Free Software article discussion

Bob63

As pointed out in the article, OpenOffice 3 is currently in beta, as is its sister product StarOffice 9. These will both, for the first time, run on Mac with the native Aqua interface instead of having to run inside X11. They will provide an alternative to the excellent NeoOffice, which is available now but is based on an older version of OpenOffice.

StarOffice 9 beta - http://www.sun.com/software/staroffice/get_beta.jsp
OpenOffice 3.0 beta - http://download.openoffice.org/3.0beta/

I am running StarOffice 9 beta the moment and it is fantastic.

One neat feature available in both is the extension framework. A particularly useful one is the Sun PDF Import extension, which allows a PDF file to be imported into an OpenOffice Draw document where the text and images contained within the PDF file can be edited.

PinchyPenny

Best all in one package if you can make the leap is going over to Linux. But that is not easy for everyone, not because Linux is hard, its just some people think better the devil they know.

If you must use Windows then this is a good site to look up free Windows based software.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/

sra

Evernote is turning out to be the best piece of software I've put on my computer in ages.

On the video on their front page they're pushing it's web-clipping ability but it's also superb just as a simple notebook.

I'd previously tried an earlier version and really not been able to get on with it (Cluttered and confusing interface) but the newest version has sooo many features including syncing any notes you take to an online account so you can access them anywhere and being able to publish notebooks online if you want to

trcooke

Here's a good one if you're a student. Microsoft have a thing called Academic Alliance which Universities (and perhaps other education institutions) can sign up to so that students can have access to certain software titles for free. Have a read here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/academic/default.aspx and then look for the "School Member Search" link at the bottom of the page to see if your school has signed up. If they have then you'll need to get your school to create an account for you. I had to talk to my local department IT chaps to get an account.

A lot of the titles are geared towards Computer Science students as there's a lot of software development tools but there's also some generally useful ones like Windows XP and Windows Vista. It also seems they've expanded to offer titles geared towards Arts courses too so there'll probably be some different ones there. I've posted below a list of titles that I have access to through the University Of Bath Computer Science Department (It's a big list but I thought I'd be thorough). They are available for download for you to burn onto a disk yourself. Not much fun if you're on dial-up internet but no problems if you're using the university computers with their fast connection.

.NET Framework 1.1 SDK
.NET Framework SDK 1.1
Academic Resource Kit .NET CD1 Teaching Resources
Academic Resource Kit .NET CD2 Technology Resources
Access 2003
Access 2007
BizTalk Server 2006 Enterprise Edition
Compute Cluster Pack
Compute Cluster Pack SDK
Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition
Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition
Expression Blend
Expression Studio
Expression Web
Forefront Client Security (x86 and x64) - CD
Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1 (x64) - CD
Forefront Security for SharePoint with Service Pack 1 (x64) - CD
Forefront Server Security Management Console (x86) - DVD
InfoPath 2003
InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005
InfoPath 2007
ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Edition
IT Academy Course: Database Developer
IT Academy Course: Web Developer
IT Academy Course: Windows Client
IT Academy Course: Windows Developer
IT Academy Course: Windows Server
MapPoint 2004 European - Run Disc (2/2)
MapPoint 2004 European - Setup Disc (1/2)
MapPoint 2004 North America - Run Disc (2/2)
MapPoint 2004 North America - Setup Disc (1/2)
MELL - Developer Edition for MSDNAA
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 SDK
Microsoft MSDN Subscriptions Library (Full)
Microsoft Project Professional 2002 (Single-User)
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX 3.0
MSDN Library - April 2007 (DVD)
MSDN Library - August 2006 - CD1
MSDN Library - August 2006 - CD2
MSDN Library - August 2006 - CD3
MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD1
MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD2
MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD3
MSDN Library - October 2003 (Disc 1)
MSDN Library - October 2003 (Disc 2)
MSDN Library - October 2003 (Disc 3)
MSDN Library (Visual Studio .NET) CD1 ISO (Jan 2004)
MSDN Library (Visual Studio .NET) CD2 ISO (Jan 2004)
MSDN Library (Visual Studio .NET) CD3 ISO (Jan 2004)
MSDN Library (Visual Studio .NET) Full (Jan 2004)
MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD1
MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD2
MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD3
MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
MSDN Subscriptions Library (Full)
MS-DOS 6.0
Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Edition
Office Communicator 2007
Office Groove 2007
Office Groove Server 2007
Office Project Server 2007
Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise
Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard
OneNote 2003
OneNote 2007
Project Professional 2002 (Single-User)
Project Professional 2003
Project Professional 2007
Project Server 2003
SharePoint Designer 2007
SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition
SQL Server 2000 SP3a
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 32-bit - CD1
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 32-bit - CD2
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD1
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD2
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Itanium - CD1
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Itanium - CD2
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - DVD
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - CD1
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - CD2
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - DVD
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD1
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD2
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - DVD
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Itanium - DVD
SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition - 32-bit - DVD
System Center Capacity Planner 2006 with Service Pack 1
System Center Configuration Manager 2007 - DVD
System Center Essentials 2007 - DVD
System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 (x64) - CD
System Center Operations Manager 2007
System Center Reporting Manager 2006
System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 (x86/x64) - DVD
Virtual PC 2004
Virtual PC 2007
Virtual PC 2007 64bit
Virtual PC for Mac 7.0.2
Virtual Server 2005 Standard Edition R2 - x64 (English)
Visio for Enterprise Architects
Visio Professional 2003
Visio Professional 2007
Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition
Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition - Disc 1
Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition - Disc 2
Visual C# 2005 Express Edition
Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
Visual J# .NET
Visual J# 2005 Express Edition
Visual SourceSafe 2005
Visual SourceSafe 6.0d
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional - Full Install
Visual Studio .NET Academic Student Tools 2003
Visual Studio .NET Academic Teaching Tools 2003
Visual Studio .NET Pro 2002 - ISO Image - CD1
Visual Studio .NET Pro 2002 - ISO Image - CD2
Visual Studio .NET Pro 2002 - ISO Image - CD3
Visual Studio .NET Pro 2002 - ISO Image - CD4
Visual Studio .NET Pro 2002 - ISO Image - CD5
Visual Studio .NET Professional 2002 (Full)
Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 CD1 ISO
Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 CD2 ISO
Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 Prerequisites ISO
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition - DVD
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition Beta 2 DVD
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition CD1
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition CD2
Visual Studio 2005 Standard Beta 2
Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition CD1
Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition CD2
Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Beta 2
Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Trial Edition
Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD1
Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD2
Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD3
Visual Studio 2005 Team Test Load Agent Beta 2
Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System
Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition
Windows 2000 Advanced Server (with SP4)
Windows 2000 Professional (with SP4)
Windows 2000 Server (with SP4)
Windows 2000 SP 4
Windows Embedded CE 6.0 DVD
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition - Disc 1
Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition - Disc 2
Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition with SP2 - Disc 1
Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition with SP2 - Disc 2
Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition - Disc 1
Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition - Disc 2
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with SP1
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard - DVD
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard 64bit - DVD
Windows Services for UNIX 3.0
Windows Vista Business 64bit DVD
Windows Vista Business CD1
Windows Vista Business CD2
Windows Vista Business CD3
Windows Vista Business CD4
Windows Vista Business CD5
Windows Vista Business DVD
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (32bit, 64bit) - DVD
Windows XP Embedded
Windows XP Professional (Single User)
Windows XP Professional (Single User) 64bit Edition
Windows XP Professional (Single User) ISO Image
Windows XP Professional with SP1a (Single User) ISO Image
Windows XP Professional with SP2 (Single User) ISO Image
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, Disc 1
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, Disc 2
XNA Creators Club Online Academic Subscription

I hope this will be of use to someone.

smillie-world

I've found a site that lists free commercial software.

As you'll know, many computer magazines have a cover mounted CD/DVDs and they contain full versions of older commercial software, in a hope you'll like the software and upgrade to the latest version.

This site is from vnunet, the people behind Personal Computer World magazine (and others). It is in a blog format so you can use your favourite news reader to subscribe to it and keep updated with the latest offerings. It usually lists software that has previously featured on the front of Personal Computer World, plus others.

Take a look here, http://www.downloadjunky.com/

valjay

MSE_Lawrence wrote: »

This is the discussion to link on the back of the

Free Software: Kit out your PC for nowt article


Please read the article first, and then come back here to leave feedback. Thanks

I have used a package for years which includes a form design section, which has been most useful. I know going on to Vista I shall lose the program as it will not run, so are there any free form design programs out there?
Thanks
Valjay

matthewking26

Not sure if its been mentioned but I highly recommend google sketchup as a simple free CAD program. It is so simple even I can use it to create blueprints, 3-d designs, room layouts, maps etc.
There's loads of tutorials on the google sketchup site and on youtube.
You can place your models on google earth, or take images from google earth or your own pic files to base your designs on. Great fun!

http://sketchup.google.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SketchUp

Armbase

HI All

Here is my setup.
I don't use Ubuntu. It is famous but misses some things. You still need to get into the command line for some things and newbies dont want to do that.

For an OS I have a dualboot windows (not used in 6 months) and Mandriva. https://www.mandriva.com Simply stick in the CD/DVD (burned from a download) and follow the links. It will ask you if you want to koop windows. Answer yes and it will simply take part of your hard drive over and "Bingo!!" you have a dual boot machine. Thios morning it told me ther were some upgrades to software available. It is installing them as I type. :-)

For office I use OpenOffice2.XXX and will soon go to V3.

For graphics I don't like the free GIMP. I prefer Pixel32. It costs only $30-40 (20 quid) and is exactly the same as Photoshop.

For PDF's I use Adobe reader (yes they make a Linux version).

For Web I use Firefox (work) and Opera (personal)... Keeps them seperate.


More later
Bob

cshutchison

Rather than list individual software packages, I'm posting links to a few software repositories, representing thousands of free (mostly open source) packages.

There's a MASSIVE alphabetical listing on free web-based applications at:

http://hlrnet.com/freewapp.htm

There are downloadable disc ISOs for Windows at:

http://www.theopendisc.com
http://www.theopendisc.com/2007/10/14/openeducationdisc-launched/

and further Windows software at:

https://en.wiki.aktivix.org/AktiviX:FreeSofware4Windows
http://gnuwin.epfl.ch/en/index.html
http://www.winlibre.com/en/

For Mac OS X open source software, try:

http://www.opensourcemac.org
http://www.freesmug.org/fscd/
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/unix_open_source/
http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/apps.php?sub=100&w=4

Useful repositories of further free software are:

Free Software Foundation (FSF) and UNESCO repository
http://directory.fsf.org

BerliOS
http://developer.berlios.de/softwaremap/trove_list.php

http://knowledgeforge.net
http://eduforge.org
http://freshmeat.net
http://savannah.gnu.org

Not an exhaustive listing, I'm afraid, but all I have time for right now.

cas1701

As Martin said in the article, Firefox is a very good alternative to IE. Similarly, Mozilla who develop Firefox also have a free alternative to Outlook/OE in the form of Thunderbird and in the same way that Firefox has add-ons, so does Thunderbird. The most useful for me is Lightning which is a great little PIM, but there are many, many others to choose from. You're only limited by what you want or require out of it. And best of all it's a small download but has all the functionality that Outlook possesses without the cumbersome size.

If you prefer to have your PIM separate from your email client then they also do Sunbird which is exactly the same as Lightning but installs seperately.

It may take a bit of getting used to but once you've got to grips with it then it really is far better (I think) than Outlook/OE. Mozilla provide a vast knowledgebase to help you out if you can't find what you need in the help, and backing up your emails is very easy. There's no exporting to a seperate file in the way Outlook does. Just copy one folder from your HDD to a secure location/media and your done (Usually "C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Thunderbird" but depends on where you have windows installed).

I've used it since v0.9 and would not go back to Outlook, which is what I was using before. I've recommended it to several of my friends, none of whom are very computer savvy and they rate it. Even my 75 year old father-in-law uses it, and if he can, anyone can! I would recommend to the MSE staff that this program be added to the article.