Free and Open Source Software.
If you are changing software, you have to remember take your time to truly learn what it can and can not do before you instantly say it is useless as it can’t do this like in Photoshop etc. What you will find is that it can, it does it slightly differently and it is called something else and might not be in place you think… It can take time to learn new software.
In this article, I am not going to go into depth with what the difference is between freeware and Open-source software. Also, I will not list any trail software (where they say it is free but is not freeware).
So let’s get straight into the list.
Office
My recommendation for full Office software is LibreOffice which is a splinter group from the original OpenOffice.org software. Both are 95% compatible with MS Office documents. LibreOffice is an offshoot of OpenOffice. Another option for this is doing it all on the cloud with Google Docs
Desktop Publishing
If you need some real DTP software that is open source and free to use then the software need is Scribus. This is up there with InDesign and PageMaker.
Vector Drawing
Can’t afford Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw then I have a program for you called InkScape. This is a really powerful application and open source.
Raster or Photo Editing
PhotoShop is expensive and CorelPaint is not that cheap either. But the good news is there is a very powerful application that is Open and free to use. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
CAD
CAD software can be expensive.
3D Software
The top 3d software is no cheap and with all commercial software they don’t always add the features you need… Blender is open-source and free to use and is used on many projects including Hollywood movies.
DataBase
MS Access is as we know not cheap but then again the Open source community have added various databases but the one I will suggest is OpenBase as part of OpenOffice.org
Outlook is widely used and has many security holes though a lot better, and since Outlook Express is no more there are a few freeware and open-source Email Apps. But there is one that has the power to run a business, including public notice boards and the best filtering rules Pegasus Mail.
Web Development
Dreamweaver is probably the most common program for making websites and writing HTML but there are also a few HTML coders.
- KompoZer (I am not 100% sure if it is still being developed)
- BlueGriffon
- SeaMonkey
Video Editing
There are many editors out there ranging in price. Adobe Premiere is probably the one that comes to mind, but we have you covered here as well with HitFilm. What editor should I get?
Audio Editing
Adobe Audition is one of the commonly used multitrack audio editors and is easy to use. Again there are free and open-source apps alternatives.
Music Making (DAW digital audio workstation)
From FL Studio to Cubase and Ableton these programs are really expensive some of them can be in the $1000s of dollars and while if you want to go professionally into producer side you will need to use these programs. But if you are just wanting to produce your own music then there are a few DAWs you can use for free.
Utilities
A replacement for many of the Windows tools like Windows Explorer, NotePad, Defrag etc… I am here to help, Most of these apps are just better and more powerful than the built-in apps of Windows.
- NotePad ++ (notepad on steroids)
- 7-Zip (WinZip replacement)
- Clonezilla
- Disk Defrag Free
Security
Personally, I would stay away from the big to Antivirus software being Norton and Mcafee they are just bloated and are difficult to uninstall… (just like a virus) But there is good news there are free antivirus software as well and the three main ones I suggest are;
Spyware (anti-maleware & spyware software)
Please note that this list is constantly being updated
