything else is downloading older versions of programs. It’s not often, but there are times when you don’t want the latest version of a program. Maybe because it can’t run on an older system or because it has a bug that is causing problems on your system, so the only option is to download a earlier version.
The only problem I’ve seen with the site lately is that some programs, but not all, now come with a FileHippo proprietary downloader rather than the direct download of the program. This bundling tries to install adware on your system, so you have to be careful to uncheck it when installing the program. I could only find this with a couple of programs, so the vast majority still link directly to the program files, but because of this new behavior and too many ads on the site, I can’t recommend it the site overwhelmingly.
Mentionable Sites
Outside of these, there are a couple of other sites I visit, but they tend to contain the shorter overviews with no real reviews or anything else. Still you won’t find spyware or malware on these sites.
MajorGeeks – Looks like it was designed in the 90’s and probably has been around since then, but a great site for a lot of tech tools. Lots and lots of tech utilities that are hard to find anywhere else.
SnapFiles – A good clean site with minimal ads and clear cut categories for freeware, shareware, etc. I normally turn to the user ratings and comments to determine the worthiness of the freeware app.
FileForum BetaNews – You can normally find the latest freeware apps here first before they reach other download sites. Not sure how they do it, but you’ll find the newest software here.
Sites to Avoid
You might be wondering why I haven’t mentioned freeware sites like SourceForge and CNET? Well, that’s because I don’t recommend those sites anymore. They have gone the way of making money and don’t link to the actual official downloads, but instead make you download their own proprietary installer.
CNET is the worst because it makes you go through several screens trying to get you to install junkware before you can install the actual app you wanted to download. For me, it’s easy to avoid all of the junk, but a lot of people will end up with adware on their computer and have no idea why. Unfortunately, sites like Download.com, which is the same as CNET, show up high in the search results, which makes them harder to avoid. Most anything on CNET you’ll be able to find on one of the sites I mentioned above. Enjoy!
