FATE Mod Archive

Helpful Freeware

7-Zip 4.42

Download Link: 7 Zip @ CNET Download.com
Website: www.7zip.org
Purpose: 7-Zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio. The program supports 7z, ZIP, RAR, CAB, ARJ, LZH, CHM, CPIO, ISO, NSIS, RPM, DEB, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, and Z formats.
Comments: I like it for making archives, but not so much for extracting them. Creating archives from the (right click) context menu is a snap, just right click on your mod's folder, and go to 7 Zip, then add to archive. The options dialog that opens is very easy to undertand and use.

ZipGenius 6.0.2.106

Download Link: Zip Genius @ CNET Download.com
Website: www.zipgenius.it
Purpose: ZipGenius has all the functions of a typical compression utility plus a ton of extra features. It not only zips and unzips, but also offers support for 21 compression and encoding and decoding formats, and ZIP encryption and decryption.
Comments: I like it for extraction, but not so much for creating archives. It has a 2 pane view of archives, so you can easily examine the included folder structure - just like you would in Windows Explorer.

ExtractNow 4.15

Download Link: ExtractNow @ CNET Download.com
Website: www.extractnow.com
Purpose: ExtractNow allows you to extract more than one archived file at a time, with one click of a button. It makes extracting files quicker and easier. ExtractNow supports ZIP, RAR, ACE, IMG, IMA, IMZ, ISO, and BIN, and archives.
Comments: This one is for extraction only. I haven't tried it, but it's supposed to be very easy to use. Should be great for the novice mod user.

HHD Free Hex Editor 3.12

Download Link: Free Hex Editor @ CNET Download.com
Website: www.hhdsoftware.com
Purpose: Free Hex Editor is a binary and hex file editing tool for Windows with multi-Window, multi-document interface, text viewer, advanced search, and replace features.
Comments: Simple, yet powerful, this one is one of my favorites.

Cygnus Hex Editor Free Edition 1

Download Link: Cynus Hex Editor @ CNET Download.com
Website: www.softcircuits.com
Purpose: Features include MDI interface, multi-level undo & redo, extensive drag & drop support, blazing fast search, search and replace, delete and insert characters as easily as you can in a word processor, edit files up to available virtual memory (up to 2GB).
Comments: I haven't tried it, but the feature set is supposed to top notch for freeware. Lack tabs for multiple page editing.

Editor2 2.5

Download Link: Editor 2 @ CNET Download.com
Website: http://netez.com/2xExplorer
Purpose: Editor is a really small Notepad replacement, yet packed with useful features for productive everyday use. Both ANSI/UNIX and Unicode text files are supported. It features powerful search-and-replace commands, Hex and RTF viewer, dual font/color selection, URL autodetection, lots of keyboard shortcuts, plus loads of handy bits for programmers (brace matching, autoIndent). The unique AutoText feature makes inserting HTML open/closing tags a breeze. Editor is one of the richest feature-to-size packages in its class.
Comments: I haven't tried it, but supposed to a good all around text editor. May be worth a look, the price is right, anyway.

Audacity 1.2.6

Download Link: Audacity @ CNET Download.com
Website: audacity.sourceforge.net
Purpose: This editor can record and play sounds and import and export WAV, AIFF, MP3, and OGG files. Edit your sounds using cut, copy, and paste features (with unlimited undo functionality), mix tracks, or apply effects to your recordings. The program also has a built-in amplitude-envelope editor, a customizable spectrogram mode, and a frequency-analysis window for audio-analysis applications. Built-in effects include bass boost, wah wah, and noise removal, and the program also supports VST plug-in effects.
Comments: In the sound arena, there can be only one, and Audacity is it.

Paint.NET 2.61

Download Link: Paint.NET @ CNET Download.com
Website: www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net
Purpose: Paint.NET is image and photo manipulation software designed to be used on Windows computers. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. It started development at Washington State University as an undergraduate senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing.
Comments: Haven't tried it myself, but it's gotta be better than MS Paint.

Open Office 2.1

Download Link: Open Office 2.1
Website: www.openoffice.org
Purpose: Complete, full-featured, and FREE open source office suite.
Comments: Create word documents, export to PDF, create Power Point presentations (great for tutorials!), also offers an image editor, spreadsheet and database capabilities.