Free software plug

Free Download Manager is trying to get people to promote them. So I'll just say this - it's free, it doesn't take up a lot of space/memory, and I like it.

While I'm at it, I also have to say that I also like Windows Media Player. Yes, Microsoft is evil and all, but WMP 11 is pretty decent software. I find WinAmp annoyingly hard to work with.

Other free things I use:

• ClustalW: for aligning nucleic and protein sequences. Only useful if you're a biologist.
• Azureus: BitTorrent client. I'm only starting with this, so I don't really know how to use it well, but it seems to have a nice interface. The original BitTorrent client by the guy who invented it was a real pain in the neck.
• Paint.NET: very cool image editing program, tons of features. It's got everything I normally use in Paint Shop Pro 9. Only problem I've run into so far is that it doesn't support pressure sensitivity for tablets.
• Trillian: multi-network instant messaging client. Back in the day when my sisters and I first started instant messaging (late 90s; yeah, we were slow) ICQ was the most popular service in Malaysia. Now it's MSN. Most Americans use AIM, and I have the few oddball friends who are only on Yahoo. So, yeah, essential.