You've just downloaded that must have program only to realize that Windows has no idea what to do with it. After an hour of Google searching, forum posting, and being called n00b, you finally figure it out.

If only there was a guide that showed you how to get all those needed programs. We at Download Squad feel your pain and have put together a list of 10 free programs that will take care of those pesky "Windows cannot open this file" messages once and for all.

Note: See a blatant omission or oversight? Please add it to the comments. With your help, we hope to re-post a more complete list the future.

1. K-Lite codec pack
   
   File Types: DivX, XviD, AVI, Mpeg 1-4, AC3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, FLV, OGG, VOB, and tons you've never heard of.
   
   Description: Why there are 85,000,000 different audio and video types we have no idea. What we do know is trying to install codecs one at a time generally ends in a reformat.
   
   Thankfully, the good people from K-Lite (Koors Lite?) have bundled all the software and codecs you need into one executable. Cheers!
   
   
   
2. Real Alternative and QuickTime Alternative
   
   File Types: RM, RA, RAM, RPM, RMVB, RPX, SMI, SMIL, RT, RP, MOV, QT, 3GP
   
   Description: Before the days of Youtube, the Real Player and QuickTime were kings of Internet multimedia. Sure you had to deal with popups, reminders, updates, and bloatware, but that 1" video was so worth it.
   
   Fortunately, the Real and Quicktime Alternatives removed the real in Real Player and restored the quick to QuickTime. Enjoy your 1" video!
   

It has been a defacto standard for Web Browsers to be a free download for many years now. After all, who would want to pay for something that they can get for free so easily? Well, this is a question that Electrasoft must answer on a daily basis. A company that specializes in Web browsers, network utilities, and 90's era web design, they are among a dying breed for sure. We couldn't resist taking their shareware web browser for a spin, if nothing else for the sake of nostalgia.

The install program is a humble 300 kilobyte download, and installs in mere seconds. With another nod to old school internet culture, the installer is powered by the classic Winzip self extractor. Once installed, 32bit web browser delivers on its promises: it is indeed quite fast, and loads quickly. It seemed to render everything just as you would expect, and even supported flash out of the box. It's hard to say it it uses its own custom rendering engine or not, but it reports as Mozilla 1.6 to browser agent finding scripts.

While we can't see any use for this program in the mainstream, it might be a welcome addition to the many Pentium based Windows 98 machines that still hum away in some homes. It is fast, small code done right. It is available for $20 from the company's ordering page.

Xslimmer is a program for the Mac that reduces the space claimed by Universal Binary applications and their language localizations on your hard disk. The programs remain fully functional, and you reclaim some coveted hard drive space. It's a win-win. Now you're beginning to see why we call this program "phat" (pun certainly intended and hopefully understood).

So how does Xslimmer work? By removing the variations of a program's code that does not apply to the architecture of your machine. When a Universal Binary application is created, it contains several versions of the code: a version intended to run on PowerPC machines (like G4 or G5 Macs), another one meant for the more recent Intel machines. This ensures universal platform support, but it bloats the application size. Xslimmer will remove the pieces of code that will never be run on your machine. Voila! More hard drive space, same programs.

Okay, maybe saying xGestures is "software we can't live without" is a bit of an overreaction; read on, and we'll let you make the call.

xGestures is a mouse gestures program for the Mac. In case you didn't know, mouse gestures give you the ability to command a program by moving your mouse in tandem with your oft-neglected right-click button (there are other gestures as well, but the right-click button is usually the main trigger). Mouse gestures are as old as the Internet; typically, however, gestures are limited to a specific program (e.g. Opera), and lack the same control outside that program.

With xGestures, you have the ability to assign universal mouse gestures across your entire computer. For example, with xGestures installed, you can hold your right-click button and move your mouse up to create a new Finder window. If you have Firefox open, however, that same gesture will open a new tab. Want to move to the next song in iTunes, but don't want to bring it front and center and click the next button? Simply assign a gesture to move to the next song. (On our machines, you hold down the right-click button, move quickly to the right, and just like that, iTunes changes to the next track).

xGestures is easily customizable, with enough options to make your head spin. Available for a mere pittance ($5) and a guarantee from Download Squad that you'll be wondering how you got along without it. The current version (1.73) has been updated to work with Leopard.

So, is this "software we can't live without?" Maybe that's too black and white. How about "software we would be severely lacking without?" Or possibly, "software that would make for a poorer user experience without?"

Better?

Sometimes it's hard to locate that piece of software you've been after for quite sometime. Or maybe you just want to test out some new applications to see if they work for you. Check out Deligio, a search engine designed to locate shareware and freeware. Nice concept, but how does it fair out? Well, let's just say, for us download junkies, let's bookmark it, and keep checking back.

In a search for Blackberry software, which I know a lot of people are looking for software for, nothing came up except a note saying that they are expanding their database. Ok, so they are in beta, but at least show me some Google results or something.

If you're looking for games, Deligio has a ton of results listed, for Mac, Windows and Linux users sectioned off into many categories. Other searches for 3d software, iPod, Firefox, and Mac showed us a ton of results, making this one application destination to frequent.

[via eHub]

I'm a sucker for spelling games, and Bookworm Adventures is by far the best I've played in a long time. If you read Penny Arcade, you've heard of this one already. It's a turn-based RPG for Windows that works like most RPGs' battle modes: You face off against a series of enemies, increasing your power and gaining new items and abilities as you win battles. The twist, of course, is that you do battle with words. At the bottom of the battle screen you have a set of letter tiles. Some letters are more powerful (think Scrabble) that you click on to spell a word, and then you click Attack. The better, and harder, a word is, the more damage it does. As you progress, you collect items which you can equip three at a time. The "Bow of Zyx," for example, boosts your damage whenever you spell words with the letters X, Y, or Z. Other items are more generic RPG items, like shields that block some damage or certain types of attacks, and you can also pick up potions that restore your health, boost your next attack, or remove effects like poison. Each level has a half-dozen enemies followed by a boss enemy, and the game gets pretty challenging surprisingly fast. You can download a trial version of Bookworm Adventures for free, which is several hours' worth of good entertainment, or you can drop $29.95 to get the full version, which includes three adventures.

Phill Ryu is making us Windows users jealous (again) with his list of the Top Ten OS X Screensavers. With one $20 shareware exception, all of his picks are free, and all of them are universal binaries and look stunning. I'm particularly intrigued by the Simpsons-inspired Mr. Sparkle screensaver at #9, Hills at #3, and Fenêtres Volantes, which turns your windows into floating, drifting 3D objects, at #1. Ryu also names a handful of promising runners-up.

CrossOSS is a web site for people who want to be able to use the same programs on their Windows machine, their Linux box, and their Mac. It's a database of applications--open source, free, and commercial--that will run on at least two of the above platforms. At the moment the database is fairly small--less than 100 apps--but there's some great selections in categories ranging from Database to Multimedia, and programs are identified clearly according to platforms and cost.