Don't list stuff you got from work (for free) or use at work... also don't list games, but just apps that you use around the house or for other personal reasons.
1] WinRAR - For the 10000s of uses I've had for this, I think a measely $30 license paid itself off over and over by now. I use it everyday and I prolly couldn't live without it.
PhoeniX wrote:You know, I've been using computers for 10 years and I don't think I've bought a single piece of software. I got things such as XP for free (legally).
Maybe some others. I almost bought ANTS .NET Profiler but I just couldn't justify the cost (they were willing to hook me up for $150 even though they sell it for like 300ish) even though its a badass tool.
Ive got legit copies of Nero, some DVD shit, etc - but that all came bundled with DVD-writers, video cards etc.
The only non-gaming shit I've actually handed money over for is XP Home OEM, it didnt come with a PC, I paid for it when I bought a load of components for the first PC that I built from scratch.
Windows. That's it, I think. I should have paid for a Paint Shop Pro license for the use I used to get out of it.
For everything else, I found a viable free alternative or had it anyway. Nero for CD burning (CDBurner XP Pro is alright but Nero edges it out), 7-Zip for compression, Irfanview for most image stuff, SmartFTP, OpenOffice, AVG, Miranda, Firefox. What else?