I make no claims that this is the best site of its kind, but it’s the one I tend to use. Version Tracker, as its name implies, tracks versions of just about any software that gets released in downloadable form. I tend to check the “freeware” page regularly though I give the other pages a look now and then. It’s great for keeping informed on new versions of software you use, and for learning about new software you never heard of before.

But when you’re looking for a specific piece of software to take on a specific task, the search feature helps a great deal. Sometimes you might need to translate an audio or video file from one format to another, or you might want to see what free email or FTP clients might be available. You can search by category (games, graphics, utilities, word processing) or by type (freeware, shareware, commercial). The site lists software for Mac (OS9 or OSX separately), Windows, or Palm Pilot. With a free account subscription, you can get top downloads and editor’s picks. Unfortunately, the most detailed searches, such as searching the most popular downloads within a specific category–are limited to a paid membership. Ah well–they gotta pay the bills somehow.

I used to use CNet’s download.com and shareware.com, but they became far too difficult to use when CNet tried to jazz up the sites’ appearance and thus made it far harder to navigate and find useful info. I also hate the whole “Free to Try” categorization–it’s called a “demo,” you nitwits. They don’t allow you to view software by license the way you probably want to, making it a chore to wade through the stuff you won’t use. Version Tracker’s interface is much more economical, allowing you to quickly browse through large numbers of titles to get to the stuff you want, with better-defined categorization. Much more preferable.

Some good free Mac stuff: TinkerTool, a system utility that allows you to change some neat preferences on your Mac which are usually inaccessible (there’s also OnyX); HandBrake, an app that allows you to rip DVDs, putting your DVD videos on your hard drive at adjustable sizes; VLC Media Player, which plays just about any video file, and makes your computer into a region-free DVD player; Skype, the only Internet voice chat program my dad and I could get to work well; Audacity, a free audio editing app; and Gimp, a poor man’s Photoshop, an X11 app and not the easiest to use, but for a free program, it’s pretty amazing.