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Best Free Windows 64-bit Software
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Best Free Windows 64-bit Software - Page Index
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Best Free Windows 64-bit Office Suite
At present there is no recommended 64-bit Office Suite but there are three options you might consider. All are applications based on Open Office which does not appear to be actively developed at present.
SSuite Office - Excalibur Release
"The real gem of SSuite – Excalibur is the small size and speed of the program. … Sadly for all the greats of SSuite – Excalibur there are many faults. Anyone that is interested in using a word processor should turn away as the word processor … only allows for basic formatting and ONLY supports .rtf format. … In the end with a very old look to it, SSuite – Excalibur will be suitable for people interested in mainly using a spreadsheet editor that is both fast and not distracting, but sadly nothing else." (Best Free Office Suite)
LibreOffice is "the prime choice when it comes to freeware office suites. The writer is both easy to use and very productive, offering all the tools the average user will ever need, as well as plenty of tools for more advanced writers. The spreadsheet editor and the writer, as one could guess, are very easy to understand. The only downsides to LibreOffice is that a few of the more basic options can be hard to find for users that are not that advanced and are looking for a good alternative to Microsoft Office (for instance, double spacing)." (Best Free Office Suite)
IBM Lotus Symphony will not install on 64-bit systems that use AMD processors. This cuts out up to a quarter of those with 64-bit systems.
IBM Lotus Symphony "supports a tabbed workspace. … it offers a very great boost in productivity while not cluttering up your task bar. However IBM Lotus Symphony is a very complicated office suite, many of the most simple of jobs done in other office suites are very complicated to perform." (Best Free Office Suite)
Best Free Windows 64-bit Word Processor
These word processors fit in the space between WordPad, the basic word processor provided with Windows, and full-featured word processors like Microsoft Word which they are compatible with in various ways: similar menus, similar toolbars, Word file compatibility, etc.
If you don't write long documents such as "novels, reports, and documentation or tutorials" then you should find a good solution here. They all have tabbed interface, font and paragraph formatting, headers and footers, tables, equations, pictures, spell check, and hyperlinks. Have a look at the Quick Selection Guide and Best Free Word Processor for further information.
Jarte is rated best in this class (Best Free Word Processor) but, as a long-time Microsoft Word user, I prefer AbiWord. One reason is that it is the only product in this category with a unique look which many find attractive. It is compact, capable and rather clever with links to useful web sites and some integration with related products like font managers and PDF printers.
PolyEdit Lite is the lightest option here and also functions as a programming editor.
AbiWord "is easy to adapt to, especially since the interface is similar to that found in Microsoft Word and WordPerfect." It is the most extensible of these products and comes with several add-on options at install.
The latest stable release AbiWord 2.8.6 has compatibility problems in Windows 64-bit particularly with all the install options selected. The fully 64-bit compatible version is currently 2.9.2 beta so it may still have some bugs.
Best Free Windows 64-bit Non-Adobe PDF Reader
Tracker Software Products have really impressed me with PDF-XChange Viewer. The free version loses some features from the PRO product but these are page-level editing and format conversion so it doesn't limit viewing at all. It is highly customisable in many areas including the toolbars and performance tuning (e.g. memory usage).
"It allows PDF annotation and thankfully leaves the annotated copy free of validation marks. It also allows you to fill and save Adobe PDF forms, extract text and images, magnify text and export PDF pages or documents to BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PNG formats and has excellent image/text clarity." (Best Free Non-Adobe PDF Reader)
Best Free Windows 64-bit PDF Writer
The options are simple once I omitted products that create larger PDF files or do not explicitly provide 64-bit support.
BullZip PDF Printer is a very strong program that has been time proven to be a top performer." Bullzip supports encryption, passwords, watermarks, output quality, and many other features. "However files created by Bullzip PDF Printer may not be searchable. While it created a searchable pdf from word processing programs it did not from other programs like Excel." (Best Free PDF Writer)
BullZip PDF Printer converts PDF formats using Ghostscript which must be installed as well.
NitroPDF Reader is a reader and writer. It is not a PDF printer so it is a good alternative for those who like to work with PDF files directly. Although it is a simple product I liked it very much except that it takes up a lot of diskspace.
Best Free Windows 64-bit PDF Tools
There is no 64-bit recommendation in this category.
"PDFill PDF Tools comes bundled with PDFill PDF Editor, which is not free. However, you can run PDFill PDF Tools separately after installation. The free software part of the package does not support functions such as converting PDF to text, making annotations, etc. But those features are all available in" other products. (Best Free PDF Tools)
Best Free Windows 64-bit Electronic Book Reader
With Sony Reader for PC you can "shop eBook titles including New York Times Bestsellers, search inside your collection of eBooks and can even borrow books from your library but a library card is required. It has a two-page layout" and will read PDF files because it is built on Adobe Reader for Mobile. "While it has all the polish and gloss of a Sony product it lacks some key features like a full screen interface." (Best Free Electronic Book Reader)
Best Free Windows 64-bit Personal Finance
"Money Manager Ex is an excellent full-featured budget program that enables users to create multiple accounts, transactions, categories, and reports. The program is fairly easy to use, with a medium-level learning curve, and has an extensive help file to assist users on how to navigate the various features and options.… In general, it is a good program for novices and experts, but is sorely lacking in real-time automatic fiscal tracking and download capabilities. Also, it does not support password encryption" (Best Free Personal Finance Software)
Best Free Windows 64-bit Personal Information Manager (PIM)
You put your life into a PIM so the absence of a native 64-bit PIM will frustrate many. These 32-bit applications will have to do in the interim. I found them useful but none of them exceptional. Evolution was another option, an Outlook replacement ported from Linux, but it crashed under Windows 7 64-bit.
EssentialPIM Free is comprehensive PIM that is relatively light on resources. "It also does many of the same things as Outlook and can import your Outlook data and/or Outlook Express contacts as well." (Best Free Personal Information Manager Software)
Pimero-Free "is a modestly crippled version of an actively-maintained commercial application. … The commercial version offers very nice data export, but there is no way to export your data from the free version. You cannot create repeating tasks either if that's important to you" (Best Free Personal Information Manager Software). It is more complex to install. It installs the Firebird database, gave me more decisions to make for my firewall, and requires you to setup a user account with password but that is a good feature for the security of your data.
Best Free Windows 64-bit To-Do List
Rainlendar Lite "is not only a reminder program but a very capable 'iCal compatible' desktop calendar, though the calendar feature can be turned off. Used as a reminder and 'to do' program, it's very feature rich with a really snazzy interface employing things like variable windows transparency, impressive mouse-over effects, hotkeys, and easy skinning. It also has the ability to synchronize events between clients, as well as Outlook appointment integration (Pro version)." (Best Free Reminder and To-Do Program)
Best Free Windows 64-bit Notes Organizer
Products are being tested and will be listed soon.
Best Free Windows 64-bit Outliner
Products are being tested and will be listed soon.
Best Free Windows 64-bit Font Manager and Viewer
Font Runner by Crux Technologies "tries to simplify the interface, has a preview list rather than selecting one font at a time, displays Unicode, has user-defined group by favorite folders or projects, and allows drag'n'drop of files and folders even from Windows Explorer. You can search by font name, by similarity to the selected font, or for characters in other fonts that match the selected character. The latter is useful for finding Unicode fonts with similar character blocks. A few features initially frustrated me but aren't big problems. For example, you have to specify the default folder for Font Runner to display when it opens - most programs default to the system font folder. Also, Font Runner does not allow you to select the Unicode character block to view." (Best Free Font Manager)
Best Free Windows 64-bit Calculator
"SpeedCrunch has a clean and simple user interface. … SpeedCrunch keeps a history of calculations entered with the result of the calculation kept underneath. A math book is available through the options of SpeedCrunch which I think is a great feature. The math book gives useful information such as how to get the volume of a cube." (Best Free Calculator)
Best Free Windows 64-bit Unit and Currency Converter
"Convert comes with a user-friendly and intuitive interface. It offers pre-defined 21 categories of units [but no currency conversion] and one custom unit which can be defined by users. The 21 categories include the most popular units of distance, area, volume, volume-dry, mass, density, temperature, time, speed, power, pressure, energy and many others. To convert a unit into another, just click on a category tab you need, select the input unit and output unit, Convert will show you the conversion result in the output box as you type. The category tab is customizable. For some conversions that you use the most, you can set them to the front of the tab order, and for some conversions that you may never use, you can hide them to simplify the unit listings." (Best Free Unit and Currency Conversion Program)
Requires installs of Adobe Reader, Jave Runtime Environment (JRE) and GhostScript. You'll probably have the first two already but if you don't then you will be downloading 110 MB in total.
A commercial version provides extended abilities to edit Outlook, Google Calendar from Rainlendar.
Rainlendar FAQ http://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php?option=com_easyfaq&Itemid=26
Requires GhostScript 8.64 (or higher) which has a 9 MB download.
Supported file formats: txt, rtf, doc, docx for read-only, pdf and html for export
Supported file formats: txt, rtf, etf, doc.
Supported file formats: OpenOffice.org documents, .doc, .docx, .rtf, HTML web pages
Full install has several downloads and takes 122 MB of disk.
Full 64-bit compatibility is only with 2.9.2 but that is only a test version.
At 14 November 2011, Reader works with Reader Store which is currently limited to USA and Canada.
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Super Antispyware does not work in Windows7 RC
WinRAR version for Windows x64 is available
Yes it does - running in 7100
As long as you use version 4.26.1002 or higher of SuperAntiSpyware, it will install and work under the Windows 7 release candidate (build 7100.)
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
Unfortunately, WinRAR is not freeware.
7-Zip and PeaZip are both available as free 64 bit applications and contain all of the functionality of their 32 bit counterparts. Readers interested in a comparison of these products should refer to our review:
Best Free File Archiver/Zip Utility
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
That's quite an old an useless discussion here in TSA. Use wathever you like.
Perhaps you wrongly assume that the performance of 32 and 64 bit Zip utilities will be the same under Windows 7 / Vista 64? Likewise I presume you think that the 32 bit shell extensions used by 32 bit Zip utilities will work with 64 bit Explorer? They won't.
If you want the best performance and integration from a Zip utility under Windows 7 / Vista 64 then use a 64 bit version. This is new ground for an old topic, and therefore worth pointing out.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
Hey there, i don't discuss that, i don't even discuss 7-zip is an excellent choice (it is). Only the fact that you replied that WinRar is not freeware as to justify that it was not included, Winrar does a non-expiring trial and should be considered. I really don't care if licence states 'shareware'.
BTW, what is this confusion of Windows 7 / Vista 64 ? There's also 32 and 64-bit 7 windozes, as always... maybe in 2050 we will have only 64-bit OSES.
I specifically stated that WinRAR wasn't freeware to indicate why it doesn't appear in the article. I don't deny for a moment that it is an excellent product.
I agree that the title of the article 'Best Free Windows 7 / Vista 64 bit Software' might appear confusing. It's supposed to mean Best Free Software for 64 bit Windows 7 / 64 bit Windows Vista. If you have suggestions for a better title I'd appreciate you passing them on. All I ask is that you mark your response with some sort of 'name' so that if one of your suggestions is chosen you get the credit for it.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
we need more 64bit aps listed
As I come across native 64 bit applications I will include them. Unfortunately, many of the freeware categories we cover don't have 64 bit versions yet.
If anyone comes across something I've missed then please pass on the details and I'll look into it.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
nice work Rik Mayell.....thumbs up!!
BTW....Foxit Reader is also a good PDF reading freeware
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/download.php
also...JKDefrag is now called MyDefrag....and its new website is http://www.mydefrag.com/
I have been completed my testing of MyDefrag and it now appears in the review. As a result of the testing it has replaced JKDefrag as Gizmo's Top Pick.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
Foxit Reader is a good 32 bit solution, assuming they have fixed the rendering problem I reported to them back in April. I haven't had chance to test this yet. I have also read reports that the installation routine installs unwanted software.
The aim of the review is to identify 64 bit freeware, where possible, hence the recommendation for PDFXChange in this category.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
hi iam having 64 bit windowsvista home prieum edition i cannot install .net software and sql database so what i have to do
Mostly the editors deal with support issues like this in the forum as the posts need to be sequential. If you register and post again here you'll be guaranteed to receive a personalized response.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/general-computer-support/
You can find more freeware and shareware for win7 at
Thank you for that, I will take a look.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
As MC has pointed out, your best chance of resolving the issues you have is by posting in the forum. I would add that you should include in your post the version of .NET installed on your machine, the version of .NET required by the software you are trying to install, and also which SQL database product you are trying to use.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
your review is great you forgot comodo system cleaner(free).
Moderator comment : reference to shareware/commercial software removed.
The comments in this Wilder's thread http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=235664 would suggest this software should be approached with caution.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
Nice article, thanks.
Could you clarify one point for me please.
When you say, "If you decide to use a third party disk defragmenter, don't be tempted to disable the built in Windows 7 / Vista 64 disk defragmenter.", does this include merely turning off the defrag scheduler, or are you referring to another more permanent way of disabling it?
Cheers.
You should leave the Windows Defragmentation tool untouched. I suggest you check when the Windows tool is due to run via the Task Scheduler and ensure that you don't run any other defragmentation tool on the same day.
Under Vista and Windows 7, ReadyBoot (sic) monitors the files loaded during the last 5 system boots and generates a boot plan that is independent of the Prefetch plan in C:\WINDOWS\PREFETCH\LAYOUT.INI. When the Windows disk defrag tool runs it has access to this ReadyBoot information and adjusts file layouts accordingly.
I'm still working my way through the Windows 7 Software Development Kit, but have yet to find any means for third party applications to access this information.
There is one thing that I came across recently that I found rather odd. Mark Russinovich of SysInternals fame, and now Technical Fellow at Microsoft, stated in one of his interviews that the Windows defragmentation tool runs every three days to process ReadyBoot information. As it normally only runs once a week this would suggest it is being launched from elsewhere?
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
Interesting, thanks.
I'm currently using MyDefrag, so it's not ideal to have Windows defragmenter stepping in from time to time and changing things around (potentially undoing some of the optimization performed by MyDefrag). Although I still would like to benefit from ReadyBoot of course.
From what Mark Russinovich said, it seems that maybe ReadyBoot optimization is performed independently of scheduled defragmentation. In which case, I'm tempted to setup Windows scheduler to run monthly, and in the middle of the night so that it never actually runs (my PC is usually always shut down overnight). The fact that the ReadyBoot process runs every 3 days also makes it sound very much like the built-in Windows XP boot time optimization process which runs independently of defragmentation if I'm not mistaken.
Addition: Of course I may still not get the full benefits of ReadyBoot if MyDefrag optimization undoes it!
I run MyDefrag as well and share your concerns.
I'm currently waiting for the latest copy of the book co-authored by Mark to be delivered (I'm sure you know the one I mean.) Hopefully it will shed more light on this issue. If so, I'll update the review accordingly.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor
Comodo Internet Security (CIS)
Fails to install on Windows 7 RTM, ive tried every possible install method, i dont have UAC or driver signing mode enabled so this shouldnt cause an issue.
Win 7 RTM 64bit
Just so other folks know.
This problem seems to come and go, I've never been able to pin down the exact cause.
To workaround the problem:
1. Create an icon on your desktop that points to the CIS installation routine.
2. Right click on the icon and select Properties.
3. Click on the Compatibility tab and select 'Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)'
Ensure that 'Run this program as an administrator' is selected under Privilege Mode and then click on OK.
If you double click on your newly created icon you should find that CIS installs okay. After a reboot it will function normally.
Rik Mayell - Category Editor