The CFS site has links to many, many thousands of completely free – and legal – Windows and DOS programs. We have access to archives dating back to the early 1980s!
All listed freeware is freely available to all visitors, as are all our exclusive program reviews.
Over 2,600 programs are downloadable from this site. Many of those programs are not available through any other Website. Programs hosted by CFS are marked with this icon: 
If you are unsure of the differences between shareware, freeware and public domain software, please view our definitions page.
Because of the interest in advertiser supported software (often called ‘adware’ and sometimes ‘spyware’) CFS has posted some information on this subject.
| Our Charter |
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To list the very best software which is completely free for non-commercial use. Freeware programs listed do not time-out, are fully functional (though they may be ‘lite’ versions of commercial or shareware programs) and the author does not demand payment for the continued use of the program.
They must be designed for use on the DOS platform (MS-DOS compatible) and/or for use with Microsoft Windows versions designed for home or domestic use (includes Windows 3, Windows 95 & 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, and 32-bit versions of Vista & Windows 7).
| About The Freeware Listed |
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The freeware listed on this site has been hand-picked, tested, reviewed and rated to bring you the very best software.
Because our charter (see above) is to list software which is legally free (without time restraints) for educational and home use, we do not include Windows NT/2000-specific programs, though most listed programs are suitable for that platform.
We also do not currently support any 64-bit operating system as these are generally designed for commercial use. Again, many of the programs listed on this site are suitable for these platforms.
CFS does not list Linux, smartphone apps (including Pocket PC and Windows CE), or Apple Macintosh software.
While we do list some legally free commercial programs, this does not include the Microsoft Windows operating system (any version, including XP, Vista or Win7) which is not legally free.
The Ratings Criteria  |
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We rate programs in "golden doves" – from five doves (best) down to one dove (worst). Programs are also listed in the order our reviewers consider to be best, with the first program on a page being ‘better’ than the second, the second being ‘better’ than the third, etc, even though they might have the same ‘dove’ rating.
Programs are rated on a variety of criteria, with usability being most important. Other factors which influence our reviewers include (in no particular order) the number of features, the usability of those features, ease of use, download size (small is best), Helpfile/Readme file assistance, appearance, perceived popularity, etc.
| CFS Privacy Policy |
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Unless specifically requested, Completely FREE Software does not gather or store information which could identify individual visitors to this site. Full details here.
| Why Completely FREE Software? by Graham Pockett |
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“This site was born in May 1996 from frustration – frustration that many of the so-called ‘free software’ sites were not offering freeware but shareware, time-limited, or demo software which cost money to use or are not really functional. Only the download was ‘free’.
Even when genuinely free software was offered (usually mixed with shareware), many times there was no indication of its quality, download size, or even which of the listed programs were shareware and which were freeware.
The CFS site is designed to cater to those requirements – good quality, genuinely free software (freeware) which has been checked and rated – programs I use and ones which you will want to use too. While descriptions are brief, there is usually much more information in the CFS Program Review and on the program’s homepage (where the link will usually take you).
For more information about why this site was created, and about a pirate computer club which started my freeware collecting, please check out Confessions Of A Software Pirate.”
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Graham Pockett, Founder & Editor
Completely FREE Software | |  |
Desktop Utils
