There’s enough free software floating around on the Internet to populate a few dozen planets. Okay, there’s about that much software in the PC you use— particularly if you use the Windows operating system. There’s been enough said about the stranglehold MS has on the computing world for us not to add to the chaos. For now, all we are going to tell you is that there are non-MS and non-Windows options, even if you use the Windows operating system.
Take a look at this far-from-exhaustive list; simply go online for more. Just remember that although most of these programs sound good, they are relatively untried. So speak to a couple of software geeks, check online bulletin boards and sites for details before you download.
Operating system
A licensed version of the Windows operating system (OS) could set you back by a small fortune. If you aren’t already corrupted by the comfort of the familiar, you might want to opt for GNU or Linux as viable alternatives. Both operating systems come with their versions of Office, as well as proprietary browsers, e-mail clients and more. www.gnu.org, www.linux.org
You save: Rs 6,500—the price of best known and most used paid equivalent, Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Office
Freebies often substitute admirably for expensive software.Take MS Office, for instance. It’s a set of six specific softwares, though all you really use are Word and Excel—and occasionally PowerPoint. Get OpenOffice for free (NeoOffice for Macs). It’s one of the best known open-source office software suites for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics and databases. www.openoffice.org
You save: Rs 13,000—the price of the most widely used paid substitute, MS Office 2007 (standard version)
Online options
Tired of having to learn the tricks of a new version of a spreadsheet or word-processing program every year or so? Give the online office suites a shot. Four of the most popular—Ajax13, Google Docs & Spreadsheets,ThinkFree Online and Zoho Office Suite—are all compatible with MS Office. However, these programs are good only for basic word processing and databases. Fancy formatting is not possible.
www.zoho.com, www.ajax13.com,
www.thinkfree.com, http://docs.google.com
Desktop publishing
The standard DTP softwares—PageMaker or Quark—cost the earth, and free versions of the same are impossible to find. But there’s hope—open source has some pretty good DTP software. Scribus, for instance, is a popular option to PageMaker. Or there’s Passepartout, which is more of the same, really.
www.scribus.net, www.stacken.kth.se/project/pptout/
You save: Rs 42,000—the price of one of the more popular DTP software available, Quark Xpress 6.5\
Open Disc
Every application software that you want—and a few you didn’t know existed—is available here. For free.You can download the whole shooting lot, or choose individual applications.Among others, this site offers OpenOffice, Notepad-2, VLC media player, SeaMonkey, Scribus and a whole lot of other apps for work, as well as a collection of games. http://theopendisc.com
Source Forge
Here’s a comprehensive listing of all the open source (and therefore free) softwares available for Windows. From image viewers to media players to word processors to games, e-mail and even instant messaging, this site seems to have it all. Of course, there are a few dead links, thanks to stricter patrolling of the Net, but most of the links work. http://osswin.sourceforge.net
