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Welcome to Active DataComm's list of free downloadable software and online tools; from office suites to planetarium software, this list contains just some of our favorite free applications and tools. Many of the tools here are free and open-source, some are proprietary freeware, and others are proprietary commercial products, with free versions available for personal use.
Though we maintain this list, the links will take you directly to the third-party pages where each tool is available. As with any file you download from any website, it is important to scan any files you download from these sites with modern, current anti-virus software. Also, using any of these tools is at your own risk, of course, but we have indicated the applications that we believe should only be used by advanced users.
Do you develop or know of a great free tool that you think should be here? Let us know!
Please note: As a courtesy to our customers and site visitors, Active DataComm maintains some links to external sites and tools that are developed and maintained by third parties, and for which no warranty is offered or implied on behalf of Active DataComm. You are responsible for your usage of these sites and tools, which is at your own risk. Active DataComm respects intellectual property, and does not support or condone the use of any of these sites or tools for illegal, unethical, or prohibited purposes. Before making use of or downloading any of these tools, please see our full disclaimer.
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Anti-Virus Tools
AVG Free
AVG has been around for many years, and has practically become the de-facto standard for anti-virus on PCs running Windows; a free version is available for personal use only. The well-chosen default settings will update AVG and scan automatically and offer real-time protection, and many powerful options are available for advanced users.
Active DataComm is an AVG Gold Reseller, so if you need AVG for your company, or if you need a full-featured internet security suite, instead of just anti-virus, we can help! For more information about complete protection from AVG, please click here.
Free version available for personal use only
Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials is a comprehensive security package that deals with viruses, malware, rootkits, and more. With live protection, download, on-demand, and scheduled scanning, this is a great option for users running Windows. One of its most often lauded aspects is that Microsoft Security Essentials just does what it is supposed to do, stays out of the user's way unless needed, and isn't greedy with system resources.
According to Microsoft®: About Microsoft Security Essentials Microsoft Security "Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple. Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
Free for Genuine Windows
ClamWin
ClamWin is not recognized by Windows Security Center, and does not offer real-time protection, but for on-demand virus scanning alone, ClamWin is well-respected. ClamWin is GPL-licensed, open-source software.
ClamWin is based upon ClamAV, which is available for many operating systems, including Linux, Unix, BSD, and more.
Free, open-source, similar products available for many operating systems No real-time protection, not recognized by Windows Security Center Recommended for advanced users
Spyware, Adware, and Malware Removal Tools
Ad-Aware
Ad-Aware has been around for a very long time now, and its features and power continue to grow; simply scan your PC, and Ad-Aware will guide you through any detected threats, and remove them. Some real-time protection is available as well, but it is important to keep this tool up to date and scan your PC on a regular basis.
Free version available
Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials is a comprehensive security package that deals with viruses, malware, rootkits, and more. With live protection, download, on-demand, and scheduled scanning, this is a great option for users running Windows. One of its most often lauded aspects is that Microsoft Security Essentials just does what it is supposed to do, stays out of the user's way unless needed, and isn't greedy with system resources.
According to Microsoft®: About Microsoft Security Essentials Microsoft Security "Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple. Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
Free for Genuine Windows
Spybot Search & Destroy
Spybot S&D detects and removes a very large number of threats; when kept up to date and used regularly, it can be a powerful part of keeping your PC secure. This tool also offers some real-time protection as well.
Free
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
Yet another powerful tool, also offering some real-time protection, this tool will nicely round out your malware removal tools.
Free version available
Password Tools
Microsoft Password Checker
There is no need to download anything to use this tool; simply visit the site to check the strength of your passwords.
Free
KeePass
KeePass is a GPL-Licensed, open-source, full-featured password manager for Windows. KeePass uses a master password and/or key files to restrict access to a database containing all of your passwords, which can be organized in a variety of ways. KeePass stores its database in a single file, so it is easy to backup, and KeePass is "portable", so it can be installed on, and run from, a portable device, such as a USB thumbdrive.
Free, open-source
System Updates
Microsoft Windows Update
Official Updates for Microsoft Windows
Free
Firewalls
Comodo Firewall
Installing, configuring, and using Comodo Firewall may be a bit daunting for the average user, but for advanced users, it is worth consideration.
Free version available Recommended for advanced users
Encryption Tools
TrueCrypt
Recommended for advanced users, TrueCrypt is an open-source, powerful encryption tool that is easy to use, and offers high-quality encryption to protect your data. TrueCrypt can create and use file containers, partitions, and even encrypt your system partition, on the fly. Using TrueCrypt offers excellent protection for sensitive information, such as banking information, personal medical records, or any other data that you want to keep safe.
Any encryption plan is only as good as the user's standard operating procedure, so using encryption is not a panacea; Active DataComm can help you make sure that you are making the best use of this, or any security tool. If you would like more information, please contact us.
Free, open-source, available for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux Caution advised - recommended for advanced users
Eraser
Eraser is a GPL-Licensed, open-source tool that will securely delete any information that you no longer need. Normally, when you delete a file on your PC, the data is still present, and can be recovered; using Eraser, however, will over-write any file, to make certain that the file is gone for good. Before you throw out that old hard drive with your personal banking information, remember to make sure that your data is really gone.
Like any security tool, Eraser only works if it is configured and used correctly; extreme caution must be exercised when deleting files, because they will be unrecoverable. We can help you get started, wipe drives for you, or help you decide what will work for your needs. If you would like more information, please contact us.
Free, open-source Caution advised - recommended for advanced users
WinMD5Sum
Though not completely infallable, using an MD5 hash can offer some assurance that a downloaded file is intact and has not been tampered with. Using MD5 is very common, and WinMD5Sum is an easy way to check the MD5 of any file, for comparison to that supplied by the provider of the file. Verifying the MD5 hash of a file is an important part of estabilishing trust, but it is only part of the process. If you would like more information, please contact us.
Free
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Web Browsers
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla's free, open-source web browser, FireFox, is very popular, and available for a wide variety of platforms. Firefox's extension system allows the user to add any number of add-ons to Firefox, which offer a staggering array of options to block ads, add functionality, enhance security, and much, much more. Thanks to a very large user base, the selection of enhancements is constantly growing and improving, and security issues are addressed very quickly.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Opera
Opera is a popular free web browser that offers much more than simple web browsing, and has many unique features and capabilities. Opera offers browsers for many platforms, including phones and other portable devices.
Free, available for many platforms
Google Chrome
Google's Chrome web browser is available for a variety of platforms, and is most often lauded for the speed with which it displays web pages.
Free, based on Google's open-source Chromium, available for many platforms
SRWare Iron
Iron is a free, open-source web browser, based on Google's Chromium, offering all of the benefits of Google Chrome, but with some important differences. Iron is very similar to Chrome, but SRWare removes the usage tracking built into Chrome, and implements various other security and privacy enhancements.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Safari
Safari is Apple's web browser, offered for free for a variety of platforms.
Free
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer is Microsoft's browser, which is typically included with all versions of windows. If you do not yet have Internet Explorer, or if your version is out of date, Microsoft offers it for free download.
Free
Email Software
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla's free, open-source email and news client, Thunderbird, is very popular, and offers many of the same benefits of extensions and add-ons as their web browser, Firefox. Thunderbird supports a variety of email standards, including Google's Gmail, POP3, IMAP, SMTP, and so on, along with some of their associated, and more secure, implementations. Thunderbird is available for a very wide variety of platforms and operating systems, and supports a large number of enhancements to improve organizing messages, junk filtering, and customizable filters to automatically handle messages.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Opera Mail
Opera's free web browser includes an integrated, full-featured email client, and is available for a variety of platforms.
Free, available for many platforms
FTP Software
FileZilla
FileZilla Client is a free, open source FTP client that supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS, and is available for many platforms, including Windows, Linux and Mac OSX. With a polished user interface, the capability of using secure FTP protocols, large file (greater than 4GB) transfer/resume, and a number of other advanced features, FileZilla has become extremely popular, and is a great solution for any FTP related needs.
FileZilla also offers a full-featured FTP server, FileZilla Server; the vast majority of users will only need FileZilla Client.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Telnet and SSH Software
PuTTY
PuTTY is an open-source, free client for SSH, telnet, and rlogin protocols, allowing connection to a remote system. Most users will never need this type of software, but if you do, PuTTY is a fine choice.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms Recommended for advanced users
Xming
Xming is a free X Window Server for Windows, that offers a full-featured and secure solution for those that need it. Xming works perfectly with PuTTY, creating a combination that works very well. Like PuTTY, most users will never need this software, but for those that do, PuTTY and Xming are hard to beat at any price, and probably impossible to beat for free.
Free Recommended for advanced users
Instant Messaging
Pidgin
Pidgin is a GPL-Licensed, free, open-source instant messaging client that supports almost every popular standard for instant messaging, in one single program. Supported protocols include: AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo!, and Zephyr, with more added as they become available. Pidgin can be extended with a variety of add-ons, and with a large user base, the selection is always improving.
Using Pidgin takes a little getting used to, but if you are looking for an all-in-one tool for all of your IM accounts, Pidgin is definitely worth checking out.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
VOIP and Video Conferencing
Skype
Skype allows users to make free voice and video calls to other Skype users, and low-cost calls to landline and mobile phones, over the internet. Skype is a great choice for free PC-to-PC voice and video calling, and low-cost PC-to-Phone voice calling, but keep in mind that it requires a broadband internet connection, it isn't a replacement for your other telephones, and it can not be used to make emergency calls.
Free, available for many platforms
BitTorrent
µTorrent
µTorrent, also known as "Microtorrent" or "Mtorrent" is a very popular, lightweight, and full-featured BitTorrent client, supporting bandwidth prioritization, scheduling, RSS auto-downloading, Mainline DHT, the Protocol Encryption joint specification, and peer exchange. The benefits of the legitimate use of BitTorrent are being realized by more and more companies every day, so selecting a quality BitTorrent client is becoming more important, and µTorrent is a fine choice.
Free, available for many platforms
Internet Television and Radio
Miro
Miro is a free HD-capable video player, podcast client, and much more, that can play almost any video file and offers thousands of free internet TV shows and video podcasts.
Once you subscribe to your favorite feeds, Miro will check for and download new audio and video webcasts automatically, and organize everything into a clean, easy-to-use interface. Files can be saved forever, or will be automatically deleted after a specified number of days; users can specify how much disk space to allow, so Miro won't fill up your drive unless you want it to. Since Miro actually downloads most files to the local harddrive, they are available while you're on the go and away from an internet connection.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
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Office Suites
LibreOffice
LibreOffice is popular, LGPL-licensed, free, open-source office suite available for a variety of platforms, in many languages. LibreOffice supports, and is compatible with, most Microsoft Office file formats, as well as file formats for a wide variety of other office applications from other vendors. LibreOffice includes capabilities for word processing (similar to Microsoft Word and WordPerfect), spreadsheets (similar to Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3), presentations (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote), database management (similar to Microsoft Access), vector drawing (similar to Microsoft Visio), and equation editing (similar to Microsoft Equation Editor). LibreOffice also supports exporting documents to PDF format, natively.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Portable Document Format (PDF)
Adobe Reader
Adobe Reader is an extremely popular PDF viewer, and supports most features available with PDF, and much more.
Free
Sumatra PDF
Sumatra PDF, also known as "Sumatra", is a free, GPL-licensed, open-source, lightweight PDF reader for Windows. Sumatra is designed to be portable, so it runs perfectly from USB thumb drives, or other storage devices.
Free, open-source
PDF Split and Merge
PDF Split and Merge, also as known as "pdfsam", is a free, GPL-licensed, open-source, tool to split, merge, and re-arrange PDF files. Pdfsam supports a variety of advanced features for manipulating PDF documents.
Free, open-source
PDFCreator
PDFCreator installs a virtual printer on any Windows system, which allows a user to very easily create a PDF from any Windows program. If you can print, you can use PDFCreator to create PDF files.
Free, open-source
Text Editor
Notepad++
Notepad++ is a free, GPL-licensed, text editor, source code editor, and overall Notepad replacement with a wide variety of sophisticated features. Such features include: Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding, Auto-completion, Multi-Document / Multi-View, Regular Expression Search/Replace, File Status Auto-detection, Zoom, Multi-Language, Bookmarks, Brace and Indent guideline Highlighting, and Macro recording / playback.
Free, open-source
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Internet Television and Radio
Miro
Miro is a free HD-capable video player, podcast client, and much more, that can play almost any video file and offers thousands of free internet TV shows and video podcasts.
Once you subscribe to your favorite feeds, Miro will check for and download new audio and video webcasts automatically, and organize everything into a clean, easy-to-use interface. Files can be saved forever, or will be automatically deleted after a specified number of days; users can specify how much disk space to allow, so Miro won't fill up your drive unless you want it to. Since Miro actually downloads most files to the local harddrive, they are available while you're on the go and away from an internet connection.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Audio and Video Players
VLC
VLC Media Player, also known simply as "VLC", is a popular, GPL-licensed, free, open-source media player available for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, BSD, and some mobile devices. VLC uses its own plug-in system, which frees it from relying upon the codecs installed on a particular PC, which can save the user a lot of time and trouble hunting for an appropriate codec for a particular media file. VLC can play virtually all popular file formats, encoded with most popular codecs, including MP3, OGG, DIVX, XVID, MOV, AVI, MPG, MP4, FLV, and much, much more. With a variety of advanced features and a user-friendly interface, VLC is a great choice if you need or want a media player to complement or replace your current one.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Audio and Video Converters
Mediacoder
Mediacoder is a free, easy to use tool for converting video and audio from virtually any format to virtually any other. The variety of supported file types and codecs is very impressive, and the user interface makes the process as easy as possible. Mediacoder is a particularly popular free solution for users who need to convert media for playback on iPhone/iPod, PSP, MP3/MP4 players, and mobile phones that support 3GP. In addition to the standard edition of Mediacoder, there are special editions of Mediacoder, tailored to particular devices, making the process even easier.
Free
Audio Recording and Editing
Audacity
Audacity is a popular, GPL-licensed, free, open-source audio recorder and editor available for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux. Audacity can be used to record audio, convert from one format to another, cut and splice audio, filter noise or add special effects, and much more.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Raster Image Editing
GNU Image Manipulation Program
A raster editor is simply an image editor that works on a pixel basis, rather than using vector-based graphics; for example, Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Paint are popular commercial raster editors. GNU Image Manipulation Program is a popular, GPL-licensed, free, open-source raster editor (with an unfortunate acronym) available for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux. Capable of simple image creation and editing to full-fledged professional photograph retouching, this is a powerful tool with a great deal of the same capabilities as expensive commercial products. With support for plug-ins, advanced scripting, and batch processing support, GNU Image Manipulation Program is great choice for a powerful raster editing tool, without the huge price tag. There is a learning curve with associated with this tool, as with any powerful raster editor, but with its large community, it is easy to find guides and help to get started.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms Recommended for advanced users
Vector Image Editing
Inkscape
A vector editor is simply an image editor that works on a vector basis, rather than using pixel-based graphics; for example, Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW are popular commercial vector editors. Inkscape is a popular, GPL-licensed, free, open-source vector editor available for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux. The developers of Inkscape are focused on being fully compliant with the XML, SVG, and CSS standards, while constantly improving this powerful tool, with many of the same features as its commercial and proprietary counterparts. Most users will not have a need for a vector image editor, but for those that do, Inkscape is a great choice. Inkscape enjoys a large user base, so some great guides and help on getting started are available.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms Recommended for advanced users
Digital Photograph Viewing, Editing, and Organization
Picasa
Google's Picasa is the standalone counterpart to their Picasa Web Albums, with many of the same features, but installed on your local machine. Picasa supports a wide variety of options for organizing, searching, and tagging digital photos, as well as editing photos as needed, while retaining the originals unchanged, just in case. A small sample of Picasa's features include: viewing, organizing, editing, revisioning, geotagging, keyword tagging, face recognition, and optional syncing online to Picasa Web Albums.
Picasa's face recognition technology is one of its most celebrated features, and unlike many other applications, it does not just detect faces in general, but recognizes the faces of individual people, and does it quite well. This powerful technology allows Picasa to process all of your photos, picking out and recognizing individual faces; once you tell Picasa the name of a person whose face it has found, it will automatically recognize that person from there onward. Instead of having to go through your photos, one by one, noting who is in which photos, Picasa can handle this automatically, allowing you easily to search and find photos of a particular person, or even photos in which two or more particular people appear together.
Free, available for many platforms
3D Graphics Creation and Editing
Blender
Blender is an extremely popular, GPL-licensed, free, open-source 3D graphics editor available for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux. Blender has many of the same features and capabilities of proprietary and commercial 3D tools, such as 3ds Max and Maya, and can be used for modeling, texturing, rigging, particle simulations, skinning, animating, rendering, compositing, non-linear editing, and creating interactive 3D applications, such as games. Most users will not have a need for this type of tool, but for those that do, Blender is a great choice; it enjoys a large user base, so even though there is a steep learning curve, some great guides and help on getting started are available.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms Recommended for advanced users
DVD Conversion
Handbrake
Handbrake is a popular, GPL-licensed, free, open-source tool, available for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux, for converting DVD media to other formats for archiving or viewing on portable devices. Most users will not have a need for this type of tool, but for those that do, Handbrake is a great choice and enjoys a large user base.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms Recommended for advanced users
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File Compression and Archiving
7-Zip
7-Zip is a popular, LGPL-licensed, free, open-source tool, available for Windows and Linux, for file archiving and compression. 7-Zip supports a wide variety of archive formats, including 7z, ARJ, BZIP2, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, GZIP, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI, NSIS, RAR, RPM, TAR, UDF, WIM, XAR, ZIP, and Z.
Free, open-source, available for Windows and Linux
Winmail.dat Reading and Converting
Winmail.dat Reader
Winmail.dat Reader is a free, user-friendly tool for opening winmail.dat files. Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server often send attachments using winmail.dat or win.dat files, so recipients who use other email clients, such as Opera or Thunderbird, may not be able to open them directly. Winmail.dat Reader can open these files, so the contents may be saved as needed.
When it comes to email attachments, it is very important to have working, up-to-date antivirus. Email attachments are a common vector for the transmission of computer viruses, so it is important to protect your system with a good email scanning anti-virus package, such as AVG. For more information, just contact us.
Free
Disk Space Usage Analysis and Treemapping
WinDirStat
Windows Directory Statistics, also known as "WinDirStat", is a GPL-licensed, free, open-source tool, that offers a visual representation of a PC's disk usage. WinDirStat will analyze your disk, and provide a variety of useful statistics, and an easy to understand, graphical representation of your disk space usage. If you are running low on space, and need an easy way to see what files are taking up the most space, this tool is a great choice.
Free, open-source
Disc Image Creation and Burning
ImgBurn
ImgBurn is free, very user-friendly tool for Windows that allows the creation of images from optical discs, including CD, DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray, and burning disc images to physical media. Supported image formats include BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI, and ImgBurn can also be used to author and burn DVDs, and music CDs. For example, Linux distributions are often distributed by offering ISO images for download, which ImgBurn can easily burn onto a physical CD or DVD, for use in installation. Most users will not need this tool, but for those who do, this is a great, user-friendly choice.
Free
Batch File Renaming
PublicWare File Renamer
PublicWare File Renamer is a free, powerful, user-friendly tool for renaming multiple files quickly and easily. Simply drag and drop the files in need of new names into File Renamer, set the options, including removing, inserting, replacing, and much more, and you can rename any number of files in just a few clicks. Some programs may become unusable if needed files are renamed, so it is important to rename only files that are not needed by the system or other programs.
Free Recommended for advanced users
Duplicate File Removal
Easy Duplicate Finder
Easy Duplicate Finder is a free, powerful, user-friendly tool for finding duplicate files, and deleting them as desired. Some programs may become unusable if needed files are removed, so it is important to remove only files that are not needed by the system or other programs.
Free Recommended for advanced users
Temporary File and Registry "Cleaning"
CCleaner
CCleaner is a powerful and popular free tool for cleaning obsolete registry entries, temporary files, history files, and a wide variety of other types of data that build up on any PC over time. As always, extreme caution is recommended when using any tools that affect the system, and in particular, the Windows registry.
Free Recommended for advanced users
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Games
StepMania
StepMania is an extremely popular, open-source, MIT licensed game, very similar to Dance Dance Revolution. StepMania enjoys an enormous user base, and is under active development, leading to a highly polished, very playable dance game.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Frets On Fire
Frets On Fire is an extremely popular, open-source, GPL licensed game, very similar to Guitar Hero. This game also enjoys a large user base and is under active development, and is also polished and very playable. The Frets On Fire community has produced hundreds of songs for use in the game, and the game comes with an integrated tool for importing Guitar Hero songs; players may compete against each other on an online score chart.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
GLtron
GLTron is an open-source, GPL licensed lightcycle game, very much like that featured in the movie, Tron. Players may compete against computer-controlled players, or real people on the same keyboard.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Armagatron
Armagatron is also an open-source, GPL licensed lightcycle game, very much like that featured in the movie, Tron. However, with Armagatron, players may compete against computer-controlled players, or real people over the internet.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
LBreakout2
LBreakout2 is an open-source, GPL licensed breakout-style game, with hundreds of custom level sets created by members of its large user base. It is under active development, and is polished and very playable.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
3D Astronomy and Planetarium Software
Stellarium
Stellarium is an open-source, GPL licensed, full-featured planetarium for your PC. Stellarium is very sophisticated, polished, and enjoys a large user base and active development, so the community contributions are broad and numerous. The developers of Stellarium place emphasis on realism, which is one reason Stellarium is in use by the projectors of real, brick-and-mortar planetariums around the world.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
Celestia
Celestia is also an open-source, GPL licensed, full-featured planetarium for your PC. Highly polished, very sophisticated, and extremely accurate, Celestia enjoys a large user base, including some high-profile users such as NASA, ESA, and CBS's NCIS. Celestia has a smaller catalog of stars and objects than Stellarium, but it also enjoys a large user base and active development, so the community contributions are broad and numerous.
Free, open-source, available for many platforms
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