To read PDF (portable document format) files, the most common method of distributing documents independent of particular platforms or applications

Adobe Acrobat Reader - free download to read PDF files (portable document format)
http://get.adobe.com/reader/

To "unzip" files that have been shrunk to speed file transfer

Freezip - needed for unzipping program files (such as the FTP program below) 
Download directly from our server: http://www.uah.edu/english/software/freezip.exe
Download from their website: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/

Winzip - another unzip program, available as an alternate to Freezip. Both are free.
Download directly from our server: http://www.uah.edu/english/software/winzip80.exe

To transfer files from your computer to a server, common in maintaining Websites.

FTP Explorer - free file transfer program (ftp) for Windows that works much like Windows Explorer 
Download a zipped file directly from our server: http://www.uah.edu/english/software/ftpx1010.zip

*Important Note:  FTP Explorer will not run on Windows Vista (see Core FTP below).
Also, you will need to adjust your Windows firewall for FTP Explorer to work right.  See these instructions.

Core FTP Lite - has a version available for free download; it will run on Windows Vista.
http://coreftp.com/download.html

Fetch - file transfer program for Macintosh, free for educational use.
Download from our server: http://www.uah.edu/english/software/Fetch_3_0_3.hqx

To write Web pages without knowing HTML coding

AOLPress  -WYSIWIG (what you see is what you get) web authoring software.  
You can download version 2.0 from 
 http://www.uah.edu/english/software/aolp20_3.exe

AdobeDreamweaver CS3 - this is the latest version of the most popular Web authoring software (formerly Macromedia Dreamweaver 8, and identical to that version). You can download a 30-day trial version of this and other popular Adobe products at http://www.adobe.com/downloads (requires free registration).

To protect your computer from harmful viruses

Antivirus -  If you have a home computer and especially if you have email at home, you need virus protection.  Many anti-virus programs are available.  Norton is respected and well known; you can download "Trialware" free at  http://www.symantec.com/downloads/   Avast is a less well known virus protector reputed to be better than Norton.  You download the home edition for free at http://www.avast.com/ .  I strongly recommend Avast.