Free Software Do You Get What You Pay For

PC applications are becoming increasingly bloated, complex and expensive. And most users don’t even know half the features included in the software they buy. Meanwhile, open-source “freeware” applications are growing in both number and sophistication. They may not have all the bells and whistles of their for-sale counterparts but, sometimes, simpler is better.Document Creation FEEFREEMicrosoft Office Home 2007 ($150)OpenOffice (openoffice.org)Media Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeMedia Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeOpenOffice essentially clones the functionality of Microsoft’s Office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software), leaving out some of the more specialized features. OpenOffice also can open files created in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint.Photo Editing > > >Photo Editing FEEFREEAdobe Photoshop CS3 ($649)GIMP (gimp.org)Media Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeMedia Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeWhile Windows and OS X both offer quick-fix photo editing features, serious photographers consider Photoshop the only game in town. But is it? GIMP offers similar palettes, layers and brush effects for free. Also similar, unfortunately, is GIMP’s steep learning curve.< < < Document CreationAntivirus > > >Antivirus FEEFREESymantec Norton AntiVirus ($40/year)AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition (free.grisoft.org)Media Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeMedia Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeLike Norton, AVG Anti-Virus Free has features such as automatic updates, virus quarantine and real-time file protection. Nevertheless, AVG doesn’t have the resources of Symantec’s Security Response center behind it, so we’d pay for the expensive stuff.< < < Photo EditingMovie Player > > >Movie Player FEEFREECyberlink PowerDVD 7 ($50)ALShow (altools.net)Media Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeMedia Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeSurprisingly, Windows Media Player doesn’t natively play DVDs and many file formats. For movie duty, you need to buy a DVD player like PowerDVD and download codecs for formats such as DivX and AVI. ALShow is a better program and has the most popular codecs built in.< < < AntivirusSpyware Protection > > >Spyware Protection FEEFREESpy Sweeper ($30)Spybot (safer-networking.org)Media Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeMedia Platforms Design Team+ Click to enlargeViruses aren’t the only threat in cyberspace. In fact, spyware – which sneaks onto your PC and monitors your actions – is arguably the greater threat these days. Spybot catches threats that all other products miss. It’s the best protection money can buy – and it’s free.< < < Movie PlayerMedia Platforms Design Team