Guide to Free Software
15 September 2008
Domus has put together this handy guide to popular software that is not only excellent but also free, saving you hundreds of pounds a year in software licences. We already use most of these products in our office or at home so we know they work - in fact, they're often better than software you have to pay for.
Internet Browser
Firefox - the award-winning alternative to Internet Explorer is now better than ever. Browse the Web with confidence. Firefox protects you from viruses, spyware and pop-ups.
Enjoy improvements to performance, ease of use and privacy. It's easy to import your favorites and settings and get started.
Thunderbird - a great email client from the same people who brought you the Firefox browser.
Thunderbird gives you IMAP/POP support, a built-in RSS reader, support for HTML mail, powerful quick search, saved search folders, advanced message filtering, message grouping, labels, return receipts, smart address book LDAP address completion, import tools, and the ability to manage multiple e-mail and newsgroup accounts.
Alternative: Google Mail
Office Productivity
Open Office - an open-source, multiplatform and multilingual office suite comparable with MS Office.
It is compatible with all other major office suites and is free to download. OpenOffice comes with OpenWriter - a word processor, OpenCalc - a spreadsheet and OpenImpress - a presentational package.
Alternative: Google Docs
Antivirus and Anti-Spyware
AVG Free - the antivirus and antispyware protection tool trusted by 80 million users. It is easy to download, install and use to quickly get protection against viruses and spyware. It is also the most downloaded software on CNET's Download.com.
Alternatives: Avira AntiVir, Avast
Firewall
Comodo - out-of-the-box protection against identity theft hackers, trojans, viruses, scripts and other unknown threats.
Alternative: Zonealarm Firewall
Images / Photos
FastStone Image Viewer - a fast, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor
Paint.NET - image editing software designed as a better version of MS Paint.
PIXresizer - if all you want to do is resize photos quickly.
Backup
SyncBack Freeware - helps you easily backup and synchronize your files to: CD; memory stick; an FTP server; a Network; or a Zip archive.
Alternative: Mozy
Operating System
Ubuntu - a community developed, Linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need - a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more.
Alternative: openSUSE
More Free Software
You can find even more free software on FileHippo.com or Download.com.