Joey’s Crappy Day

There’s tons of free, legal software to be had on the internet. Why people pay for software these days is almost beyond me. I use free software every day. So here’s a list of some of my favorite free software. I’ll list the free software as well as the pay software it replaces (and the pay software’s price).

Ubuntu

(replaces Windows, $199-$399) This is the operating system of your computer. Many people barely know Windows even exists since it comes pre-installed on their computer from the factory. They think it is just part of the computer and cannot be changed, but they are wrong. I use Ubuntu which is a free operating system built on the Linux kernel. Ubuntu functions in a similar manner to Windows, but costs no more than the price of a burned CD. It is very secure and there are almost no viruses written for it, so I don’t have to worry about my computer crashing when I download something. It’s also a great alternative for those of us who build their own hardware.

Firefox

(replaces Internet Explorer, built into Windows) This alternative web browser is another protection against viruses (most of which are written for Internet Explorer). It has versions for Windows, Ubuntu, and many other operating systems. There is also an unlimited supply of addons for Firefox that will do just about anything you want in the web browser.

Openoffice.org

(replaces Microsoft Office, $399-$679) Openoffice.org is a great office suite which lets you do anything from writing a letter to Grandma, to building a complex database. It replicates and adds to the functionality of Microsoft Office and can even read MS Office documents. It includes software for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, drawing, and presentations. It has everything you need to create whatever documents you need and comes in versions for numerous operating systems including Windows and Ubuntu.

VLC

(replaces Windows Media Player, built into Windows) VLC (aka VideoLAN Client) is a multimedia video player that will play just about any video format out there today. It’s also great for grabbing screenshots of your videos. This player is designed to replace all the video players out there with just one application. It’s nice.

The GIMP

(replaces Adobe Photoshop, $649-$999) The GIMP (or GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a powerful image creation and manipulation program. While it’s not meant for professional use, the GIMP can do everything the average home user would need to do when manipulating images. Be prepared for a little learning curve if you’ve never used an image manipulation program before.

FileZilla

(replaces command line FTP clients) FileZilla is a graphical FTP client. It allows you to upload and download files from FTP servers or your web server. It’s full featured, easy to use, available on Linux, Mac, or Windows, and best of all free.

HTML-Kit

HTML-Kit is a Windows only HTML and CSS editing application. It has more features than you’ll ever need and it is great for editing PHP and Javascript files as well.