Utility List Envy....my favorite three apps
I know as well as anyone that Scott Hanselman posted the world's all-time best tool list, which I use all the time to find certain utility programs. I've whittled my favorites down to only three, but they are all free, and good enough that I put them on my relative's systems when I am doing routine maintenance for them:
»SlickRun: SlickRun is a great little command-line utility that provides an always-on GUI that isn't annoying, and provides some amazing flexibility. I pretty much open up every file & website I need to start my day using this, replacing all need for the Start-Programs tab. Craig Goren asked me two years ago what my favorite app was, I told him this. I'd tell him the same today.
»Paint.NET: My family loves this app, it is a .NET based clone of Photoshop, with a ton of functionality included. It was created at Washington State University, so you get that great 'sticking it to the man' feeling when using it. Also, (and my favorite) it doesn't have the huge footprint that Photoshop has that requires a thirty second startup time.
»Audacity:
A simple, intuitive audio recording and editing program. I've played guitar for a few years, and this program provides more than enough audio manipulation for me...I've used a lot of recording software, and this is the one that always seems to stick around for me. Easy to use for beginners, too.
Feel free to post your favorites!