Posted on 07/18/2006 2:53:00 PM PDT by dangus
Free Software? Perhaps you've heard of the Open-Source software movement, but thought maybe they were cheap, college-student-written, "Brand X" knock-offs. Maybe you presumed the only people who could use such programs wore pocket protectors and broken bifocals. Or maybe you had recent experience and found the installation too confusing, with "targzs," incomprehensible "readme files," etc.
The open-source movement has come of age, armed with self-extracting files, crossplaform capabilities, and extensive documentation. (That means you simply download the program, and it installs itself; it works on any operating system including, yes, Windows --not just UNIX -- and it teaches you how to use itself.)
The software is in many cases superior to the expensive commercial versions:
Programs use up far less memory, drive space, and processing power.
There are more features.
Documentation is simpler.
Error messages are meaningful.
They are less likely to cause problems interacting with other products.
Here are some of the best:
OFFICE SOFTWARE: OPEN OFFICE
REPLACES MICROSOFT OFFICE, including WORD, EXCEL, ACCESS, POWERPOINT and PUBLISHER.
Hands down, a superior product to Office. Take for instance image editing in Writer, the equivalence to Word: Simply click on the image, and you can set contrast, brightness, gamma effects (washout vs. overstain), tint/hue, etc.
The elements of OpenOffice work seemlessly together, and have many more features. MS Office allows conversion of its programs to HTML pages, but OpenOffice includes all sorts of HTML features, such as dialog boxes, drop-down boxes, etc. Because the programs are so much lighter, they initialize much faster than MS Office, take less drive space, and consume less memory and processor time; and you switch from one component to the other nearly instantly.
Truthfully, MS Office has loads of features many people don't know about, because it doesn't present them to the user. There are some weaknesses: the icons for the various components look too similar, so they aren't great for the Windows taskbar. The database program is fine for most Access users, but lacks Access' ability to create fully functioning executables.
Most impressively, you don't need to know how to learn OpenOffice from scratch. Its menus, dropdown boxes, and methods are the same as MS Office... except it has more features. (Hey, don't feel bad for Microsoft; they ripped off Lotus, Novell and Corel.) You can output to .doc, .xls, and .ppt formats, but also to additional formats, such as .pdf.
GRAPHIC DESIGN: GIMP
REPLACES: PAINT SHOT, PHOTO SHOP, DRAW, etc.
Quite simply the best. Better than Draw. Better than any of the Microsoft products. Better than PaintShop Pro. I've been totally frustrated by having to switch graphics design projects between programs, because each excels at a given task. At each task, however, GIMP is as good or better than any commercial program.
BROWSER: FIREFOX
REPLACES: INTERNET EXPLORER
The most famous freeware program of them all, Firefox is literally the heir to the Mozilla program, which once made Netscape dominant. Whereas Netscape has disappeared, Firefox is rapidly gaining market share against Internet Explorer. The only knock is that it has to be initialized, taking a few seconds; Microsoft initializes Explorer on startup, while you don't know why you're waiting. Internet Explorer 7 is desperately trying to catch up with Firefox, but it's clear who's leading the way.
E-MAIL MANAGEMENT: THUNDERBIRD
REPLACES: OUTLOOK
Thunderbird simply does what you tell it. Tell it to shut down, and it does, unlike Outlook which remains active, so trojan viruses can continue using your computer as a launchpad, infecting all your friends' computers, or simply 1000s of random strangers'. Plus, Outlook is simply a much larger target for virus developers (although Thunderbird is so similar, it doesn't make as huge as a difference as it might.) Junk mail processing is simpler, as is accessing files from outside of Thunderbird or Outlook. Apart from these issues, the Outlook and Thunderbird are remarkable similar.
WEB DEVELOPMENT: NVU
REPLACES: DREAMWEAVER, FRONT PAGE
Dreamweaver is still the best. NVU falls short of Dreamweaver 3.0, and the combined Adobe-Dreamweaver merger may present awesome synergy, if done correctly. But NVU is a professional Web-Development package which is easy enough for beginners. Like Dreamweaver, it allows for Templates, dynamic web sites, multiple graphic packages, code snippets, extended internet languages (i.e., XML, JavaScript), tabbing between coding and WYSIWIG (graphic interface) design, and style sheets. This IS the real deal.
As for Front Page, NVU is infinitely easier to use.
VIRUS PROTECTION: CLAMWIN
REPLACES: McAFFEE
The first to market seems quite satisfactory. Lacks certain features, like anti-spam, but I hated the way anti-spam add-ons work; I much prefer to let my e-mail manager do the spam scan. There are certain other products which are free for personal use, such as AVG, and many ISPs offer built-in firewalls. (AVG is not free for commercial use.
MEDIA PLAYER: AUDACITY
REPLACES: REALPLAYER, WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER
Realplayer is the world's most successful spyware/trojan virus, infecting tens of millions of users, who haven't realized its a highly trusted program which is grinding their operating system to a halt. Many might be horrified to learn what RealNetworks is learning about them. Windows Media Player simply is very limited in use. Neither allow for recording, like Audacity, which is a full-bodied sound-editing system that is as light as the useless MediaPlayer.
I'm using Open Source 2.0 and it's pretty good but what do they have that replaces MS Publisher? I really need that.
That depends on what you use publisher for. Most people I know who use publisher use it because Word is so lousy for converting Office files to web pages, or others use it because Word simply lacks good templates for publishing certificates, etc. In the latter case, all I can say is that the open source community has great templates, but you may have to look beyond OpenOffice for what you want.
That's true, too. I kind of supposed he left all that open on purpose.
Thanks. I suspected I'd need another program because I do basic desktop publishing, which I've always liked MS Publisher for.
While most of these I agree with, I have to disagree with the GIMP being better than Photoshop...
IMHO, the GIMP doesn't handle four-color process (CMYK) and pantones as good as Photoshop--a critical element of commercial and heavy-duty graphic manipulation.
It's good for the casual/home user, but when it comes down to serious desktop publishing/graphic design, I'll still take Photoshop over the GIMP...
Exactly.
Try using an image from the GIMP and preparing it for platemaking--the images work, but there's a serious difference in quality.
Photoshop images appear much better--especially on polyester plates...
(Took graphic arts for four years and have been doing img manipulation for the past six)...
If you say so.
I've done this for several years--and I can tell the difference in image quality.
Further, I'm not putting down the GIMP--I use it at home. All I'm saying is that it is not better than Photoshop, and especially in a commercial/professional setting.
I can buy windows for a couple hundred bucks or pay allot more money for windows *AND* support..
I will say that both OO and Office97 use more resources than the WordPerfect 5.1 that is also installed on this computer, but I don't use it much anymore.
By the way, do you know of anyway to get WordStar Pro to run on a WinTel machine - now that was an efficient word processor.
No, I didn't mean it sarcastically: I'm saying I'll believe you.
The closest OSS equivelant to Outlook would be Novell's Evolution, which I do use and it can talk to an Exchange server, although I have no Exchange servers I have to talk to.
Bookmarking thread.
OK...
Though IIRC, you need to have the Exchange connector, which is often included with Evolution.
Correct, there is a connector needed to speak to an Exchange Server. It used to be the only piece they charged for, but is now OSS GPL'd.
I've always been able to grab it with my distro--then again, I've only been using Linux for about a year and a half...
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