What is open source software?  It is free software made available for using as is or to amend and use as needed.  In essence, it is code that is made available to anyone who wants to copy, modify, and use it.  Besides open source being free, it is a cool way to have software evolve by users changing the code over time to watch collaboration turn simple code into a highly useful software.   It is software for the people by the people!  Okay, that was a tad dramatic - but for those who are able to support software or are technology efficient, this is a great way to configure software to your exact preferences.

Even if you’re not a coder or technical specialist, you may just use the open source software for free.  Here are a few great links to useful software:

• Open Office - the free alternative to Microsoft Office.  It works well, and may even read Microsoft Office files by performing some importing/exporting steps.
• ClamWin - Need antivirus support for your computer?  Remove viruses fast with this free virus removal software.
• Gimp - Don’t let the name fool you!  This is a very efficient image editing software.  Try Gimp first before spending hundreds of dollars on Photoshop.  You might be pleasantly surprised with its features.
• 7-Zip - Not happy with the low compression from WinZip or Windows XP?  Try 7-Zip for its high compression rate.  Your e-mail attachments will have a better chance of being sent.
• Firefox - This Internet browser has become a household name lately.  This alternative to Internet Explorer is free and fast when browsing web sites.
• FileZilla - Need an FTP client and/or server.  Try FileZilla for good technical support of your website.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Free Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.