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Free Software Programs
An old Beatles song proclaimed, "the best things in life are free." That may be a bit of an exagerration (ya ever try raising a family--or starting one--without shelling out any cash whatsoever?), but there are some very good things in life that are free. And this certainly does apply to the internet. There are quite a few good freeware programs available.Office Suite Programs
There are a few options for office suites (an office suite is a group of programs--like a hotel suite is a collection of rooms--that might be used in an office: word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and database programs), but you will probably be better off looking for "cheap" rather than "free." For people looking for good office suite software, there are a few options to keep in mind. The industry standard, Microsoft Office 2007, is the most expensive option around (the cheapest version of Office 2007, the Home and Student version, retailed in August of 2007 for $150 at their own online store). But you don't have to pay an arm and a leg, just to get a decent office suite.
First of all, for college students,
Microsoft is offering their Office 2007 Ultimate package for only $60
(for a download, with an additional $10-15 if you want the dvd—an
option that I would strongly recommend, if you
don't want to burn the downloaded files to a dvd on your own), provided
that you have an .edu email address, and can prove that you are taking
at least 0.5 units. This
offer was
started in September 2007, and as of that time, was slated to continue
at least through April 2008 (Microsoft has announced on the home page
of this site that they will re-open the offer in late August 2008).
This offer can be taken advantage of by
going to www.theultimatesteal.com.
Keep in mind that there are several versions of Office
2007, and the Ultimate version is the absolute most complete version.
If you find that $60 is a bit much, and you'd like to consider a lower-cost option, I'd like to recommend OpenOffice, available for a free download at www.openoffice.org. There are several factors that make this a very attractive alternative. First of all, it is free—for everyone, all the time. You can install it on as many computers as you want to, without worrying about licensing restrictions. Second, OpenOffice can not only read files created by MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint—it can even write new files, according to those formats (in other words, you can create a new document, save it as an MS Word file, and have someone open it up and read it with MS Word). Third, this program is not junk. It is a fully-featured office suite, and OpenOffice Write (the word processor substitute for MS Word) can create complex documents with footnotes, endnotes, tables, superscript, subscript, bibliographies, clipart, charts and other graphics---pretty much anything you would want to do on a word processor. The individual icons on the toolbars can be added or deleted to your taste. It is an office suite, and comes with a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation (powerpoint) program, and more.
Having said all this, I have to tell you that I have used OpenOffice on and off for the past few years, and while it is a good program, I have consistently found that it is more complicated to use than MS Word. In other words, I can do things (such as assign page numbers) more quickly and easily in MS Word. Additionally, if you have MS Word installed, Microsoft gives you access to an incredible and free gallery of clipart that you can use (I have looked at quite a few sites that offer free clipart, and believe me, the Microsoft site is much easier to navigate, and has a much better selection). Finally, MS Word has quite a few more advanced features that Open Office simply doesn’t have.
So now let me tell you of one other option—the one that I use. I have a copy of an older version of MS Word (Word 2000) on my computer, and I use this both as my word processor, and because this software gives me access to the clipart section of Microsoft's website. Keep in mind that Word 2000 is not the newest version of Word (Word 2002 and Word 2007 are both newer), but for the purposes of tying a research paper, I sincerely doubt that anyone is going to need any feature that was not already in place in MS Word 2000. If you find that you would like to use MS Word (either as a word processor or because it will let you access the clipart), you can purchase a copy of MS Word 2000 (included in the MS Works Office Suite 2001) at amazon.com for $10, including postage. The $10 price makes all the clipart you can access, well worth it. If you do want only MS Word, but aren’t quite the cheapskate that I am, you can also get MS Works Office Suite 2003 and 2004, which have Word 2002 on them. You can get them on amazon also (even used cds, from opened packages, should work, as long as the cds aren’t damaged severely). Of course, you should expect to pay more than $10 for them, but you will at least have a slightly more advanced version of MS Word—and I gotta admit, Word 2000 looks like it was designed for Windows 95 with its old-fashioned graphics.If you do install MS Word from the MS Works Suite, be sure to uninstall the Works add-in. It corrupts the normal.dot template (causing untold problems in Word).
And so I use MS Word, but for my other office needs (such as a spreadsheet or presentation file) I use OpenOffice.Free software alternatives:
Web Browser
Mozilla Firefox has
set the standard as a web browser for the last couple of years, for a
few reasons: security (its security holes are patched sooner than are
those with Internet Explorer, that blue 'e' icon on your computer), it
has a built-in password manager for websites that require a login, and
it crashes less often. Also, you can easily modify the looks
of it by adding themes, and install extra small programs called
extensions, that do one or two minor things.
PDF
Viewer
Foxit
PDF Reader (to view files instead of Adobe Acrobat PDF
Reader). There are two reasons why
I like this program. First, it is a much smaller progam, and loads
quicker than Adobe does. Because of
this, when I have viewing .pdf files off the internet, my browser
doesn’t freeze up (like it would when I was using Adobe Acrobat).
Finally, PDF-Xchange allows me to type onto any PDF file;
I can then print the page that I have edited, with my comments being
printed up as well.
Antivirus and Antispyware
The
good news is that the major antivirus venders are now making their
software with antispyware capabilities as well, so you don't have to
run two separate programs to catch both kinds of malware. Two of
the better free ones are Avast and AVG, both of which work on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista (and Avast also works on Windows 95, 98, and ME).
Antispyware
If you want a second opinion on spyware on your computer, either of the following programs would be an excellent choice. Windows Defender (put out by Microsoft) is an excellent, free program that will help keep your computer running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista running free of spyware. If you have an earlier version of Windows, you can use Spybot Search & Destroy.
CD-DVD Burner
The
one I use is CDBurnerXP.
It will work on Windows 98, 2000, XP, and Vista. And it works, as the
heading says, for CDs or DVDs.
Desktop
Search
Copernic
Desktop Search (Windows 98, ME, XP, and Vista; although with
98 and ME, Copernic will not index your files immediately, but needs to
scan the computer periodically)
Bible Study Software
E-sword is a very high-quality program that allows you to not only look up verses in a variety of translations, use a concordance and a dictionary, but also commentaries, which are keyed to the verse that you have selected. For example, if you select Ephesians 1:5-7, all of the commentaries that you have installed will automatically show the commentary on that verse.
Cleaning up unnecessary files
Ccleaner is a good progam that will clean out your temp files, recycle bin, and the cache from each browser you have at the same time.
System Information
Belarc Advisor is a very useful utility that not only gives you all the stats you are likely to want to know about your computer; it will even tell you what Windows updates you have installed, as well as the keys that are on your computer (so you don't have to panic in the event that you lost the cd cover that has your key for Windows or MS Office, or any other program that requires such registration.
Delete documents and folders on your computer
A classic that you can download and install for free to use is Eraser. Be sure to follow the instructions with this one! It can delete a certain directory (such as My Documents), or it can delete the entire hard drive, including the operating system. You can even change the number of times is passes over each sector of the hard drive (the more passes, the longer it takes, but of course, the more secure). This is not a program that deletes temp files--this program will delete files that you have made, only.
Microsoft Office File viewers
Even if you don't have Microsoft Office installed, you can still view files that other people will send you, or that you download off the net. You can install what are called viewers (programs that allow you to view files, but which don't let you create new files or edit old ones). Microsoft has made vieweres available for: Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Of course, you can also download and install OpenOffice, which not only allows you to view these files, but to create new ones of your own. As a matter of fact, if you don't have MS Office on your computer, I'd strongly advise you to do just that. I'm just letting you know what your options are.
Back up your settings in MS Office
If you have MS Office 2003, you can back up your settings so that if you ever have to reinstall Office, you can quickly get Office to look and act just like you have it now. Now I know that some people never like to move any of the toolbars that they see in Office programs, or browsers for that matter. I'm not one of them. I have MS Word looking just the way I want it to. and in the event that I get a new computer, or simply a new hard drive, I like being able to restore MS Word to this same way, without having to drill through all the options, etc. Now Office 2003 comes by default, with a Save My Settings Wizard. If you look in the Programs menu, select Microsoft Office>Microsoft Office Tools to access it. If you are still working out of Office 2000, you will have to download the Office 2000 Resource Took Kit, which has the Office 2000 equivalent, called the Profile Wizard. Just to make sure we are on the same page here: the wizards here will save your settings, not your documents.
Backup your files to another hard drive
I have used Karen's Replicator to back up files to another hard drive. If you do purchase a second hard drive to use for this purpose, look at the installation CD, and see what backup tools they provide you. I have actually found this easier to use than the tools that came with my Seagate hard drive, so this is what I'm recommending. It is ideal for routine backups, because if the same file (that has not been changed) is already on the second hard drive, then it will not copy that same file again. This means that after the initial backup, backing up will be rather quick. If you choose to use it, keep in mind that there are options to delete (on the backup hard drive) any file that has already been copied onto the backup hard drive, but that has been subsequently deleted from the original hard drive. Some might want to keep that file anyways, on the backup drive; others will want to delete it from the backup drive as well. Just keep in mind what you have Karen's Replicator set up to do.
Windows Installer Cleanup Utility
Occasionally, when you click on a shortcut to a program that you know is on your computer, you will see a Windows Installer window appear, and then your computer will act as if it wants to install a program. This occurs because there are some files from the installation of that program that are still on your computer, and Windows thinks that you want to continue the installation. Use this program from Microsoft to clean up these files and keep this from happening again Despite the warning in the window when you run this program, it will not delete the program from your computer--just those left-over installation files that you don't need, and that are obviously causing you a bit of grief. Having said that, I would only remove the files from a progam that is giving me these installation windows when I click on a shortcut. If you aren't having any difficulties with a program, then I wouldn't have this cleanup utility remove any of those files--leave well enough alone.
7-Zip utility (file compressor)
This program will compress (zip) files and folders, as well as unzip them. Windows XP and Vista have a built-in zip/unzip feature, but occasionally I have found this not to work, and 7-Zip has always come through. If you use an earlier version of Windows, you will need to install some program to unzip files--and this program (unlike WinZip) won't give you a nag screen reminding you that you have used it 1,335 or so days after its license expired.
Remove Formatting Utility
Stripmail is a utility that removes all formating from a block of text, and also, puts it back onto Windows' clipboard, so that you can paste it back in. Ever get tired of trying to find out why there are formatting that you just can't remove? Don't be fooled by the name. Even though it was originally designed to remove formatting and especially, the carets (< symobls) from many emails, you can use this for any block of text as well. It will remove all types of formatting, including embedded links, font effects such as bold and italics.