| Free Software Roundup/Hodown/Rodeo, etc... |
twisted by C. Faber Demarius
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 |
On a note totally unrelated to anything you'd expect to find here, I decided to put together a list of a bunch of free alternatives to the software you like to use, that are either better or as good as the stuff you have paid/don't want to pay for.
AbiWord (www.abisource.com) - Word Processor
Not only is Microsoft Word slow, expensive and awfully unstable, it also has a lot of stuff that you never use. AbiWord has everything Word has, except, when you install it, you can decide what you want or what you don't want to get. I never use the Word draw tool, so I just don't install it when I install AbiWord. Easy as that. AbiWord has as many different languages as you choose to install (I have English, Spanish, Gaelic and Latin), and all the stuff you use (or don't use) in Word. Also, it's faster and more stable.
Firefox (www.getfirefox.com) - Browser
Internet Explorer works just fine. It's fast, free, stable, and now that it blocks most popups, it's really just as good as Firefox. Except for one thing: Internet Explorer has security holes that leading experts refer to as "highly critical." Firefox, which has everything Internet Explorer has, plus a plugins feature, is rated "moderately critical." Honestly, you can hardly tell the difference. Firefox has the Google toolbar built in, which is handy. It also has some plugins you can download that let you do neat things, like letting you customize Google. Really, Firefox has only a tiny edge on Internet Explorer with speed and features. But when you're deciding between HIGHLY critical security holes and moderately critical ones, there's really no comparison. Remember: identity theft is very much a real threat, and it's important that you do whatever you can with your browser to protect you, because NO firewall will help. And that's a fact.
Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird) - Email
Okay, I admit that Outlook is better than this, and Outlook Express is free. So why bother? Welll, if you have Outlook Express, you probably don't have a spam filter. Thunderbird does. It does everything else, it's just as good, end of story.
Spybot Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org)
It amazes me how many people either don't know what spyware is, or BUY a program that supposedly prevents them from spyware. First of all, spyware is a type of advertising you get from browsing the internet that implants itself in your computer and watches what you do so people know how to spam you, or otherwise annoy you with ads. If your computer's running slowly, or otherwise acting strangely, chances are you have some. If you're not using Windows XP or Mac OSX, chances are you have some. And if you bought something to help protect you from spyware, smack yourself because you're stupid. You don't have to. Spybot Search & Destroy catches everything. Really, it does. Microsoft has an anti spyware thing out there as well, and I like it. The only thing aobut Microsoft's is that it's bloated and slow. Spybot S&D is fast. So do yourself a favor and get it.
I hope this stuff helps your productivity, your wallet, your love life, your home decor, whatever. Enjoy it.
AbiWord (www.abisource.com) - Word Processor
Not only is Microsoft Word slow, expensive and awfully unstable, it also has a lot of stuff that you never use. AbiWord has everything Word has, except, when you install it, you can decide what you want or what you don't want to get. I never use the Word draw tool, so I just don't install it when I install AbiWord. Easy as that. AbiWord has as many different languages as you choose to install (I have English, Spanish, Gaelic and Latin), and all the stuff you use (or don't use) in Word. Also, it's faster and more stable.
Firefox (www.getfirefox.com) - Browser
Internet Explorer works just fine. It's fast, free, stable, and now that it blocks most popups, it's really just as good as Firefox. Except for one thing: Internet Explorer has security holes that leading experts refer to as "highly critical." Firefox, which has everything Internet Explorer has, plus a plugins feature, is rated "moderately critical." Honestly, you can hardly tell the difference. Firefox has the Google toolbar built in, which is handy. It also has some plugins you can download that let you do neat things, like letting you customize Google. Really, Firefox has only a tiny edge on Internet Explorer with speed and features. But when you're deciding between HIGHLY critical security holes and moderately critical ones, there's really no comparison. Remember: identity theft is very much a real threat, and it's important that you do whatever you can with your browser to protect you, because NO firewall will help. And that's a fact.
Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird) - Email
Okay, I admit that Outlook is better than this, and Outlook Express is free. So why bother? Welll, if you have Outlook Express, you probably don't have a spam filter. Thunderbird does. It does everything else, it's just as good, end of story.
Spybot Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org)
It amazes me how many people either don't know what spyware is, or BUY a program that supposedly prevents them from spyware. First of all, spyware is a type of advertising you get from browsing the internet that implants itself in your computer and watches what you do so people know how to spam you, or otherwise annoy you with ads. If your computer's running slowly, or otherwise acting strangely, chances are you have some. If you're not using Windows XP or Mac OSX, chances are you have some. And if you bought something to help protect you from spyware, smack yourself because you're stupid. You don't have to. Spybot Search & Destroy catches everything. Really, it does. Microsoft has an anti spyware thing out there as well, and I like it. The only thing aobut Microsoft's is that it's bloated and slow. Spybot S&D is fast. So do yourself a favor and get it.
I hope this stuff helps your productivity, your wallet, your love life, your home decor, whatever. Enjoy it.
1 Comments:
Yes, learning about Spyware really affected my kitchen decor. My mother says hello.
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