The nation’s economy is not very strong right now. Funds are tight everywhere and it looks like the economy will be like this for a while. That of course means that budgets are getting cut. Unfortunately, a popular place to cut budgets is in the software area. That’s very unfortunate if you are using outdated software or planned on purchasing a new application in order to get things done in a more efficient manner. There is hope! Here is a list of free, quality, and compatible software that you can use to supplement or possibly completely replace what you are currently using.
Note: Check the End User License Agreement (EULA) before you use any of these applications. Some are free for private use only, but offer a corporate version for a small fee. Also, you should always check with your network administrator (or equivalent) before you install anything on a business machine.
1. OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org). This is a suite of productivity applications just like the famous Microsoft Office. OpenOffice provides a word processor named Writer (i.e. Microsoft Word), a spreadsheet application named Calc (i.e. Microsoft Excel), a presentation application named Impress (i.e. Microsoft PowerPoint), a database application named Base (i.e. Microsoft Access), and even an image editor named Draw (i.e. Microsoft Paint). The OpenOffice suite of applications is fully compatible with the Microsoft Office file formats. That means you can open, edit, and even create Microsoft Office documents. OpenOffice does not offer an email client (i.e. Microsoft Outlook), but wait….
2. Mozilla Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird). Thunderbird is a free email client that you can use to organize, secure and customize your email. It offers very good security which includes a great junk mail filter. It will work with any POP3 type email account.
3. CD/DVD Burning. There are several free CD/DVD burning applications that are totally free for use. Two of the more popular ones are CD Burner XP Pro (http://cdburnerxp.se) and ImgBurn (http://www.imgburn.com). Although these programs are not for authoring a DVD movie, they do offer an easy-to-use interface to burn files to your CDs and DVDs. You can also use them to copy CDs or DVDs.
4. Anti-Virus. AVG Free Edition (http://free.avg.com) and Avast! Antivirus (http://www.avast.com) both are two great virus scans for your Microsoft Windows computer. The installs are painless and offer instant protection against viruses. However, do not use both. Using more than one virus scan can cause a range of problems.
5. Anti-Malware. Malware (a.k.a. Spyware and/or Adware) is a big issue these days and will not go away in the foreseeable future. Fortunately, there are some good free spyware scanners out there. Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 (http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php), Spybot Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html) and Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware (http://www.malwarebytes.org) are three anti-malware applications that are free for personal use.
6. ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonealarm.com). Windows XP and Vista both have a built-in firewall, but it is always a good idea to run a third-party firewall because the Windows built-in firewalls have a higher likelihood of becoming compromised. ZoneAlarm is a good choice when choosing to beef up your firewall protection.
7. 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org). 7-Zip if a file archiving utility for Windows. With it, you can zip and un-zip files with ease. It also performs much faster than Windows XP’s and Windows Vista’s built-in software. If you find yourself dealing with zip files often, give it a try. You’ll be glad you did!
8. Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US). Firefox is a web browser like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Firefox offers some cutting edge features such as the “Smart Bar”, which offers suggestions and finds related sites as you type in an address in the address bar. To date, it has much less security issues than Internet Explorer, and seems to consistently outperform Internet Explorer.
9. VLC Media Player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc). If you are having trouble playing DVD’s on your computer, give this piece of software a try. It is a good alternative to Windows Media Player and to buying some DVD playing software. Careful during the install. By default, the install tries to be the default player for all types of media files. While this is OK, you may want to change the defaults during the installation.
10. GIMP (http://www.gimp.org). GIMP is a free image editing program with many of the same features and capabilities as the famous Adobe Photoshop. If you find yourself needing to edit photos often, you may want to give it a try!
11. Picasa (http://picasa.google.com). Another free program for photos. Although not as advanced as GIMP as far as image editing, Picasa does plenty that GIMP does not. It organizes all your photos into one, easy to use interface, allows for plenty of editing (again, not as advanced as GIMP, but easier for most to use). Picasa also allows for online sharing to your friends, family, co-workers, or whomever you choose.
12. PrimoPDF (http://www.primopdf.com). This is a virtual printer that changes anything you can print into a PDF document. Quite handy when you want to send out a document and you want to make sure that it does not get edited.
13. Skype (http://www.skype.com). Video calls are here! This software allows for Skype users to communicate in a video call fashion to other Skype users. Skype accounts are free, but with limitations (such as you can’t call land lines or cell phones without paying a rate). You do of course need a webcam, speakers, and a microphone to make the video call feature work. You can however ditch the webcam for voice-only communication. Note that the party you plan on communicating with via Skype must have a Skype account as well, but remember – Skype accounts are free!
Kyle Greenup | Vice President
NovaCPU
www.novacpu.com
Email: kyle@novacpu.com
Office: 615.822.5454 | Cell: 615.498.5789
111 Hazel Path | Hendersonville, TN | 37075
You should also try SSuite Office for a free office suite. They have a whole range of office suites that are free for download.
Their software also don’t need to run on Java or .NET, like so many open source office suites, so it makes their software very small and efficient.
You may try these links:
http://www.ssuitesoft.com/index.htm
or
http://www.ssuitesoft.com/ssuiteexcalibur.htm
or
http://ssuite5element.webs.com/thefifthelement.htm
I was very pleased with the service that Nova CPU provide. I called the service dept. and within the hour the service person was knocking on my door. Their price for cleaning up my computer was reasonalble and was completed in the time they promised. I reccomend Nova CPU to the highest degree. They are very reliable and trustworthy.
Thanks I found just the info I already searched everywhere and just couldn’t find. What a perfect site.