Sam
08-05-2007, 11:54 AM
Ok, everyone loves something for nothing and a lot of us like to do things differently, so I'm attempting to compile a list of free and alternative everyday computer software programs.
Yes everything can be free if you're handy with a computer but that is not what this thread is about.
Breach that rule and you'll be banned for three days, without hesitation.
********************
Office Suites - Word processing, database, spreadsheets etc.
OpenOffice
OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project.
http://marketing.openoffice.org/art/galleries/marketing/web_buttons/nicu/180x60_3_get.png (http://www.openoffice.org)After only a few months of using this I'm up to speed and actually prefer it to MS Office.
Browsers - Internet surfing etc
Firefox
Probably the best know alternate Web browser - again Firefox is open-source and freely available. Fully customisable, beyond anything the average user could imagine. Thousands of add-ons and themes make it one of the most user friendly browsers out there.
http://sfx-images.mozilla.org/affiliates/Buttons/firefox2/firefox-spread-btn-2.png (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=affiliates&id=0&t=213)I'm happy to share my preferred Add-Ons should any other Fx users be out there.
Email - Third party email clients
Thunderbird
Another Mozilla foundation project - open-source and freely available. Fully customisable with add-ons and themes and intuitive spam filters. It will work with nearly every other email client.
http://sfx-images.mozilla.org/affiliates/thunderbird/thunderbird_large.png (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird)I personally use Thunderbird to receive email from hotmail, gmail, AOL, btconnect and a few other sources.
Anti-Virus / Spyware / etc
AVG Free
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is one of the most popular solutions to provide basic security protection on home and non-commercial PCs. We invite you to join the millions of users around the world who rely on AVG's unique award-winning detection methods by downloading AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition.
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5)Over four years of use, not one virus on upwards of 30 machines, not including the hundreds of recommendations I've made.
SpyBot Search & Destroy
Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/mycarsavw/spybotsd-222x62.gif (http://security.kolla.de/)Only a few years of personal use with this one. Using alternative browsers tends to cut down the instances of Spyware so I haven't got any proper use out of this program myself. It works though, very well.
Ad-Aware 2007 Free
Ad-Aware 2007 Free remains the most popular anti-spyware product for computer users around the world, with nearly one million downloads every week. Our free anti-spyware version provides you with advanced protection against spyware that secretly attaches and takes control of your computer, resulting in aggressive advertising pop-ups, sluggish computer activity, even identity theft through stolen bank details, passwords, and credit card account numbers. If you want real-time scanning capabilities, consider upgrading to Ad-Aware 2007 Plus for real-time protection against spyware, all the time!
http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2d/lavasoft.element5.com/img/adaware2007_box_free.gif (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php)Others
Foxit PDF Reader
An alternative to Adobe Acrobat.
Foxit Reader 2.0 is a free PDF document viewer and printer, with incredible small size (only 1.5 M download size), breezing-fast launch speed and amazingly rich feature set. Foxit Reader 2.0 supports Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003. Its core function is compatible with PDF Standard 1.6.
Foxit Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php)
GIMP 2.0
Photoshop alternative.
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages
G.I.M.P 2.0 (http://www.gimp.org/)Finally, operating systems (OS)
Lots of talk about Vista and it's downfalls has brought a few alternative OS into the forefront.
Ubuntu
Windows alternative.
Ubuntu is a community developed, linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need - a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more.
Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com)I've been messing with Linux on and off for a few years.
There are lots of distributions (or flavours) out there and hopefully other people will add their thoughts but I prefer Ubuntu myself.
I started with a Live CD on a few machines before taking the plunge and buying a second hard disc and installing it fully. I've been dual booting Ubuntu and Vista on my home machine for the past 4 months. Even my kids are using it now.
It takes some getting used to but once you understand it isn't Windows and it isn't trying to be Windows things will fall into place.
It also features many of the above programs as standard - which can't be bad.
********************
So that's what I use on a daily basis - I don't profess to know everything there is to know about the programs but I do know they are all free, they all work and they are all widely supported.
There are obviously other Internet Browsers, email clients and so on out there so that's the point of this post.
What do you use?
If this posts converts just one person, I'm happy.
Yes everything can be free if you're handy with a computer but that is not what this thread is about.
Breach that rule and you'll be banned for three days, without hesitation.
********************
Office Suites - Word processing, database, spreadsheets etc.
OpenOffice
OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project.
http://marketing.openoffice.org/art/galleries/marketing/web_buttons/nicu/180x60_3_get.png (http://www.openoffice.org)After only a few months of using this I'm up to speed and actually prefer it to MS Office.
Browsers - Internet surfing etc
Firefox
Probably the best know alternate Web browser - again Firefox is open-source and freely available. Fully customisable, beyond anything the average user could imagine. Thousands of add-ons and themes make it one of the most user friendly browsers out there.
http://sfx-images.mozilla.org/affiliates/Buttons/firefox2/firefox-spread-btn-2.png (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=affiliates&id=0&t=213)I'm happy to share my preferred Add-Ons should any other Fx users be out there.
Email - Third party email clients
Thunderbird
Another Mozilla foundation project - open-source and freely available. Fully customisable with add-ons and themes and intuitive spam filters. It will work with nearly every other email client.
http://sfx-images.mozilla.org/affiliates/thunderbird/thunderbird_large.png (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird)I personally use Thunderbird to receive email from hotmail, gmail, AOL, btconnect and a few other sources.
Anti-Virus / Spyware / etc
AVG Free
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is one of the most popular solutions to provide basic security protection on home and non-commercial PCs. We invite you to join the millions of users around the world who rely on AVG's unique award-winning detection methods by downloading AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition.
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5)Over four years of use, not one virus on upwards of 30 machines, not including the hundreds of recommendations I've made.
SpyBot Search & Destroy
Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/mycarsavw/spybotsd-222x62.gif (http://security.kolla.de/)Only a few years of personal use with this one. Using alternative browsers tends to cut down the instances of Spyware so I haven't got any proper use out of this program myself. It works though, very well.
Ad-Aware 2007 Free
Ad-Aware 2007 Free remains the most popular anti-spyware product for computer users around the world, with nearly one million downloads every week. Our free anti-spyware version provides you with advanced protection against spyware that secretly attaches and takes control of your computer, resulting in aggressive advertising pop-ups, sluggish computer activity, even identity theft through stolen bank details, passwords, and credit card account numbers. If you want real-time scanning capabilities, consider upgrading to Ad-Aware 2007 Plus for real-time protection against spyware, all the time!
http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2d/lavasoft.element5.com/img/adaware2007_box_free.gif (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php)Others
Foxit PDF Reader
An alternative to Adobe Acrobat.
Foxit Reader 2.0 is a free PDF document viewer and printer, with incredible small size (only 1.5 M download size), breezing-fast launch speed and amazingly rich feature set. Foxit Reader 2.0 supports Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003. Its core function is compatible with PDF Standard 1.6.
Foxit Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php)
GIMP 2.0
Photoshop alternative.
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages
G.I.M.P 2.0 (http://www.gimp.org/)Finally, operating systems (OS)
Lots of talk about Vista and it's downfalls has brought a few alternative OS into the forefront.
Ubuntu
Windows alternative.
Ubuntu is a community developed, linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need - a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more.
Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com)I've been messing with Linux on and off for a few years.
There are lots of distributions (or flavours) out there and hopefully other people will add their thoughts but I prefer Ubuntu myself.
I started with a Live CD on a few machines before taking the plunge and buying a second hard disc and installing it fully. I've been dual booting Ubuntu and Vista on my home machine for the past 4 months. Even my kids are using it now.
It takes some getting used to but once you understand it isn't Windows and it isn't trying to be Windows things will fall into place.
It also features many of the above programs as standard - which can't be bad.
********************
So that's what I use on a daily basis - I don't profess to know everything there is to know about the programs but I do know they are all free, they all work and they are all widely supported.
There are obviously other Internet Browsers, email clients and so on out there so that's the point of this post.
What do you use?
If this posts converts just one person, I'm happy.