Software I recommend

Here's some software I've come across that I find useful. I try to avoid using large corporations wherever possible (microsoft, adobe), and prefer to use open source, GNU/GPL, or independent programming when I can find it. All software listed is free and freely downloadable, but I will also include what license it holds to. I will update this slowly as I test and use new software. Please leave suggestions of useful software you have found, and any alternatives you have found to the corporately-owned software I am currently using.

Of course, I am a hypocrite because I am using Windozes, the ultimate corporate evil of computer software. But at least I'm not using Vista - if you are, unplug you computer from the internet, format your hard drive and install an operating system that doesn't spy on you and take all your rights and power away. Really, if you're using Vista you're stupid. Really stupid.

Web Browsing:
Firefox, and see the bottom of the page for the addons I use. If you are using IE then stop everything and download firefox now. It'll save you time, disk space, annoyance, pop-ups and even some virus/spyware. Mozilla and other open source software licenses.

Office:
OpenOffice (very nice full office suite) GPL
Google Docs (simple text editor that you can collaborate with others to write documents, lacks footnotes) Warning: Corporately owned
MS Office 2003 (better than later versions, but don't pay for it) Warning: Corporately owned

Media (Music and Video):
VLC (The best media player out there) GPL
Media Player Classic (with Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative) GPL
musikCube partially open source
Others various
Democracy (looks attractive for podcasts and internet TV but I haven't used it) GPL
FLV open source
Audacity (Audio recording and editing) GPL
CDex (Ripper and ogg/mp3 encoder - I've not used it but it has been recommended to me) GPL

Pictures:
GIMP GPL
Irfanview free for non-commercial use (make the corporations pay!)
Pix Resizer (also see Alarm from the same person) free/independent
PrintScreen (I use it because my print screen button is broken) Warning: Corporately owned

PDF:
Sumatra (Very simple, not good at handling high magnification) open source
PDF Download (Fantastic Firefox Addon) free/independent
Foxit Reader (It's less evil than Adobe, and smaller/faster than Acrobat) Warning: Corporately owned

Downloading:
µTorrent (The best torrent downloader, but get 1.6 or before, because the later versions collect information on you) Warning: Corporately owned (by BitTorrent Inc.)
eMule (Peer-to-peer downloading, decent but often flooded with malware/unwanted porn) GPL
Soulseek(tm) (A peer-to-peer (music) downloader with lots of small musicians) Corporate/inpedendent?

Communications:
GAIM (Multiple instant messaging clients in one) GPL
Skype (Cheap/free internet phone) Warning: Corporately owned

General Smooth Running:
7-zip (File zipper, with it's own superior 7z compression format) GPL
Ad-Aware (Remove spy/malware) Warning: Corporately owned (but well worth it)
ClamWin (Free Virus Scanner) GPL
CDBurner XP Pro (CD Burner that's significantly better than the Windows built-in) Independent donation-based