TOTALLY FREE SOFTWARE
(thats actually worth having...)

There are many many 'Free' programs in the Internet but in my opinion they are mostly pants, being created by people who have zero understanding of how robust software needs to be for a teacher, who may themselves not be an expert in ICT, to use with a class.

For this reason my 'Free Software' ALL have screen shots so you know what you're getting, and a few have sample files I have created.

There is no pop-ups, special offers, registration scams or text descriptions, just genuine utterly free software and the very best shareware that you can try before you buy, but doesn't have time restrictions

Sorry MAC devotees but this is WinXP only.

Amazingly useful software for you and your classes....

Bamzooki
This software is 3D creature creation. Bamzooki gives you a full set of tools which allows you to build full colour 3D 'Zooks', animate them and try them out in various built in 3D scenarios

SKETCHUP
Sketchup is amazing totally free 3D software thats perfect for schools and benefits from an internet link which lets you search and download 3D models by others

DrawPlus4
DrawPlus is a vector drawing tool by Serif software. the latest version for sale is version 7 but in common with their other software, version 4 is available for free download on the net

WILD THINGS TEXTILES PATTERN CREATOR

Excellent software that has loads of standard project items in like bags and hats, type in the size and it creates the patterns ready for printing. It does NOT output to 2D Design or something you can run on a laser, but i am investigating this at the moment (Nov 06) and will publish any findings on how to convert the outputs later if I work out how to do it!
Download wildthings for free from HERE

MICRO PROGRAMS
These are little utilities that make a teachers life easier. They usually are tiny in size and the ones I am recommending have no pop-ups or spyware or other stuff as far as I can tell. I am suggesting you donwnload them from Download.com as it is the safest way to get any freeware or shareware on the net

SIZER: A tiny program that lets you resize any window to a standard size. Useful when taking screenshots and designing web pages

POLY: A program that draws hundreds of polyhedra in 3D, lets you export them as nets or animations, lets you change the colour and loads more. Poly is shareware which lets you use it fully for a while before paying. There is NOTHING I have found as effective and easy to use as POLY and I spent hours searching the net. You can export a .wmf format file of a polyhedra net and import the .wmf into 2DDesign and other CAD packages. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Stop Motion Animator

A small but easy to use stop-motion animator program. Get it HERE. Wallace and Gromit type films. You may need to fiddle with the compression settings to get a small film but if you save them as AVI files, you can open them in Windows Movie Maker (Free with all Windows XP computers) and add music or narration and loads of funky transitions (The odd dissolves and changes between scenes).
This is an example by Joel H. of a film he made in 2 hours including the models in plastacine. the music is an mp3 clip from the net and the camera cost £15 for two at Argos!
Joels Pirate Film 1.2MB
You can also download a free guide to doing stop motion animation on the cheap in my 'claymation' website

This list I culled from a CD image being offered on the Internet. These are all quality freeware programs aimed at education and I will be adding details about each soon. To find out more for the moment, search for each with google

Open Office
Dia - new version!
Scribus
GanttProject
FreeMind
PDF Creator

Firefox - new version!
Thunderbird
Pidgin - new version!
NVU
RSSOwl

GIMP - new version!
Inkscape
Blender
Tuxpaint - new version!

VLC - new version!
Jashaka
Audacity
Infra Recorder - new version!

Nasa Worldwind
GraphCalc
Celestia
Stellarium

ON-LINE UTILITIES
These are utilities you access through a web page rather than download a program.

Graph paper generator: This is such a useful thing. It does any size line, square etc including isometric, and there is a library of free .PDF files of ready made papers for just about every activity you need a graph for.

Metronome: Simple, effective, beautiful and Free!

Autotrace page: Not for beginners but if you need to convert a graphic to cut on a knife system or separate out layers then this works fine. You may need to define an alternative output file type

FINALLY - A PLUG

There are hundreds of 'screen capture' programs out there, over a hundred free ones, but when you actually have to capture stuff on screen, be it film, video or various bits of pictures.... I decided to buy a decent package. I HEARTILY recommend it because it has always worked, never jammed my computer and allows me to work far faster than before. It is called 'Snagit' and is available HERE. You can download a 30 day trial that works perfectly all that time, but I spent my own money on the full version!