When I started this blog, I developed a sort of split personality. In my real life I’m a software engineer and all around computer geek. But when I sit down to write, or read a financial book or magazine, the finance driven “me” comes out. I never really noticed how little these two me’s interconnect until I was trying to think of a post topic and realized I was staring one right in the face, so to speak. My word processor is entirely free- and portable. But more on that in a minute.
DISCLAIMER: I am entirely PC based and have little Mac experience, so please bear that in mind.
There are free software applications (A.K.A. freeware) that provide similar functionality to many high-priced versions in the stores. The ridiculous part is that in many cases, they’re just plain better than their high price counterparts. This is usually due to what we call “bloatware” in the biz. But that’s another blog.
Here’s a few freeware apps I’ve come to love:
1.) OpenOffice.
OpenOffice is an open source (read, “free”) alternative to Microsoft Office. This suite of applications can entirely replace MS Office because it provides most (if not all) of the functionality that the average user requires AND it is capable of reading and saving in the various Microsoft Office file formats.
OpenOffice is a full office suite and includes a word processor (called “Writer”) and a spreadsheet app, called “Calc.” It also has a power point rival and a simple database app called, simply enough, “Base.” Both Writer and Calc are virtual Word and Excel clones, so adopting them is fairly easy.
The best part is – it’s free! So you can save a couple hundred dollars right there. Download OpenOffice here.
2.) GIMP.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is freely distributed under the GNU open source license. It’s practically a Photoshop replacement. It provides the same concept and functionality of layers, filters and brushes that make Photoshop so powerful, and it handles just about every image file type out there. I wouldn’t recommend this for basic image editing, but when you’ve got a serious graphic editing task the GiMP can step up to the plate. Download GiMP here.
3.) 7-zip.
7-Zip is an excellent Winzip replacement. I know, Winzip was shareware and not that costly. And 95% of its users probably never bothered to register the damn thing. But now with 7-Zip you can compress and un-compress for free and without guilt.
It handles MANY compression file formats: arj, lzh, gz, cab, iso, rar, tar and zip to name just a few. The best part (too a geek like me anyway) is that 7-Zip has its own proprietary file compression format, “7z”. 7z can actually compress files smaller than the standard zip format. 7-Zip does all of this (and more) all without the annoying nag-ware screen to click past. Download 7-Zip here.
4.) Audacity.
This aptly named gem is an audio editor. Its functionality is on par with professional software like Cool Edit Pro. Audacity features multi track editing and recording as well as sound effect filters and the like. It supports editing of wav, mp3, and Ogg Vorbis formats. This one can also save you a couple hundred smackers if you’re into sound editing, but not quite professional. Download Audacity here.
5.) FileZilla.
From the makers of the ever popular Firefox web browser comes FileZilla. FileZilla is a full-featured FTP client (they also have an FTP server) and supports open connections, SSL/TLS (FTPS) and SSH FTP. It’s incredibly simple to use, supports drag-and drop and resume. Download FileZilla here.
6.) Jarte.
Jarte (pronounced ” jär · ‘tay”) is a lightweight, simple rich text editor. From the website:
“1. A free word processor based on the Microsoft WordPad word processing engine built into Windows.
2. A fast starting, easy to use word processor that expands well beyond the WordPad feature set.
3. A small, portable word processor whose documents are fully compatible with Word and WordPad.”
It is all of these and more. Jarte is my primary tool of choice for all my writing projects. I find it provides all the functionality I need most when I’m just getting my thought on “paper”. If I’m formatting my resume, I’ll use OpenOffice Writer, but for simple text formatting, spell check and multi tab interface – it’s Jarte. Download Jarte here.
7.) IrfanView.
IrfanView is a fast, compact and portable image viewer, and lightweight editor. It runs on virtually all versions of Windows still in use today ( 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista), and it’s FREE.
IrfanView handles a HUGE number of file types but the most common are:jpgs, bmps, gifs, multipage TIFF, animated GIF and ICO files. It also has the major editing functions of any decent image package: Cut, Crop, Resize, Sharpen, Blur, Flip, Rotate, Red eye reduction and a whole lot more! Download IrfanView here.
8.) Cobian Backup.
Cobian Backup. Cobian. The name is a mystery. The website is hideous. The software is exceptional!
This small, powerful program handles full, differential, and incremental backups. It uses file compression and offers encryption. You can also backup to an FTP if local or network drives aren’t what you need. There’s all sorts of bells and whistles here, like scheduling and running the backup as an automatic background service and sending notification emails upon completion, but what I love about it is its simplicity. It has a very straight forward UI and fast and effective. Like the website, the icons need a good graphic designer, but that’s a small downside to a app as good as this with a price tag of zippo. Download Cobian backup here.
9.) Avast! Antivirus.
There are actually quite a few very good Antivirus programs out there, but my favorite is Avast!. It’s free for personal use and covers basic run-time scanning as well as scheduled system scan, IM/chat, email, network and website scanning. It has all the bells and whistle of premium Antivirus programs like virus vault, file cleaning and removal, automatic updates and more. I’ve tried AntiVir, AVG and Avast!. Avast is my favorite, though AVG is a close 2nd. Download Avast! Antivirus her.
10.) KeePass Password Safe.
Modern life has many wonderful and convenient improvements over the days of yore, but many of these technological perks come at a price. Identity theft is a huge problem. There are many causes, but one is that passwords are cumbersome. It’s an age old dilemma in the IT field: users should have secure passwords, but they often can’t remember them so they end up either using something less secure (like their pet’s name) or writing down the secure password on a post-it, thus making it less secure.
That’s where KeePass comes in. It’s a password safe, that allows you to store all your password info (encrypted and password protected, of course) and organize it by category. The benefit is that you only have to remember 1 secure password to open the program. After that, you can see what the password was for your ING savings account that you force yourself to keep away from lest you spend what’s there. Download KeePass Safe here
Oh, and every application in this list is portable (except Cobian, and Avast!). That means you can “install” (copy) it on a thumb drive and take it with you where ever you roam. Pretty sweet, eh?
You can find more FREE and portable software at http://portableapps.com/ and http://portablefreeware.com. It’s definitely worth a visit to see the wonders that abound out there in the open source community.
Photo, Free software badges, © marcomolinari.it
Technorati Tags: Money, Saving Money, Software, Free Software, Windows
Very helpful list! I have been looking for a resource like this for a while, and I can’t wait to try out Cobian.
I knew about open office and Gimp, but there were quite a few that I had not heard of. I am planning on switching to free anti virus this year and I think I will have to check out Avast