Best Free Software of 2022

Best Free Software of 2022

Today is the mobile era, meaning it's a mobile world, but we haven't completely abandoned the desktop yet. A complete personal computing system is still required for real computing work (and many games), and to get the most out of it, you need software.
It's a competitive age. You're a great creator, but you can't buy software. They are quite powerful and attractive. You can find all kinds of free audio and video editors, office suites, file utilities, organizers, photo converters and more. Software developers can adopt an ad-based model, donation ware to maintain things, or a shareware/freemium model that charges for additional features. Free software
To participate in this race, the developer/creator/original publisher of the software must be contacted directly. It should (usually) be a Windows-based download — no browser extensions because we're not all on the same browser. But we've included web-based apps that are as good as or many times better than most downloadable programs.

The free version of the software cannot be trial software if it uses a tiered sales model. At the very least, there must be a free-for-life alternative. The programme should have been updated within the last two years, and it should have little to no advertising to support it. Finally, while there are many other places to find free PC games, this list is focused on productivity software.

Installers of junk software are a concern. Many developers of otherwise excellent free software, or the businesses that offer the applications for download, include items you don't want in order to make ends meet. Even worse, the installation process obscures the steps, allowing the unwanted programme to be installed with your implicit consent. See How to Rid a New PC of Crapware for more information on how to identify and prevent this issue.

Related advice: Only obtain desktop software straight from the developer. It's not perfect because developers need to eat too, but it does help.

A great pro tip: Only download desktop software directly from software manufacturers. It's not foolproof—after all, developers want to earn and eat too—but it helps a lot.

Have we forgotten any freeware that you can't live without? Please tell us in the comments.

HandBrake: Open Source Video Transcoder
ps://handbrake.fr/

HandBrake is a free and open-source transcoder for digital video files. It was originally developed in 2003 by Eric Petit to make ripping DVDs to a data storage device easier.
Platform: x86-64
Size: Linux: 22.3 MB; Windows: 12.4 MB; macOS: 19.4 MB
Initial release: 24 August 2003 (19 years ago)
Available in: English, French, Italian, Russian, others
License: GPL-2.0-only (Third-party components have their own licenses)
Developer(s): HandBrake Team
Programming languages: C, C#, Objective-C

Best Free Audio Editing Software
Audacity

Windows, macOS, Linux

https://www.audacityteam.org/

Description
Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio editor and recording application software, available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and other Unix-like operating systems.
Written in: C
Initial release date: May 28, 2000
Developer: The Audacity Team
Original author: The Audacity Team
Size: 13.6 MB: Windows; 22.5 MB: macOS; 21.3 MB: manual
Stable release: 3.2.1 (October 5, 2022; 21 days ago)
Platforms: x86-32 (32 bit Intel x86), x86-64, PowerPC

Best Free Video Editing
Shotcut

Windows, macOS, Linux

https://shotcut.en.softonic.com/download

Shotcut is a free and open-source, cross-platform video, audio, and image editing program for FreeBSD, Linux, macOS and Windows. Started in 2011 by Dan Dennedy, Shotcut is developed on the MLT Multimedia Framework, in development since 2004 by the same author. Wikipedia
License: GPL-3.0-or-later
Operating system: FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
Preview release: 22.03.06 / 6 March 2022
Developer(s): Meltytech, LLC
Original author(s): Charlie Yates
Programming languages: C, C++

Best Free Game Recording/Streaming Software
Streamlabs OBS

Streamlabs: Free Live Streaming & Recording Software

Streamlabs is the best streaming platform for Twitch, YouTube & Facebook. Grow with Streamlabs Desktop, alerts, overlays, tipping & merch.

All-in-one live streaming software Go live and grow your audience

We’re free and open source on GitHub

Free stream overlays and hundreds more with null Look professional when you stream on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook!

https://cdn.streamlabs.com/static/imgs/landing/slobs-daymode-2.mp4

Best Free Video Player
VLC media player
Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

VLC media player is a free and open-source, portable, cross-platform media player software and streaming media server developed by the VideoLAN project. VLC is available for desktop operating systems and mobile platforms, such as Android, iOS and iPadOS. Wikipedia
Website: wiki.videolan.org/Libvlc, videolan.org, videolan.org/vlc, videolan.org/vlc/%7C
Developers: VideoLAN
Initial release: February 1, 2001
Written in: Java, C, C++, Qt, Lua, Objective-C, Swift, Cocoa
Operating systems: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, Linux, MORE
Platforms: x86-64, PowerPC, x86-32 (32 bit Intel x86), ARM architecture family, MIPS architecture
Type: Media player software, Library