Information provided by the Kim Komando Show www.komando.com
9 free alternatives to popular pricey programs
It's a little known fact that you don't have to spend hundreds on programs like Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop. You can find free feature-rich alternatives online. Don't let the price dissuade you from trying them. These programs are terrific.
Why do people created free programs? Many programmers believe software should be free. For instance, thousands of people work on the Firefox browser. Only a handful are paid. And the rest? Some want to take on Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Some just like to write code. And many are nice people who want to help others.
Following are some of my favorite freebies. There isn’t enough room in this column to cover each program's features. But, you can download them and explore the features yourself.
Create documents, spreadsheets and more
Microsoft Office is the de facto standard Office suite. You probably use it at work, but that doesn’t mean you need it at home. OpenOffice includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation program and more. OpenOffice is compatible with Microsoft Office files. So, you can use it to open and save files in the Office formats.
Download e-mail
OpenOffice doesn’t contain an Outlook equivalent. You’ll need to look elsewhere for a program to manage e-mail. Thunderbird offers many of the same e-mail features as Outlook. It was developed by Mozilla, which produces the free browser, Firefox.
Manage appointments with a calendar
If you’re doing away with Outlook, you’ll need a calendar management program.
Lightning is a calendar add-on for Thunderbird. Or download Sunbird. It provides the same features as Lightning in a standalone program.
Layout professional documents
A word processor is great for creating general documents. But if your documents are professionally printed, you need a desktop-publishing program. Scribus is much like Microsoft Publisher or Adobe InDesign. You’ll get professional-quality page layouts in an easy-to-use program.
Edit photos
Photoshop is the Holy Grail for many photographers. However, the $600 price tag puts it out of reach of many. You don’t need to settle for a lesser photo editor. GIMP rivals Photoshop in terms of features—and complexity! It puts advanced photo-editing tasks at your fingertips.
GIMP will even appeal to professional photographers. Add-ons expand the features available in GIMP.
There is much more available on my site, especially for inexperienced people. Even if you have never edited a picture, you'll find usable programs.
Refine your drawing skills
Like Photoshop, illustration programs can be quite costly. You can spend hundreds of dollars on Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. Inkscape lacks some advanced features, but is a worthy contender. Inkscape is compatible with many different file types.
Be creative with graphics
Microsoft Paint is included with Windows. It isn’t a serious graphics program. But many casual users rely on it. Unfortunately, Microsoft Paint is difficult for children to use. In contrast, Tux Paint is specifically designed for children. Large buttons make it easy to create drawings and graphics.
Edit digital videos
The professional-grade Adobe Premiere video-editing program is more powerful than most people need.
Avidemux is ideal for home users. It simplifies the video-editing process and works with a variety of file formats. Avidemux lacks many of Premiere’s features. But, it is more advanced than other video editors. You can correct colors and apply special effects and filters.
Design Web pages
Do you want to create your own Web site? I recommend a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) HTML editor. You can design Web pages without learning any coding. Dreamweaver is a popular WYSIWYG editor. But, you’ll get the same features with the free Nvu.
Create PDF files
PDF files are incredibly popular. They can be read on virtually any computer without formatting inconsistencies. Most people won’t use Adobe Acrobat enough to justify its price. Enter PDFCreator. PDFCreator resides in your printer list. Select it as a printer to convert a file to PDF.
PDFCreator does not let you edit PDF files. For that, you need a full-fledged PDF program.
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