Archive for the ‘Free Software’ Category
The best free software for a new PC | PCWorld
The best free PC software programs arent about the cost (or lack thereof), theyre about a fresh opportunitycollections of code that put the dumb hardware in your computer to smart use, tools that can accomplish anything from balancing your household budget to helping cure cancer.
Stocking your PC is an intensely personal task. But some programs are so helpful that we heartily recommend them to everybody. These free PC programsa mix of must-haves and delightful auxiliary appsdeserve a place on almost any computer (unlike, say, this more niche roundup of 5 free Windows power user tools we cant live without).There are times when a paid alternative makes sense, however. Weve pointed out the circumstances where an upgrade over the free offering is warranted, along with our recommendation for the category.
And if youre selecting these programs as part of breaking in an all-new PC, be sure to check out our guide to how to set up new computer up the right way. Lets dig in!
Microsoft
Before you roll up your sleeves and start slinging software around, make sure to snag your web browser of choice. Using Windows 10 and 11s default Edge browser when youre accustomed to something else feels like wearing somebody elses shoes. (Blech.)
That said, our moneys actually on Edge, which earned top honors in PCWorldsextensive best browser showdown, barely nudging out Googles just-as-superb Chrome browser. But hey, theyre all free! Try before you buyweve published some extensive looks at compelling features youll only find on Edge, Firefox, and Vivaldi (a.k.a. the enthusiasts browser).
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Maybe. Browsers are largely free, and mostly fantastic already. For Windows users there isGhost Browser, which lets you sandbox separate online identities while viewing them all in a single window. At $120 per year, however, youve got to really need what Ghost Browsers offering.
Ninitemakes loading up a new computer a breeze. Simply head to the Ninite website, select which free software youd like to install on your PCit offers dozens of options, including many of the programs named hereand clickGet Installerto receive a single, custom .exe file containing the installers for those programs. Run the executable, and Ninite installs all of them in turn,andit automatically declines the offers for bundled bloatware so many free apps try to sneak in. No muss, no fuss, no hassle.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
No. For most users there really isnt a worthy alternative, and even if there was it wouldnt justify the cost. That said, there is a paid complementary utility calledNinite Updater that costs $10 per yearthat makes it easy to keep all your desktop programs up-to-date.
Accidentally installing unwanted bloatware is one of the greatest dangers of free software, the sanctity of Ninite aside. For everything else, useUnchecky. Unchecky automatically unchecks all of the checkboxes when youre trying to install a program, and warns you if shady software is trying to sneak something ugly onto your machine.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
No. Again Unchecky is in a league unto itself, and while you might find similar capabilities bundled in an antivirus program, theres little reason to look elsewhere.
Jared Newman / Foundry
If you want to fine-tune your Windows experience, be sure to check out Microsofts killer PowerToys suite. Ostensibly for enthusiasts, PowerToys is absolutely loaded with tools designed to streamline all sorts of PC hassles. It offers utilities to batch resize images, quickly find your mouse cursor, always keep a chosen window on top of your others, remap your keyboard keys, show file previews in File Explorer, and a whole lot more. And you should definitely be using FancyZones, Microsofts killer multitasking app.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Nopeno premium alternative exists for Microsofts awesome collection of tools.
TheWindows Security softwareenabled by default in Windows 10 provides solid protection for most users, but no single antivirus utility offers bulletproof protection, especially against the latest and most clever threats.MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Freewas designed specifically to find and eliminate those cutting-edge zero-day vulnerabilities. You cant schedule scans or even use it as a regular antivirus program, but its invaluable when you think that something nasty has slipped by your primary antivirus utility.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Yes. As the saying goes, a few megabytes of prevention is worth a terabyte of cure, or something like that. Malwarebytes is great at saving infected computers, butMalwarebytes Premium at $40 per yearis on guard to stop the malware from getting in its hooks in the first place.
Beyond that, premium antivirus options offer a combination of excellent protection, a worthwhile selection of features, and minimal impact on your PCs performance. PCWorlds guide tothe best antivirus for Windows PCscan walk you through your options.
On the surface,Launchyis a simple app launcher, and thats swell all on its own! App launchers let you activate software far faster than navigating Windows, even if you use the Windows key and search for an app by name. But Launchy can do much, much more: Open any file or folder in mere seconds, shut down your PC, or even kill processes and perform math calculations with the rightplug-ins. ReadLifehackerssuperb tutorial and forget about your Start menu.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
No. Launchy is another Windows utility that is unto itself; however, the developers do accept donations, andwe highly recommend tossing the developers a few dollars for this excellent program.
Windows can create and extract ZIP files natively, but if you find yourself staring at another compressed archive youll need a dedicated program to handle it. A lot of them cost money.7-Zipis open-source and completely free, ready to perform all your archiving needs from Windows right-click context menu. You can even encrypt 7-Zip archives with a password to send them securely.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
No. 7-Zip is great, and paid parallels such as WinZip really dont offer enough to justify the fee. If you spend all day unzipping massive archive files then maybe a faster utility likeWinZipis worth it. For most of us, however, 7-zip is just great.
Windows 10 and 11 have a prickly problem: Unlike Windows 7, theyreincapable of playing DVDs out of the box. Your PC might have a DVD-playing program installed if you bought a boxed system, but if not, thesimply wonderful VLC media playercan play your flicks (and music, and podcasts, and) for free. It can even play (some) Blu-ray discswith a little fiddling.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
No. VLC is just fantastic, and you wont find a paid option that justifies its worth compared to this free workhorse. You can, however, send the VideoLAN organization a donation as a thank you for its hard work.
Dont letPaint.nets freebie status fool you: This image editor may not have all the bells and whistles of Photoshop, but it packs everything that most people need (even layer-based editing) and costs hundreds of dollars less.Weve got Paint.net tips to help you get startedwith this killer no-cost software.
If youre a graphics professional, and you cant afford Photoshop but require more than Paint.net offers, check outGIMP. It has a challenging learning curve, but its capabilities are damned impressive once you wrap your head around it. Those arent your only options though. Check out our roundup of the best free Photoshop alternatives for more no-cost programs for everything from quick and dirty tweaks to nitty-gritty image edits.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Yes. Free image editors are generally great and GIMP is looking better than ever. But Adobes hobbyist levelPhotoshop Elements at $100has advanced features that you wont find in the free programs.
If you need to record or mix audio without spending big bucks on pro software,Audacityis hands-down the best option around. This powerful open-source audio editor offers excellent production capabilitiesand a dizzying array of buttons and options. Snag it, then read PCWorldsAudacity primerto wrap your head around the basics.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Maybe. For most users Audacity is a powerful tool, but if youre rising to the level of semi-pro and need a deeper level of audio editing thenAdobes Audition CCfor $21 per month might be worth it. Keep in mind, however, that Adobe Audition is a pro tool and not a starter option.
When you delete software using Windows default uninstallation utility, it can leave a lot of remnants behind in weird places, sucking up precious storage space.Revo Uninstallerwipes outeverything. Its great.
(Pro tip: If you encounter a program that says it cant be deleted because its currently in use by your system, IOBits freeUnlockercan loosen its grasp.)
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Yes. Revo uninstaller only takes care of the basics. If you need features like getting rid of remnants from previously uninstalled programs or mass uninstalls then spending $20 onRevo Uninstaller Proor a $20 yearly subscription toIobit Uninstaller Prois worth it.
Michael Crider/IDG
Managing your computers storage space is kind of an all-or-nothing experience. Windows will tell you how much space is left on your drive, and thats it; its up to you to dive into a million different directories and clear out the gunk when youre running low on space.SpaceSniffer(try not to giggle) from Uderzo Software solves this by scanning an entire drive and presenting your files and folders in a visual grid, which makes it easy to find lost programs eating up huge chunks of your hard drive space. Its one of the five Windows power tools we cant live without.
WinDirStat is another free program that behaves similarly to SpaceSniffer. If youre looking to free up some space for the latest massive game install, youll want one of these installed on your PC.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Nope. Enough said.
But what if you want to bring a deleted file back to the realm of the living?Recuvais a clean, simple undelete program from Piriform, the makers of CCleaner.
Be warned: Recuva wont be able to recover all deleted files, and the odds are even lower if you erased a program with a secure delete tool likeEraser(another top-notch free program). Still, Recuva has saved my bacon on more than one occasion.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Maybe. Recuva helps you recover files, but if you want power user features like virtual hard drive support and automatic updates then the $20 forRecuva Promight be worth it.
Adobe Reader may be the go-to PDF reader for many people, but itsclunky, constantly updating, and frequently targetedby malware peddlers. If you need only basic functionality, go withSumatra PDFinstead. Sumatra lacks the fancy extras found in many full-featured PDF readers, but when it comes to straight-up reading Portable Document Format files, Sumatra PDF is blazing-fast and completely accurate. Oh, and since its less ubiquitous than Adobes offering, hackers tend to stay away from Sumatra PDF.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
No. There are paid PDF readers such asAdobes Acrobator WondersharesPDFelement. But they offer features that few people need such as the ability to edit PDFs, watermark, and annotate them.
If you must have these advanced features check out PCWorlds guide tothe best PDF editors.
Sometimes, blasting tunes is the only thing that makes slogging through a spreadsheet or a stuffed inbox even remotely tolerable. The exact music client youll want will depend on whether youve already bought into a service, naturally. For musical neophytes I recommend two programs:iTunesandSpotify.
The iTunes Windows client notoriously sucks, but it gets the job doneand that job includes giving you access to a vast universe of premium music downloads and keeping your iPhones music library synced with your PC. Spotify, meanwhile, is an all-you-can-eat streaming service with millions of top-tier tunes available, all for free if you dont mind listening to a few ads.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Yes. In fact, if my editors let me use Hell Yes as an option, Id say, Hell Yes! You dont need to be an audiophile to recognize the sound difference in the higher-quality versionsSpotifyandApple Musicpremium subscribers get, plus no ads and the freedom to listen to your music anywhere? Sold.
Thehigh-profile hack attacksof the past few yearshave driven home the point: Youneedstrong passwords, and you need a different password for each site you visit. Rather than juggling dozens of alphanumeric codes in your noggin, download a password manager.
There are several options available, but our favorite freebie is Bitwarden, a no-cost password manager with few restrictions (unlike the free offerings from premium favorites like LastPass and Dashlane). PCWorlds guide tothe best password managersand the best free password managers can help walk you through all the available options.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Yes. Password managers are important tools, but you need them on all your devices to be effective and that means paying for the service.LastPass Premiumis the cheapest subscription at $24 per year, but theres also1PasswordandDashlane Premium.
PCs excel at helping you Get Things Donebut few of them ship with a productivity suite installed. Fix that, stat!Even if you dont plan to use a productivity suite regularly, its smart to have basic editing capabilities available on your computer.
Legions of people swear by Microsofts legendary Office; I do, too. But you dont have to drop big dollars on Office if you dont need its myriad bells and whistles.Freeand goodalternatives abound, withLibreOffice(pictured) being the flagship free-and-open-source option. The online-onlyGoogle Docsalso rocks. PCWorlds guide tothe best free Microsoft Office alternativesexplains your various options.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Maybe. You can get a lot done with LibreOffice or Open Office, or even Google Docs. But theres a lot to be said for Microsofts subscription service,Office 365, with its added 1TB of OneDrive storage and monthly Skype minutes.
Macros sure are great in Microsoft Word and Excel, arent they?AutoHotKeylets you create customized keyboard shortcuts for any program or action on your PC. Its not exactly beginner-friendly, as configuring AutoHotKey requires someverybasic scripting, which most people will be able to pick up quickly enough. Its downright magic once you wrap your brain around it though.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
No. Even if you could pay for a pro version, why would you? But if you like keyboard shortcuts,Vimiumis another great free option for adding keyboard controls to your browser.
Browsing websites and sending private data over open Wi-Fi hotspots is justbeggingfor hackers to capture the details. Virtual private networks secure your connection. If you need to log in to your work website or email at Starbucks, useTunnelBearto keep your data safe. Its fast, easy to use, and has a straightforward privacy policy, unlike many VPNs.
The free version is limited to just 500MB of data per month, though.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Yes. This is another one where Hell Yes! would be appropriate. TunnelBear is great, and we think its a trustworthy product, but the 500MB monthly limit is so tiny. There are numerous VPNs to choose from. Check out ourroundup of the Best VPNsto find the one that suits you. Our current top pick is ExpressVPN.
All work and no play makesHomer something something! Valves outstanding PC game marketplace,Steam, makes it easy to shrug off the stress of the workday and blow off some well, you know. Youll find tons of free games available on Steam, and games are frequently given away free for a limited time. If you want a steady stream of freebies, the rivalEpic Games Storegives way a free game or two every single week.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Probably. Free games can only take you so far before youre left wanting more.Steam,GOG, EAsOrigin, theEpic Games Store, andBlizzardcan all satisfy your gaming needs once the free games arent enough.
This isnt an official recommendation because the best way toback up your PC for freeis to use a hodgepodge of native Windows utilities and no-cost third-party solutions. But backing up your data issovitalespecially in this rising age of ransomwarethat it needs to be highlighted here.
If the idea of using a mish-mash of tools makes you wince, check out PCWorlds guide to thebest Windows backup softwarefor more options. Youre going to need some portable storage to stash your bits on, too. PCWorldsbest external drives roundupcan help there.
Is it worth it to upgrade to a paid version?
Yes. The best strategy for backing up your PC isnt just throwing your files on a hard drive over USB. You also need to have an online backup, and there are many services to choose from such asBackblaze, andCarbonite.Check out our guide to thebest online backup servicesfor more details.
Now that youve loaded up your PC with the best free software around, its time to put Windows itself to work. Head on over to PCWorldsguide to 10 little-known Windows features that will blow your mind to seize even more control over your PC for the low, low price of nothing.
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The best free software for a new PC | PCWorld
The best free software for your new PC or laptop | TechRadar
If you're lucky enough to receive a new desktop PC or laptop for Christmas, or have treated yourself to one in the sales, you'll need to ensure it's equipped with a full set of essential software. This can be a costly process
It doesn't have to be that way though. Today, you can kit your new PC out with a full suite of essential software without paying a penny. You don't have to sacrifice quality, either these programs are all packed with features comparable with their paid-for counterparts.
Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Windows 10 comes with its own security software in the form of Windows Defender. Its a capable program, but not without a few limitations. Perhaps the most important of these is its sheer popularity; if nobody opts for a third-party program and Defender gains a monopoly on the antivirus market, it will become the number one target for criminals, putting millions of people at increased risk. Its also lighter on features than many other free antivirus suites, including our preferred option BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition (opens in new tab).
This excellent free security suite gives all-round protection from online threats, including viruses, ransomware, and spyware. Its detection rates are excellent (as verified in independent tests), and its hands-off approach means you can simply install it, then leave it to get on with protecting your PC without any further input. It's a superb security package, and our choice for protecting our own machines.
Its not fun or exciting, but a regular backup routine is a good habit to get into with your new PC. Its drives are (hopefully) a long way from failing, but you never know when you might accidentally overwrite something crucial, fall victim to a virus or ransomware attack, have your device stolen, or knock it on the floor in a whisky-fuelled post-Christmas accident.
The only defence against such misfortune is a good backup routine, and EaseUS Todo Backup Free (opens in new tab) is a brilliant free program that makes a potentially dreary chore incredibly straightforward.
It lets you back up your entire system or a selection of your most important files, and its clever scheduling makes sure backups happen at times that wont inconvenience you.
EaseUS ToDo Backup Free even includes compensatory measures if a backup is missed for any reason (if your PC is switched off, for example), and can shut it down automatically once its finished. Get into good habits and install this superb free backup software on your new PC immediately.
After several years playing second fiddle to Google Chrome, Mozilla got its groove back with a total overhaul of its browser: Firefox Quantum. For you, that means vastly improved speeds and an interface thats been redesigned to feel slicker and nippier than its rivals.
Mozilla has also redesigned the way Firefox extensions work, curtailing their ability to alter the browsers base code. This means youre less likely to run into trouble with potentially malicious extensions, or poorly written ones that make the browser slow or unstable.
Firefoxs combination of speed, security and stability make it our top choice for your new PC. To make it your default in Windows 10, download and install it, then type Choose a default web browser into the search box and select it from the drop-down list.
Your new PC will probably come with a trial of Microsoft Office 365, but unless youve been gifted a license too, youll need a new office suite once the demo period ends.
The open source options LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice are great, but for your shiny new PC we recommend WPS Office Free (opens in new tab). Its smart, slick, and features everything you need for working with text documents, spreadsheets and presentations. If youve ever used a modern version of Office then therell be no learning curve whatsoever; the ribbon-based interface will be instantly familiar.
WPS Office Free's developer, Kingsoft Office Software, has thrown in some excellent PDF tools as well, plus 1GB free cloud storage for backing up and sharing your work.
Youll see the occasional ad for the premium version of the suite, WPS Office, but theyre unobtrusive and never get between you and your work.
If you're looking for a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop then GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the tool for you.
For anyone else with a new PC or laptop, we recommend Photo Pos Pro (opens in new tab). It offers a choice of interfaces (Novice and Pro), both of which are smart, well designed and easy to navigate. The Novice option is designed with accessibility in mind, focusing on practical filters that will give your photos a boost with a single click.
The Pro interface is a much more sophisticated affair that has more in common with paid-for photo editing software. Theres support for layers and masks for advanced editing tasks, you can adjust curves and levels manually, theres an excellent selection of brushes and a healing tool, and you van even edit in batches and create scripts to save time.
The only drawback of Photo Pos Pro is that you can only export at a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 2,014 pixels. This is fine for sharing pictures online, but if you want to print your work youll need to either upgrade to Photo Pos Pro Premium (opens in new tab) (currently discounted to US$29.90, 24.54, AU$42.77) or check out an alternative like GIMP or Paint.NET.
Youve just unboxed a shiny new PC or laptop, and transferred across all your most important files. Data recovery is probably the last thing on your mind, but its all too easy to accidentally delete one of those essential files when youre getting everything organized, or make a simple but costly mistake with the Recycle Bin later on.
Once youve deleted something, you need to act quickly to recover it before the hard drive space it occupied is overwritten by new data. Installing a file recovery tool after the data is already lost could do exactly that, so you need to have a recovery app installed at all times so you can act swiftly if the worst happens.
Piriform Recuva (opens in new tab) offers both quick and deep scans, giving you the best chance of finding and restoring your lost files. Everything it finds will be labelled using a traffic light system so you know the chances of it being fully restorable. Grab it now and be prepared; itll barely make a dent in your new PCs storage, and it could be a real life-saver.
The most important feature of a media player is its ability to tackle any video or audio file you can throw at it, without the need to waste time downloading codecs and add-ons. In this respect, VLC Media Player (opens in new tab) is unbeatable. Just open a file, and you can almost guarantee VLC will be able to play it instantly no messing around.
Its not just a simple player though far from it. Although its brilliant from the moment you install it, VLC is also hugely customizable, letting you configure pretty much every aspect of how your media looks and sounds, whether youre playing some music while working on a laptop or enjoying a 4K movie on a connected TV.
VLC is compatible with any operating system, so its also brilliant if youve been the lucky recipient of a macOS, iOS or Android device recently.
Windows no longer comes with a video editor built in, but how are you going to get the videos from your phone ready to upload to Facebook or YouTube without one? Its a pretty major omission, but one that can be remedied by grabbing a copy of Shotcut (opens in new tab).
Its not the most powerful free video editor around (that would be the superb Lightworks), but its what Windows Movie Maker could have become if it hadnt died an untimely death. The first time you fire it up, click the Playlist and Timeline buttons, and itll immediately start to feel familiar. Import your video clips, audio files and photos, drag them into place on the timeline, and youre ready to start editing. Theres a great choice of filters (both audio and video), and everyhing is clearly explained.
Shotcut is a completely free open source project, but its better designed than some paid-for video editing tools. A great addition to your new PC or laptop.
- Still looking for more free software? See the best free VPN options
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The best free software for your new PC or laptop | TechRadar
Free (band) – Wikipedia
English rock band
Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968 by Paul Rodgers (lead vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Andy Fraser (bass, piano) and Simon Kirke (drums, percussion). They are known for their hit songs "All Right Now" and "Wishing Well".[1] Although renowned for their live shows and non-stop touring, their studio albums did not sell very well until their third, Fire and Water (1970), which featured the massive hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a place at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, where they played to an audience of 600,000 people.[2] In the early 1970s they became one of the best-selling British blues rock[3][4][5] groups; by the time they disbanded, they had sold more than 20 million records worldwide and had played more than 700 arena and festival concerts. "All Right Now" remains a staple of R&B and rock, and has been entered in ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club.[6][7]
Free disbanded in 1973; lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to help found and front the more successful rock supergroup Bad Company, which also featured his Free bandmate Simon Kirke on drums.[8] Guitarist Paul Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler in 1973, but died from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 25 in 1976.[9] Bassist Andy Fraser formed Sharks.[10]
Rolling Stone has referred to the band as "British hard rock pioneers".[11] The magazine ranked Rodgers No.55 in its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time",[12] and Paul Kossoff at Number 51 in its "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[11] Free were signed to Island Records in the UK and A&M Records in North America.
Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke first became friends in the R&B band Black Cat Bones, but they wanted to move on. Kossoff saw vocalist Paul Rodgers singing with the band Brown Sugar while visiting the Fickle Pickle, an R&B club in London's Finsbury Park.[13] He was immediately impressed and asked if he could jam with Rodgers onstage. Along with Kirke, they began the search for a fourth member. Alexis Korner recommended Andy Fraser to the band, who had already been playing with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Korner also provided the name "Free" to the newly formed band.
The group played their first gig on 19 April 1968 at the Nag's Head pub, which was at the junction of York Road and Plough Road in Battersea, London. All members were relatively young.[14] Bass player Andy Fraser was 15 years old, lead guitarist Paul Kossoff was 17, and both lead singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke were 18. By November of that year they had recorded their first album, titled Tons of Sobs, for Island Records, although it was not released until the following year. The album documents their first six months together and contains studio renditions of much of their early live set. To promote their forthcoming debut album they also opened some gigs at the end of 1968 for the Who, who played a short theatre tour with Arthur Brown. The group's second studio album, Free, was recorded and released in 1969 on Island Records.[13]
Unlike their previous albums, Tons of Sobs and Free, their album Fire and Water, released in 1970, was a huge success largely due to its hit single "All Right Now", which reached No.2 on the UK singles chart and No.4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[13] The album reached No.2 in the UK charts and No.17 on the U.S charts, making it the most successful Free album. "All Right Now" became a No.1 hit in over 20 territories and was recognised by ASCAP in 1990 for garnering 1,000,000 plus radio plays in the US by late 1989. In 2000 an award was given to Paul Rodgers by the British Music Industry when "All Right Now" passed 2,000,000 radio plays in the UK.[15]
In July 1970 the band, despite their name, were the only advertised band to decline to perform for free for the ailing Phun City festival - according to promoter Mick Farren they "heard the deal and fucked off without even getting out of the car."[16] Kirke's replacement in Black Cat's Bones, Phil Lenoir, played the festival as drummer for Shagrat.[17][18]
Highway was their fourth studio album, recorded extremely quickly in September 1970. Highway performed poorly in the charts, reaching No.41 in the UK and No.190 in the US.[19]
The band disbanded in 1971 because of differences between Fraser and Rodgers, who felt he was not being listened to.[20] This led to the release of the live album called Free Live! In early 1972 the band set aside their differences and reformed in an effort to save Kossoff from his growing drug addiction,[21] and released Free at Last in June of the same year.[9]
Fraser left the band in mid-1972, frustrated by Kossoff's unreliability at being able to perform at shows or even at showing up. The remaining members recruited Japanese bass player Tetsu Yamauchi and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, who had worked with Kossoff and Kirke during Free's initial split, recording Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu and Rabbit[22] and recorded what would be Free's final album, Heartbreaker. Kossoff was replaced by ex-Osibisa guitarist Wendell Richardson for a USA tour in 1973, but shortly thereafter Free disbanded for good. Rodgers and Kirke went on to form Bad Company,[23] Fraser formed Sharks[24] and later the Andy Fraser Band, and Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler.[25]
With Kossoff in better health again in late 1975, he was delighted that ex-colleagues Rodgers and Kirke asked him to join them on stage for two nights. A British tour was set to begin on 25 April 1976 with Back Street Crawler headlining with Bad Company in support of Back Street Crawler's second album, but again Kossoff's drug addictions contributed to a drastic decline in the guitarist's health.[21] On a flight from Los Angeles to New York City on 19 March 1976, Kossoff died from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 25.[26]
After parting with Bad Company in 1982, Rodgers went on to explore the heavy blues stylings of Free again in his solo career during the 1980s and 1990s, and in the bands The Firm and The Law.[23] Subsequently, he teamed up as vocalist with two of the three remaining members of Queen (Brian May and Roger Taylor). In September 2008, Queen + Paul Rodgers released their first studio album The Cosmos Rocks. Rodgers also performed Free and Bad Company songs whilst on tour with Queen, in addition to the traditional Queen songs and new cuts from their most recently released album.
Rodgers and Kirke toured again with Bad Company from 2012 to 2016.[27] Andy Fraser died on 16 March 2015.[28] In 2017, Paul Rodgers embarked on a Free Spirit UK Tour in May 2017 to celebrate the music of Free by performing songs strictly from the Free catalogue.[29] In 2019 Bad Company reformed to tour in support of the first leg on Lynyrd Skynyrd's Last Of The Street Survivors Tour.
Original members
Later members
Timeline
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Free (band) - Wikipedia
Free Fax Service: Send and Receive Faxes Online for Free
Many online fax services offer free faxing, but you have to be mindful of the limitations. FaxZero, for example, offers free Internet faxing but with a limit of up to three faxes per day. Another alternative is GotFreeFax. While its fitting for sending local faxes, offshore and international faxing isnt supported. There is also a limit of three pages per fax and only two free online faxes per day.
While looking for services that offer free online faxing may seem like a challenge, there are other ways to send faxes online for free. A perfect example of this would be iFax. With our free fax online service, you can send up tofive pages per month at zero cost, with no credit card needed. The plan is available across our apps regardless if youre on Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android.
When you sign up for a free iFax account, you can send free faxes to any local or international fax number using only your cell phone or computer. Your account is free forever. Plus, you can always upgrade to a Basic or Plus plan should you need to send and receive more than five fax pages.
You can also try iFax Professional for free for seven days. You may cancel the subscription at least 24 hours before the trial period is over.
With iFax, you have a quick and easy way to send regulatory-compliant faxes without watermarks, ads, or cover page logos.
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Free Fax Service: Send and Receive Faxes Online for Free