I have found one of the most unique and innovative ways, to not only find out about obscure file types that lie on your harddisk, but also to find open source software in a natural yet remarkable manner. OpenWith.org prides itself on being the only website to boast the above mentioned ability.

The theory they follow is that if you have a file on your hard disk that you haven’t a clue about (e.g. file.r00) all you need to do is look up the files extension on OpenWith.org. The site will not only locate the data page explaining which software is normally used to open it  but it will also provide shareware and (more frequently) Free software that you can use to open the said file!

According to the company their tools has helped parents and friends open obscure file types time and time again, and decided that this information was best shared with everybody.

The added benefit of having free alternatives suggested for each extension might have you even for searching well known extensions (see the screenshot – did you even know of AbiWord?)

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