Internet phone troubles

For the last 2 years we have depended heavily on our Skype internet phone to keep in touch with family and friends. Skype is a way in which we can talk via our computer with others either on their computer or landline telephones. It is a free service (my favorite price), so I am willing to put up with the occasional dropped call or delayed responses. Earlier this week, the internet telephone giant experienced some technical difficulties which resulted in outages for over 200 million of their customers worldwide. This outage lasted nearly 48 hours in some places. How critical was this to me or my family? Not very...let me explain. We already have 5 cell phones between us and 2 laptops with email so that anyone who really needs to contact us still can, even without Skype. Sometimes the adage, "you get what you pay for" holds true, but even your expensive phone company doesn't always come through. When was the last time your cable TV (not free!) experienced trouble in the middle of your favorite program?
I started thinking about other freeware (free software) that I have come to love or to depend. I have long ago abandoned Internet Explorer for the more versatile Firefox as my internet browser. I back up my important files free and automatically to a web-based server on Mozy. In the days of security concerns, it also becomes important to encrypt and hide sensitive files. For that, I found a free program at TrueCrypt. All of these that I have mentioned so far are free and easy to use (important for a not so savvy me). You can find many of them on their own websites or at Snapfiles which also provides user comments and ratings about hundreds of freeware and shareware software. What freeware do you use that has made your life in the computer age easier? Leave a comment and share it with the rest of us.