Browser: Firefox - Addons, security, faster, themes, etc.
File Sharing: FrostWire - It's LimeWire Pro, but free. Handles torrents too.
Messaging: Pidgin - Clean, simple interface and easy to use.
File Transfer: FlashGet - They all work the same but I like this one.
Office: OpenOffice - Why pay for Microsoft Office when you can get it free?
Audio: MediaMonkey - Not slow like iTunes, seems to handle media better.
Video: MPlayer - Loads quickly and has a very tidy interface.
CD/DVD: InfraRecorder - Best burning program. Runner-up: CDBurner XP
Anti-Spyware: SpyHunter - Payware, had it for years, no probs.
Anti-Virus: ClamWin - I love FOSS so ClamWin is a winner in my book.
Cleaning: CCleaner - Small, fast, portable and it works really wel.

Follow the same format as I did but post your own picks. Each category can only have ONE APP. The app can be freeware, payware or Open Source. Also, the apps do not need to be portable.

Broswer: Firefox (MPL)
Filesharing: Frostwire (GPL)
FileTransfer: Filezilla FTP (ohh yeah ) (GPL)
Office Suite: OpenOffice.org (GPL)
Audio:Mplayer (GPL)
Video:Mplayer (GPL)
Antivirus:Clamwin (GPL)
Antispyware:Winpooch (GPL)

(ps Opensource Software is not Freeware )

Ah yes, I did forget to put that. Fixed now.

Browser: Firefox
File Sharing: uTorrent
Messaging: Miranda
File Transfer: Total Commander
Office: SoftMaker Office, MS Office 2000. (Both payware).
Audio: MediaMonkey, XMPlay
Video: MPlayer
CD/DVD: Total Commander
Anti-Spyware: Autoruns + Ice Sword + Rootkit Unhooker
Anti-Virus: I don't like any portable one, don't know others.
Cleaning: Total Commander
File Manager: Total Commander
Start menu: Total Commander

Browser: IE6
File Sharing: uTorrent (well, I'm more of a leech than a sharer...)
Messaging: MiniAIM
File Transfer: WinSCP
Office: MS Office 2000 (payware)
Audio: Winamp 2.23 (the final shareware version)
Video: VLC
Anti-Malware: HijackThis, Runscanner.net, regedit + some elbow grease
Anti-Virus: virusscan.jotti.org
File Cleanup: CCleaner
Registry Cleanup: Norton WinDoctor (payware) + CCleaner
File Defrag: Norton Speed Disk (payware)
Registry Defrag: WinASO RegistryDefrag

Queue

Indeed! OpenSource softwares are called Free Software

Browser/Mail: Opera@USB
File Sharing: uTorrent
Messaging: Miranda
File Transfer: WinSCP
Office: MS Office 2003 (OpenOffice on usb)
Audio: Winamp Classic
Video: The KMPlayer
CD/DVD: Nero
Anti-Spyware: /
Anti-Virus: /
Cleaning: /
File Manager: Explorer
Start menu: PStart

Anti-Virus: Norton - Tired of being uncertain. Am an old McAfee guru in the old days, bit it slows too much.
Audio: STP - minimalist, portable, use only for relaxing
Browser: Firefox - Addons, security, faster, themes, etc.
Cleaning: CCleaner - Small, fast, portable and it works really well.
File Defrag: jkDefrag - Simple, intuitive enough, background defragging
File Transfer: none - do not do production downloading
Office: OpenOffice - Still the best
Registry Cleanup: CCleaner
Start menu: PStart - small, portable, entries in xml (read: text)
Video: VLC - smaller overhead. Doesn't complain. Don't have to think about it.
BookMark Keeper: TrayURL - small, portable, ini file (read: text), Is portable document organizer (not limited to broswers)
PDF Tools: pdftkBuilder (with pdftk) - small, portable, very versatile
PDF Reader: Foxit PDF Reader: best alternative to Adobe yet
PIM: MemPad - very intuitive, matches my freeform way of thinking and organization
Backup: SyncExp - very easy exceptions and specification lists, small, portable
Installer: Smart Install Maker - easy!, good for compiling batch files
Imaging: IrfanView - portable (not stealth), handles very large graphics, fast
Image Capture - FSCapture - last freeware version, low footprint, large range of options

@ Simon: I think thibeaz meant to say that freeware does not necessarily mean "Free Software" - much of the time, the term "freeware" means "free as in beer" only.

Browser: Firefox
File Sharing: uTorrent
Messaging: Miranda
Office: MS Office 2007 (only $12 through university, and it's just more powerful - sorry)
Audio: foobar2000 - does just about EVERYthing
Video: The KMPlayer
Video direct from DVD iso files: VLC
CD/DVD: ImgBurn
Cleaning: CCleaner
File Manager: Free Commander
Start menu: Pstart, Launchy

Anti-Spyware: Sysinternals tools, SpyBot + Ad-Aware (rarely).
Anti-Virus: Avira.
Audio: Apollo.
Browser: Opera.
CD/DVD: CDBurner XP, ImgBurn.
Cleaning: Total Commander, CCleaner (rarely).
File Sharing: Azureus.
File Transfer: Total Commander, FileZilla (rarely).
File manager: Total Commander.
Imaging: IrfanView.
Mail: TheBat!.
Messaging: Miranda IM.
News: 40tudeDialog.
Office: OpenOffice + Inkscape.
Video: MPlayer (console version), The KMPlayer (rarely).

PS. Almost everything I do via Total Commander (i.e. viewing Miranda history, cataloguing files, browsing videos / images / documents, editing registry, ...).
Even for reading PDF files I am using TC's lister (thanks ieview plugin which handles Foxit Reader ActiveX).

@ ashghost --- don't you ever wonder why they say "free as in beer" anyway?
I've never found free beer yet, *somebody* had to pay the brewery somewhere along the line.

How about "free as in AIR" ???

Or, maybe they do mean "free beer" in the sense that the brewery (programmer) is giving the product away for free (I don't think Coors will ever go for that!)

SORRY, too much time on my hands today

Launchy - can't live without this one! more than a program launcher, it can launch internet queries at any site, it can run programs with command line switches, it can browse deep into your directory to open folders... run macros, scripts, batch files, control your media player... all without toughing your mouse

Billy - the perfect mp3 player. newest beta is great, just open an mp3 in your file browser, and Billy loads all the songs in the folder to a playlist. it saves the list when you exit though, so i load my whole song library, exit, then make the default playlist read-only. that way if i want to browse or shuffle, i just run Billy, but if i just want an album, i open an mp3. also scrobbles to last.fm, supports customizable global hotkeys, and has a tiny footprint. oh and the live search is amazing, no need to even bring up the window, just make sure Billy is focussed and start typing. super fast!

Xplorer2 Pro Portable - not freeware unfortunately. the basic version is free but it's not portable. pro portable costs $40 but it's well worth the money. great file manager. best feature is the 'scrap container', which is like a virtual folder that you can fill with references to files. for example, send 10 different folders of pictures from across 3 drives into a scrap container, then multi-paste a desktop.ini file into them all at once to make them all display thumbnails. easy as pie. can also flatten entire trees into a scrap container, then filter/select/etc. i've used it for a year, and i still learn new tricks every day.

those are my top 3, can't-live-without programs. here are others i love:

q10 - a fullscreen text editor that keeps you focussed on the task at hand.

Shiruspad - a tiny note taking app that can pop up with a hotkey or a mouse hotspot. tabbed interface, url highlighting, and more.

IsUsedBy - drag a file/folder into the window to see what processes are keeping you from deleting it.

Real World Batch Picture Resizer - drag a photo onto the .exe to resize it. rename the .exe to determine the output size. also supports command line operations. very handy!

Aveicon - drag-n-drop to convert PNG<>ICO.

emu48 - an emulator for the HP 48 series RPN calculators. great stuff.

Directory of E:\

3GP Converter
Abilon
AccessEnum
ACDSee Classic
ACDSee Pro
AcroPAD
Alcohol
Alt.Binz
AntMovie Catalog
Api Guard
Artweaver
Audacity
BonkEnc
CalorieKing Nutrition & Ex...
CCleaner
ClamWin
ClipSecure
CloneSpy
CloseAll
ColorPic
Converber
CrystalDiskMark
Currports
CyberShredder
Dana
DirectShow Filter Manager
DiskBench
Diskmon
DOSBox
Emule
eTeSoft Video Converter
Etoolz
Fav2html
Fax4Free
FileTool
FileZilla
Firefox
FlashGet
Foobar2000
FoodFile
FoxIt Reader
FSCapture
Google Earth Pro
Greenfish Painter
GSpot
HFS HTTP File Server
HJSplit
Hooker
HTMLImager
Ice Mirror
IcoFX
IndexYourFilesHome
JDirPrinter
JkDefrag
KeePass
Magic File Renamer 5
Magic File Renamer 6
Magiciso
MaxLister
Media Player Classic
MediaCoder
Mempad
Mozillacacheview
MP3BookHelper
Mp3TagTools
MPlayer
Muse Names
Nero Burning Rom
NetMeter
Norton Partition Magic
Norton Utilities
Office
OldSkool DemoMaker
Ontrack EasyRecovery
PageDefrag
ParNRar
PhonerLite
Photoshop
Pidgin
PocketDivXEncoder
PokerTH
PPTminimizer
Process Explorer
Prowshow Producer
RecoverFiles
RECYCLER
RegSeeker
Resizor
Restoration
Scummvm
SDFormatter
SecureTrayUtil
Server2go
ShowMyPCSSH
Showtraf
SIW
Skype
Smsniff
Spybot S&D
Sudoku
Sunbird
System Volume Information
TablePro
TcpView
Thunderbird
Tksqlite
Trillian Pro
TrueCrypt
Tsearch
TSSplitter
TYPSoft
UltraIso
UniExtract
USDownloader
UTorrent
Vdownloader
Videocacheview
Virtual CD Drive
VirtualDub
VisiPics
VisualRoute
VLC
WeatherMate
Webvideocap
Winamp
WinDirStat
Windows Live Messenger
Windows Live Messenger Lite
Winhttrack
Wink
WinMacro
Winrar
Wirelesskeyview
XnView
Xpass
xplorer2
XyPlorer


E:\
==
PStart.bak 23 KB 05-07-08 05:21:42 PM a
PStart.exe 768 KB 12-09-07 02:20:50 AM a
PStart.xml 23 KB 07-07-08 12:38:28 PM a


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Total 137 folder(s); 3 file(s)

Total files size: 1 MB; 816 KB; 835219 Bytes

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