Free Download A Day

Microsoft Messenger is a well-known and popular instant messaging program. It is supported and works well nearly all of the time. So why a clone? Well, presumably there are those who want more than Microsoft is willing to put into its product or or who are less willing to pay Microsoft's price (both in money and control). Thus there is "Alvaro's Messenger clone - aMSN".

The product presently is up to snuff on Windows and MacOS systems, and Linux versions are very much in the works. As well as the laundry list of built-in features, plugins of all sorts can be applied to change the behaviour of various functions or add tnew ones, and the program's appearance can be redone with the various "skins" offered. The system is free, but solicits donations. There are at least two forums — one each for Windows & MacOS users — and adventurous folk are invited to download the latest, most "bleeding edge" prerelease versions to have a go themselves.

Get aMSN Messenger Clone

Skype might legitimately stake a claim to be the VOIP leader, but don’t ignore the dark horses. VOIPBuster is one such new VOIP application that offers stripped down, barebone calls to any phone in 21 countries for as long as you want to talk, practically free. We're talking about calling actual phone lines (not just other people with Net-connected computers) for a low one-time free.

Setup is a no brainer; simply download and install the application, sign up for an account, buy ten Euros worth of credit (about $11.74, using your credit card or PayPal) and you’re done. As long as you stick to calling the countries in the free list (which includes the United States, Canada, UK, and Germany), your credit won't dwindle, so you can talk all you want. Though Skype features such as conference calling, instant messaging and presence information are not available, with the excellent voice call quality that VOIPBuster offers at incredibly low rates, it pays to overlook some of these nice-to-haves.

Download VOIPBuster

The paper that comes out of your printer is one relentless white sheet after another, which makes your correspondence oh-so-boring. A new site called Free Printable Stationery offers more than 150 stationery designs that you can download, personalize, and print. The selections include business letterhead, informal personal stationery, plus party invitations, animal-themed pages, and more. You can download lined or unlined versions, then use Microsoft Word (or your favorite free word processor that uses the .DOC format) to customize and print the stationery. And in case you forgot the spelling rule like we did: stationary means standing still; stationery is paper you write on. As far as we know, the stationery is stationary.

Get Free Printable Stationery

Today only, Opera Software is celebrating its 10th anniversary by giving away registration codes for its Opera web browser. (This deal has expired.) (It's normally $39.) Opera's a fantabulous web browser: features include a pop-up blocker, RSS newsreader, e-mail client with spam filter, a notes feature, and much more.

Have patience when you go to the site: understandably, the Opera site is heavily loaded — and therefore slow — today. The offer is valid until 12 a.m. Wednesday, August 31 2005 (PDT).

First, get your free registration code
Then, download Opera

Spice up your office communications with a great-looking fax cover page. Today's featured download isn't a single program, but an entire site where you can download and print more than 100 fax cover pages. All of the cover sheets are available in .doc format (for Microsoft Word and compatible word processors): you can customize these before printing them, if desired. In addition, dozens of cover pages are ready-to-go: just download and print the PDF version for instant gratification. Cover sheets are available in 10 categories, including nature, job-related, funny, and color.

Go to Free Fax Cover Sheets.net

If you're tired of using several chat programs, consolidate them using Gaim. Gaim is a multi-platform IM client that allows users to chat on multiple services with one easy-to-use communication client. The application supports AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks. So, you can participate in an AIM conversation and an IRC chat, for example, with just one program. Users can create their own smileys and skins to further customize their chat experience. With an easy to use interface and theme add-ons, the possibilities are endless.

Get Gaim

If you’ve ever wanted to publish your videos to the web but weren't sure how to get started, Broadcast Machine is the program for you. The application is free, open source and simple to use. Broadcast Machine combines BitTorrent with RSS, including everything you need to start publishing fullscreen video online. The application helps with server seeding, setting up a channel, and tagging your videos. The secret to this program is channels: you can create you very own channel or station that users can subscribe to — similar to a DVR. The program is free for viewers and developers so you can publish your content for the entire world to see. Now all you have to do is come up with something good to say.

Get Broadcast Machine

A must for instant messaging and chat users, Trillian simultaneously supports AIM, Yahoo messenger, MSN, ICQ, IRC and Apple Rendezvous — all in a single chat client. Even if you use just one type of chat — say, AIM — Trillian provides a superior, skinnable interface free of ads, pop-ups and spyware. It offers advanced chat features like audio chat, chat rooms, group chats, contact message history, tabbed messaging, mobile messaging, systray notification, emoticons, sounds and buddy icons. Simultaneous multiple connections to the same network enables server-side contact importing, global status changes, typing notification and direct connection for file transfers.

Note: Chicky doesn't go a day without using Trillian.

Get Trillian Basic

Even the best telephone service providers don't offer all the features that Skype does: reliability, excellent sound quality and a $0-per-minute phone bill. This program works effectively on multiple platforms, including Microsoft Windows, MacOS X, Linux and Pocket PC. You don't need complex installation manuals and resources to get started with Skype. Just download, register a unique ID and set up an audio headset, and you're ready to call your friends anywhere in the world. Unlike some of the other free Internet telephony services, there's no compromise on the sound quality or security of your calls. Skype provides end-to-end encryption along with instant and easy decryption on the receiving end. This extraordinary application also lets you transfer files, chat and make conference calls. Finally, if you want to place calls to actual telephones, Skype lets you do that, too — there's a fee for this service, but it's generally still less than what long distance services charge.

Get Skype