Free Software for Some, Empty Wallets for Others

As an IT professional (and a cheap bastard), it infuriates me when I see people being roped and lured into spending hard on cash on expensive software solutions when there are a multitude of open source, free alternatives readily available on the internet.

Stop throwing your money at greedy corporate executives who certainly don't need yet another fancy chess set (that they don't even know how to use) carved out of some endangered species or another ocean going yacht to add to their fleet. Why spend hundreds of dollars when you can pay nothing at all (most of these software projects accept donations, which I would strongly encourage). You'll feel a lot better donating ten bucks for some fabulous software and keeping the free software revolution going, than lining the pockets of the above mentioned corporate goons.

Here's some stuff you'll find useful at home:

Gimp: A flexible and comprehensive alternative to throwing hundreds of dollars away for Adobe Photoshop.

Trelby: If you're the creative type and want to write your own movie script that no one will probably ever read, Trelby is the free software that can provide you with the right tools on the starving artist budget.

Open Office: While I really like Microsoft Office, there are those of us that don't fancy shelling out hundreds of dollars for a productivity suite when we've already blown tons of money on a new computer. For most purposes, it's more than adequate, although you'll need to change the default format for saving so that non Open Office users can read your documents.

VLC Media Player: I like and use Windows Media Player, however there are some music/video files that WMP is unable play. For those occasions, there's VLC media player. There's also a Star Trek LCARS skin available for those feeling the need to be extra nerdy.

CCleaner: If you've ever taken your PC to a computer store because it's been running slow, this is probably one of the free utilities they use to clean up your PC. I don't know how they keep a straight face while they take your money. CCleaner is fairly easy to use and very reliable.

Recuva: Ever emptied your recycling bin only to realize shortly afterwards that you needed one of those files? Well, I haven't, but I won't judge you... okay, I lie. I will judge you, but that's what I do. Back to the point, Recuva is an easy to use piece of software that will help you recover that file. I suggest you install the program before you need it. It's made by the same people that make CCleaner.

Speccy: Another Piriform product, Speccy gathers a lot of real-time hardware information about your computer and can be damned useful when you're trying to relate to a techie what hardware you have on your PC. 

DosBox: Finally you can play all those old adventure games from the 1980's again on your new computer without having to drag out the old IBM XT and all those 5 1/4 floppy disks! DosBox is a DOS emulator and mimics what it would be like running these old programs on legacy hardware.

CDXP: For your disc burning needs (does anyone do that anymore?) It features a few features that may be missing from built in Windows tools.

Evernote: A flexible, comprehensive and multi-platform note taking utility. 

Antivirus/Antimalware Solutions: 

Don`t believe what the big Anti-Virus software companies try to tell you... paid for antivirus software protection is not the first line of defense against viruses, nor is it inherently superior to the free alternatives. The real first lines of defense are: common sense, a little knowledge about the internet and computers, and good browsing habits. The last line of defense is the software, and regardless of what some of these companies would have you believe, their products are not anywhere near 100% effective at either protecting you, nor identifying and removing infections... so don't waste your money on a yearly subscription. I generally recommend two freely available solutions:

Microsoft Security Essential: MSE (For Windows XP and 7) or Defender as it's now called in Windows 8 (it comes pre-loaded on Windows 8) is a free antivirus solution provided by Microsoft. It's one of the more effective systems I've used as a techie and unlike many antivirus solutions, it has a wonderfully easy and uncluttered user interface and isn't a system resource hog. 

Malwarebytes: Along with MSE, I run Malwarebytes. The paid for version automates many of the processes. It's saved many a persons bacon on quite a few occasions and I highly recommend either version.

Bottom line, and I can't stress this enough: never rely on an antivirus solution to save your bacon. Back up you data people! Hardware and software are replaceable. Data, isn't always so. 

For the more computer literate:

Clonezilla: Need to clone a computer or backup all your files and the state of your computer as it exists? Then Clonezilla is the right piece of software for you... unless of course you like spending 3 days installing 20 PC's from scratch.

Gparted: An awesome disc/partitioning management tool.

Parted Magic: Another great disc/partitioning tool that also includes some other neat stuff including a very handy data recovery tool that saved one of my clients data off a dying hard disc.

TrueCrypt: An effective hard disc encryption tool. Just don't leave your truecrypt password stuck to the computer with a sticky note.

Test Disk: Another life saving, time saving utility. Didn't mean to blow away that disc partition? Test Disk can have it back it in short order.

VirtualBox / VMlite: Two great and very easy to use virtualization packages. Run Ubuntu, Windows 98 or whichever operating system you like in a virtualized state right from your desktop.

Have a free utility you especially like? Share! Post it here!