Free Software?

I like OpenOffice.org myself, it's a great, free, open-source alternative to the ever-expensive Microsoft Word and it supports all types of word documents and keeps up with MS Word in terms of features and so on. Invaluable for those who have to make do with a budget for their computers!

 

The free version of Advanced SystemCare is worth downloading. OpenOffice is a great alternative to Microsoft Office. There are really dozens of great free applications and programs in every category. There are certain things that are always better when you pay for them, though. For instance, very few programs can beat the full version of PhotoShop.

 

I've tried both OpenOffice and GIMP and despite all what they can do and try to do, I have no problem paying for the real thing in Microsoft and now Photoshop. OpenOffice, when I initially tried it, was so far behind Microsoft Office that it really wasn't worth it to me.

I did appreciate the polish of Office and knowing that anyone I was dealing with would be able to open my documents if needed without having to fight with the formatting.

Just recently, I started working with Photoshop and I am happy to pay the $10 per month. I had GIMP for a couple of years and while I had been able to get a few things done, there was so much that I wanted to do and they took so long to accomplish that I just didn't even try after a while. Photoshop has been unbelievably easier and more intuitive to use, so it's really no chance that I will go back to GIMP for any new projects and may even figure out how to just move what I have done to Photoshop.

 

Like most of the above posters, I would have to say that Openoffice is one of my most favorite free software applications for Windows. I still would say that I prefer Microsoft Office overall. But, when I have wipe my computer and have no access to office, Openoffice does the trick.

 

My favorite free software program is LibreOffice. OpenOffice is no longer updated. LibreOffice is the most current free Microsoft Office alternative. I also like Pixlr for very limited graphic creation and editing.

 

Most of the programs I use are open source
LibreOffice Suite (OpenOffice variant)
GIMP
Filezilla (FTP for uploading files to web servers)
Notepad++ (Software for coding)

 

LibreOffice is very solid and trustworthy. I also recommend checking out Giveaway of the Day. Great website that offers a different piece of paid software each day. There are limitations tho (no updates and no support) but it's worth trying them out.

 

Don't know if anyone here uses a browser they paid for. Do they even exist anymore? So we could start from there. I use Mozilla's K'Meleon which is free.

Since I love creating art, I've found Blender which is a free open source software to be quite good [though I've heard it said it's not as great as Maya and other expensive 3D modeling software]. Anyone interested in learning how to create 3D models or making an animation should consider downloading the software.

 

Notepad++ is probably my favorite. Also, I don't think this counts as totally free but you can have it without paying anything, Autodesk products with student licenses. I really love Autodesk for giving away their 3D softwares for free for you to learn, yes they can't be used commercially but it's really good if you want to learn the software.

 

There is a new Photoshop alternative that was recently launched called Affinity Photo, however I think it's only available for Mac's right now, but it's supposedly loaded with features and runs a lot faster and more efficient than Photoshop, which has been built on old programming architecture for a couple decades.

I keep a couple of free Office alternatives on my machine just to see what they have to offer, even though I have the full version of Microsoft Office installed. Open Office is a great free alternative, but there is also the free Kingsoft Office suite which is equally powerful. In fact, I think the UI in Kingsoft is a bit more polished.

I would also suggest checking out GiveAwayOfTheDay.com regularly, since they give away free copies of otherwise commercial software daily. Just recently they gave away a great Photoshop alternative called Zoner Studio, for example.

 

I used to use Open Office a few years ago but didn't install it on my new laptop. For photo editing I use pixlr and photoscape. Both are great free programs with lots of options for adding special touches to our photos.

 

There are many free software that I use as in many cases only free software can do what I want. For example, when I wanted to automatically list all the files in a folder to a .txt file, I had to use a free software or use the DOS commands. I use Adobe reader, Kindle reader, Calibre and the free E-book viewer that comes with it, ccleaner, iTubeStudio and myriad browsers. Chrome is what I like the best. I have not tried any free office replacement software as I get free subscription from my office for my personal use too.

 

Chrome/Firefox is the free software I use the most. Android I guess could fit the description as well, it's technically free software. Other than that, SumatraPDF (lightweight, I believe also open source PDF reader), foobar2000 (probably the best music player I've ever seen), Audacity (good audio editing software) and KeePass are the ones I use the most.

 

Well. Skype, Kindle eReader, Paint (my Photoshop ran out and I'll get gimp soon), Ccleaner, Avira, Anki and Evernote are my regular programs.

Out of this, I would say that Evernote is among my very favorite programs (paid or free!) and I love CCleaner for cleaning up my PC

 

I like VLC so much. Aside from the fact that it can play almost everything it is free. I also have notepad++, winrar archiver, the GIMP photoshop alternative. I aslo have hypersnap and everest. For communication I have skype and the free version of team viewer.