Free Software Can Outfit A New Computer

Perhaps you've been thinking about buying a new computer, but have held off because of the cost of buying new software.

It's not unusual for the cost of a common set of software programs including an office suite, anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, photo processing and media recording and playback to cost more than a low-end PC.

Fortunately, there are good free alternatives that can be used to make a very functional computer, legally, without spending a cent on additional software. If you think it can't be done, read on.

Office Software – Sun's OpenOffice will take care of word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, flow charts and database needs for most individuals and small businesses.

Although you can buy OpenOffice in a retail box, it's available for a completely free download at http://www.openoffice.org/.

Open Office can also create Microsoft-compatible documents, spreadsheets and presentations, simply by using the “Save As” command for a variety of compatible format choices.

Anti-Virus – It's common to spend $50 or more for an anti-virus program. And that program will generally charge an annual subscription renewal fee that as much on top of the initial cost.

The alternative is a free program from European companies AVG or Avast!, which do the same thing as a paid program at no charge. These companies sell paid and premium versions for business customers, but offer free software to home and personal users without cost.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition (http://free.grisoft.com/) can easily be set to download updates and run full system scans every night, if you're willing to leave your computer on. Avast! Home Edition (http://www.avast.com/) updates itself automatically as long as your computer is connected to the Internet. Both programs perform the same functions as McAfee or Norton without cost.

Anti-Spyware/Adware – Spybot and Ad Aware Personal Edition make a good tandem in fighting to keep your computer free of the never-ending glut of garbage nearly any Web surfer will readily acquire.

While both programs have to be updated and run manually in their free versions, doing so on a weekly basis will rid your system of most of the annoying junk that degrades system performance and serves up annoying ads.

Add in Microsoft's free Windows Defender for XP and Vista systems, and your PC will keep running better month after month. All three programs can obtained free of charge at http://www.download.com/.

Photo Processing – A number of good free photo programs are now available. One of the best is XnView (http://www.download.com/) which offers some advanced features while maintaining a simpler interface.

PDF Reader – PDF files are a way of life on the Web and in business. The free Adobe Reader program (http://www.adobe.com/) makes reading and saving those files a snap. A quick Web search can also find freeware programs that can create PDF files online.

Media Playback & CD Creation - A host of programs make CD creation and DVD playback possible. Among the best are Real Player 11 (http://www.real.com/) Windows Media Player (http://www.download.com/) and The KMPlayer (http://www.kmplayer.com/). The KMPlayer is a stand alone DVD player with many advanced features.

Other good freeware choices are 7-Zip (file compression), Gmail (free e-mail able to be read and sent through free mail programs like Outlook Express or Windows Mail), and Mozilla's Firefox, a Web browser that's a good alternative to Internet Explorer, especially on Windows Vista. And both Vista and XP have a free built-in firewall, just type “firewall” in Help to turn it on in a few mouse clicks.

Using this set of free programs will take care of more than 90% of the needs of the average computer user.

All without costing an added cent.

Tom Meek is a computer and media consultant working with businesses and individuals on high-tech needs. Another Day In Cyberville is published weekly in print and online via The Gainesville Voice, a weekly publication of The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. You can reach Tom Meek at adayincyberville@gmail.com.