Great Web freebies aren't as plentiful as they were before the dot coms ran into financial trouble, but we found 50-plus useful gems that can help you at work, at home, or at play.
Everyone loves to get something for nothing. Nowhere is that concept more appealing than on the Web.
At PC World, we've spent years scouring the Web in search of the best free stuff the Internet has to offer. But lately, the job's been a little tougher. New sites distributing freebies aren't cropping up as rapidly as they once did, and old ones are dropping out at a breakneck pace (such as the free ISP service Freei.net, or General Magic's MyTalk voice-mail service). Some stuff that once was free is now offered only for a fee (like ThinkFree, a formerly free software suite that's similar to Microsoft Office). It's a changing Web out there, and it's hard to make a buck when you're giving away the goods for free (see "Free Stuff's Hidden Hitches").
For this sixth installment of our annual Free Stuff guide, we sifted through a lot of dreck to uncover our list of favorites. Forget about those worthless sites touting free postage and credit reports; we focused on sites offering something really useful, such as free Internet access, top-notch office suite software, and cheat codes for computer games to help you get higher scores--yeah, we know what's really important.
We've broken the sites into three categories: work, home, and play. You'll find stuff to save you money and time at home, to help you run your business or small office, and to help you kick back and enjoy your leisure time. We also rounded up some quick hits of the best sites for free file downloads, online privacy services, organizing tools, reference works, and music. As long as they're giving it away, why not take it?
Free Stuff@Work
Fax Facts
JConnect Free Many sites provide free phone numbers for incoming fax and voice messages, but J2 has been doing it the longest--for a fee--under its former name, JFax. Now the JConnect Free service does the same at no cost and asks for very little personal information in return: name, e-mail address, age, gender, and zip code. You'll get a unique phone number that forwards messages, in the form of well-compressed audio and image files, to your e-mail in-box. If you overuse the service, however, J2 may ask you to limit your usage, and the company may cancel the account if you don't--a prudent policy, and one that should ensure JConnect doesn't go the way of other failed free services (although JConnect doesn't define what it considers "overuse").
Site to Be Seen
Freeservers This domain-registration site will give you 20MB of Web site space free, as well as a host of terrific features (you don't actually need a domain to have a site hosted here). For instance, you can import or upload sites wholesale via FTP or a Web-based tool, or build new pages using easy-to-follow templates. Freeservers also processes e-mail sent to your domain (if you have one), either by forwarding it to the account you specify or by storing it in a Web-based mailbox at the Freeservers site. Its tools for analyzing your site's traffic are sterling: You can view daily or weekly breakdowns of the pages that surfers visit, the browsers they use for surfing, and the referral pages that send them to your site. Not bad, in exchange for letting the service display just one ad banner.
I Spy
Company Sleuth Whether you want to keep tabs on your competition or you simply want the lowdown on companies you invest in, Company Sleuth can help you keep track of what's going on. You sign up by entering the ticker symbols for the companies you want to watch, and the site will collect information on them--culling data from press releases, news sites, job listings, investor forums, and SEC documents, as well as Net domain and trademark registries. It can serve up the info in a neatly compiled page or e-mail a regular digest of what's new with a particular company. Even if the report is just a quote from someone bad-mouthing the firm in Yahoo's investor forums, you'll still wanna know about it.
Web Cop
NetWhistle How reliable is the company you pay to host your domain's Web site and e-mail? NetWhistle's PersonalWhistle will tell you. This free monitoring service pings your Web site at fixed intervals to see if it's up. It can also check e-mail boxes at the same intervals. If there's a problem, the service logs it and notifies you via e-mail (or by pager, if your paging company has an e-mail gateway); it also delivers a weekly report card. The service will monitor up to five URLs or e-mail boxes at specific intervals; to either monitor more addresses or monitor at more-frequent intervals, you'll have to pay.
Good-bye to Office
Software602 Want to break free of your Microsoft cage? Software602's free word processor and spreadsheet program, 602Pro PC Suite 2000, is comparable to Office and compatible with it as well--the suite handles Word 2000 documents with several layers of tracked and highlighted changes in them and Excel documents laden with statistical formulas. You may never have to call on Microsoft again. Software602 also throws in a decent photo-editing tool that supports over 15 graphics formats. The 14.5MB program has no ads and no subscription fee. The company hopes to make money by selling you feature upgrades such as a thesaurus, as well as LAN and fax software. But its free offering is excellent and stands alone.
City of Bytes
AppCity For companies looking to dive into the Web-based software phenomenon and throw away their shrink-wrapped boxes, AppCity is a great place to try out some online programs. Download its 9.09MB AppPlayer, and you'll be able to run programs from AppCity's site immediately. The site offers tools for expense and time tracking, sales force automation, and project management, as well as others to help you track employees and memberships. Better yet, the site's AppZapper lets you easily create a custom application using drag-and-drop features. Certainly, there are more-sophisticated programs available--but not ones that are free, customizable, and Web-based so that you can access them from any PC.
Internal Affairs
Intranets.com Corporate intranets are great for organizing internal communications and helping to keep your workforce well informed and up-to-date on company news. Intranets.com provides an intranet for free--complete with a calendar for scheduling group and personal appointments, and a file-sharing capability that tells you who was the last person to work on a document. After you set up an administrator's account for your password-protected site, you can add participants at will. Employees can post messages to your intranet's home page, participate in discussion groups in the threaded messaging forums, vote simultaneously on projects and ideas in the polling section, and even share internal instant-messaging services.
Free Stuff@Home
Surfer Sam
SurfSaver 2.2 Your browser has a File/Save option, but it's not ideal for trying to save online content to your hard drive to read offline--formats disappear, and text gets jumbled. That's where AskSam's SurfSaver 2.2 comes in. This 5.5MB download lets you save entire Web pages--including any linked pages connected to the page you're saving--in a single step. It retains the page formatting even when frames are involved so that you see the data exactly as it appeared online. It also creates a searchable offline archive of all the Web pages that you save, and lets you organize these pages by dragging them into separate subject folders. You can even annotate the saved pages with comments to highlight information that you want to stand out.
On Call
Net2Phone In the past year, countless freewheeling Net companies have turned coat and started charging for their one-time gratis services. Net2Phone, however, has gone the opposite route, turning its fee-based service into a free one. After installing the company's 860KB download, you can make free PC-to-phone and PC-to-PC domestic calls to anywhere in the United States. For PC-to-PC calls, the recipient must first download the Net2Phone program. Net2Phone also lets you send free voice-mail messages to anyone in the world via e-mail. The recipient receives brief instructions about downloading the software to hear your message. In addition, the site offers a free answering service in the United States and Canada that lets you hear incoming phone messages through your PC's speakers, and while you're still online. However, the feature uses your existing telephone line and your phone company's "forward on busy" answering service, so you'll have to pay your phone company for that extra service.
Personal Shopper
Copernic Shopper Want to save money when you shop? Copernic adapts its well-established search engine to its new program, Copernic Shopper (a 2.87MB download), to poll shopping-comparison sites in 13 categories. Enter the name of a product you want to buy, and Copernic Shopper searches dozens of different sources, serves up the best prices from various e-vendors, and lists the shipping costs and product availability. Click one of the results, and you'll arrive at the corresponding vendor's site where you can order the product online (Copernic accepts a commission from sites that offer a referral fee, but the company says this doesn't determine which vendors it includes in its service). Copernic Shopper also throws in a currency converter as well as a search-history function to save you from doing search replays, and it updates itself automatically to keep your results current.
Kill Bugs Dead
PC Pitstop; HouseCall; Security Check When it comes to virus protection, there is no better solution than installing a solid scanning program on your system and updating it regularly. But in the absence of such a program, these companies offer you a Web-based virus scanning tool for free. PC Pitstop, in addition to its virus scanner, offers a disk analyzer, an Internet connection monitor, a tool for analyzing your PC's configuration and making recommendations for better performance, and a diagnostic tool that tells you if unwanted ActiveX controls are lurking in your PC. HouseCall, Trend Micro's free online scanner, is easy to use and effective, and it will not only find viruses but also remove most of them. Symantec's Security Check finds viruses (but won't eliminate them), analyzes whether your PC is vulnerable to hacking, and tells you if your browser is feeding your personal information to Web sites.
Hands-Off Browsing
HandsFree Browser The problem with browsing the Net is the carpal contorting that clicking on hyperlinks demands. Edumedia's HandsFree Browser (a 2.47MB download) takes care of tedious click-work by using plug-in and voice-recognition technology (but it works only with Internet Explorer, not with Netscape). When you run the browser, it automatically checks all the links and forms on the current Web page, and jumps to a link when you say its name--just remember to enunciate. You can also fill in Web forms with such information as your name, address, and phone number using a single command.
Free ISPs
NetZero; BlueLight; Freedomlist Free Internet service providers are an endangered species, but they're great to use as a backup in case your paid provider goes down. While two other free ISPs keeled over as we were writing this, NetZero and BlueLight seem to be holding strong. And they can save you over $200 a year in access fees if you forgo a paid service altogether. Sure, you pay indirectly for these services by having to endure large ad frames placed on your screen while you're online. The companies also record your surfing history to serve you targeted ads, and they limit the amount of time you can be online (BlueLight locks you out after 25 hours a month, NetZero begins charging you after 40 hours). What's more, there's no guarantee these services won't go the way of other free ISPs. But if they do, you can always search for alternative free ISPs (and access a list comparing their features) at Freedomlist, which also keeps track of the latest ones to bite the dust.
Reference Guru
Atomica Ever find yourself without a dictionary when you need the definition of a word quickly? Atomica for Windows can deliver the meaning of a word appearing in any Windows program (e-mail, browser, word processor, or whatever). You simply hold the Alt key while clicking on a mystery word, and a definition pops up. The slight 945KB download is a subset of a larger knowledge bank from a company formerly known as GuruNet. The program draws on definitive Web sources, dictionaries, and encyclopedias from its server; the only drawback is that you have to be online to use it.
Free Stuff@Play
The Game's the Thing
MSN Gaming Zone; Heat.net; GoCheat; Pogo.com So you like to play games, do you? Well, of the many sites where you can face off against a live foe in Quake II or Jedi Knight, two stand out. MSN's Gaming Zone has 100 free or free-trial games that range from checkers and cards to wilder offerings like Magic & Mayhem and Monster Truck Madness. Heat.net has 115 online multiplayer games, including Warcraft II and Diablo. You do have to download game software, so during setup be sure to select only the games you want. While you're at it, check out GoCheat for workarounds to game rules. What's that you say? You like to play by the rules? Well, hard-core gamers know that cheat codes can help them gain unlimited lives, sneak around the interface the back way, and generally lord it over wimpy weekend gamers. GoCheat offers codes for PCs and game consoles and catalogs them in easy-to-navigate lists. For tamer games, Pogo.com offers card and board games, bingo, and casino games.
@ the Movies
AtomFilms; The Sync Got a couple of hours to spare--or just a couple of minutes? Take in a movie from the comfort of your office chair at AtomFilms or The Sync. Both showcase excellent shorts in RealVideo and Windows Media formats. AtomFilms boasts the winner of the 2000 Oscar for best live-action short film (My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciples in New York), short works with cameos by Jennifer Aniston and George Clooney, and a series of stop-motion animation shorts from Aardman Studios (the team behind the Wallace and Gromit films and Chicken Run). The Sync's offerings are more self-consciously edgy, though it also provides full-length, must-see classics such as Nosferatu (1922), The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari (1919), and Reefer Madness (1936).
The Puzzlers
Yahoo Games: Crosswords; PuzzleDepot Okay, so you made short work of crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz's efforts in the New York Times during your coffee break. Now where will you turn for your puzzle challenges? Yahoo Games features daily stumpers that are archived for two weeks. And no pencil required. Oh, and if you need a helpful clue, PuzzleDepot's word pattern-matching tool can help you fill in the blanks. For those lazier days, the site also provides free online crosswords that aren't that tough to crack.
Ears to You
Artmuseum.net If the Net had been around a century ago, van Gogh might have made a fortune on EBay. Vince died in utter poverty, but you can still enrich yourself with this amazing virtual tour of his works, which actually lets you "walk into" 3D representations of two of his paintings. Presented by Intel and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the tour includes a 3D stroll through the museum accompanied by an audio narrative and a spectacular zoom-in function that lets you see brushstrokes almost as clearly as if you were a nose-length from the actual painting. The program is 12MB and is best accessed using a broadband connection, since your computer has to connect with a server in Reykjavík, Iceland (don't ask), to produce the art. But even if you don't have a speedy connection, you can still visit the site's other great exhibits on Andy Warhol (parental discretion advised), and the Whitney Museum's fascinating retrospective of twentieth-century art and culture.
Junior Sings the Blues
Junior's Juke Joint A compendium of all things Delta (Mississippi, that is) and all things blues, this interesting site, run by a self-described redneck anthropologist, combs the Deep South to bring the fading culture of southern juke joints to the masses. Part VH1, part travelogue, and part Martha Stewart, Junior's Juke Joint attempts to preserve a lively and colorful roadhouse music tradition that is becoming nearly as rare as A&Ws and Dairy Queens. The 50-something "Junior" travels the American South in his 1983 Chrysler "bluesmobile" to bring you living history and colorful yarns about the people and cultures of the region. The site includes short stories, a write-up about each juke joint that Junior has visited, and tips for pulling off a successful pig roast (hint: It's best done while under the influence of moonshine). No sign yet, however, of the promised recipe for barbecued 'coon.
Watson on the Web
Crime Scene This site should come with an addiction warning because you're bound to return to it again and again--like a criminal to the scene of the crime. Satisfying the armchair detective in you, Crime Scene lets you follow the investigators of Yoknapatawpha County (the fictional setting of William Faulkner's books) as they troll through the unseemly underbelly of society to solve the mystery behind grisly murder cases. You can either participate as an observer for free--which means you can examine evidence such as crime scene photos, surveillance videos, interrogation transcripts and tapes, and lab reports--or for $5, you can sign up as a case detective and ask the investigators questions about niggling details or offer them your own ingenious theories about the crime. The site notifies you by e-mail when new evidence is available for viewing. Cases can string along for weeks, but it's fascinating to watch the evidence unfold.
5 Best Free Download Sites
1. Download.com: A potpourri of games, utilities, and tools.
2. DriversHQ.com: Driver updates and a freebie device that checks the current versions of your drivers.
3. Nonags.com: Downloads that don't limit the number of days you can use them or nag you to buy upgraded versions.
4. Tucows.com: Zippy downloads and thoughtful editorial selection.
5. PCWorld.com/downloads: Okay, we're biased, but our own site offers over 7000 downloads for everything from business apps to screen savers.
Free Stuff's Hidden Hitches
Caveat freeloader! The Web's wealth of free items has its share of catches. Here are a few things you should be aware of when grabbing the gratis goods:
Obtrusive ads: Many free sites and services support themselves by dishing up banner ads. Some do it more subtly than others, but you might not want to use a free program or service for your business if it covers your screen or e-mail correspondence with ads. (Some services offer ad-free versions, for which you pay.)
Annoying e-mail: Many sites automatically sign you up for e-mailed newsletters and product ads, or let "partners" bombard you with e-mail. Feel free to uncheck any default opt-in box for these "important messages."
No privacy: Free sites also make money by selling your personal information to advertisers. Look for a TRUSTe seal or a privacy policy if you're concerned about what will happen to your info. Don't provide any data you think the site has no need to know.
Massive downloads: Many free downloads are multimegabyte files that take a while to grab (especially over dial-up connections) and hog hard disk space. The best sites warn you about a file's size and transfer time before you click Download.
Disappearing sites: In these days of dot-com fallout, many free Web services are here today, gone tomorrow. You can't count on any service being around forever, so think twice before relying on any of them for crucial business or personal needs.
5 Best Free Privacy Services
1. Anonymizer.com: Proxy site that lets you anonymously surf URLs you type in.
2. Enonymous.com: Enonymous Advisor plug-in rates the privacy policy of the sites you visit.
3. HushMail.com: Easy-to-use, end-to-end, Web-based encryption.
4. PrivacyX.com: Offers a secure POP3 e-mail box for reading your encrypted correspondence.
5. ZoneAlarm.com: Robust firewall for Web connections and incoming e-mail.
5 Best Free Organizers
1. Planner.Excite.com: Syncs your schedule with Palm PDAs, Outlook, and select smart phones; can also send you reminders of events by e-mail and pager.
2. Delphi.com: Superb Web-based messaging service lets you hold public or password-protected threaded discussions.
3. Evite.com: Electronic invitations and event planning.
4. Palm.net: This organizer for your handheld also guides you to what's playing on TV, at the movie theater, or at the local stadium.
5. Visto.com: Calendar and task manager, online file storage, and a program to sync home, work, and Visto files.
5 Best Free Reference Sites
1. IMDb.com: Searchable Internet Movie Database cross-references stars, directors, script writers; throws in collections of quotations and a lot more.
2. Infoplease.com: An almanac, encyclopedia, dictionary, and atlas in one.
3. InfoSpace.com: White and yellow pages, business listings, and maps.
4. MapQuest.com: Reliable turn-by-turn driving directions and maps.
5. OneLook.com: Calls on dozens of dictionaries, glossaries, and specialized vocabulary lists across the Web, and serves up search-engine-style links, on one page.
5 Best Free Music Listening Sites
1. Echo.com: Interactive radio station lets you choose the music genres and vote on the playlist.
2. IUMA.com: Unsigned acts in spades...and in MP3 format.
3. Live365.com: Online broadcaster lets you search for acts through thousands of stations, or create your own station.
4. MP3.com: Eclectic mix of downloadable and broadcast tunes.
5. Sonicnet.com: Hip news and reviews, downloadable music, radio broadcasting, and videos on demand.
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