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A few years ago the Sydney Morning Herald ran an article about free software in their Technical Section. If you don't read that technical section, or at least glance through it, you're overlooking a useful resource. It's toward the bottom of the page of their on-line edition, between Opinion and Travel.
They reviewed a lot of free software and I was surprised to discover that much of it was highly recommended. Among other things they praised OpenOffice—a free equivalent of the expensive Microsoft Office suite—AVG Internet Security, and a graphics program called Paint.net.
I was uncertain—after all, the "get what you pay for" adage has been well entrenched—but I decided to give it a try. So, first I downloaded OpenOffice from the eminently respectable Sun Microsystems. It's great, and I've been using it ever since. It has a word processor, spread sheet, presentation program (equivalent to Microsoft's Powerpoint), a drawing program, and a database. It reads Word documents without trouble but, when I send out pages to my Creative Writing Class I have to remember to "Save as MSWord97" so they can all read it. I've used the spreadsheet, and experimented with both the presentation program and database. They all appear to be completely equivalent to Microsoft's product. I haven't tried the "Draw" program yet but have no reason to suppose it's less effective than the rest of the package. You can download a free copy HERE.
Using a free anti-virus program was a worry. What if it doesn't work? Am I going to spend more money getting my computer sanitised than I save by not buying an expensive program? So I was cautious and installed it on my old PC which I now use as a back-up. No problems! So when the Norton subscription expired on my laptop I switched. I started using it a little later than OpenOffice but in about two years I haven't had a single problem. The Herald recommended several free brands but the one I chose, and now recommend to you, is by AVG who claim that eighty million people are using their software. You can download the free version HERE.
So that's the anti-virus program taken care of, but what about a firewall? The Herald did recommend a couple of brands and I did install one, but then I bought a wireless router so that I could free my laptop from the fixed modem and move it around the house. That's when the problems started and I found that although I could download information from the Web I couldn't upload anything—not even an e-mail. I contacted my internet service provider (TPG in my case) and spoke to the technical support staff who identified the problem as an incompatibility between the firewall and the router. "Use the Windows firewall," they said. I'd heard bad things about the Windows firewall and it took a little time to build up confidence in it but, once again, I can report that I've had no nasties since using it. That's been well over twelve months now.
That brings us to Paint.net, a graphics program that in 2007 placed #19 in PC World's top 20 products for the year. Those weren't the top 20 software programs but wide-ranging products that included things as diverse as HD TVs, games consoles, and hardware. A pretty big achievement. I downloaded Paint.net and played with it a little, just because it was on offer, but I had recently purchased a copy of Paint Shop Pro and stuck with the program I knew. However, if you don't have a graphics program and you can find a use for one—say, editing and restoring all those old photographs—you really should try this first. You can download it HERE.
There are lots of free programs on the Web and some of them, like Spyware Doctor, are a must. Have a browse before you buy any more software and see if there's a free equivalent you can use instead. It's a whole cornucopia out there waiting for you to go and see.
—David Evans