Great Freeware Alternatives for EVERYTHING
Submitted by lukeprog on Wed, 10/26/2005 - 05:16
Tags:
System
- Windows -> Linux. [screenshot] Linux has a reputation among experts as being very secure from viruses, spyware, and hackers and being virtually uncrashable. Previously only for geeks, many distributions (versions) of Linux like SUSE and MEPIS have recently become more user-friendly, including support for graphical interfaces like KDE, graphical install, and other useability enhancements. You can even run many Windows programs through an application support layer like Wine. With each passing month, there are fewer reasons to put up with Microsoft's vulnerable, unstable, locked-down operating systems.
Office & Productivity
- Word -> OpenOffice Writer. [screenshot] Writer is easy to use and has similar features and interfaces to Word, including .doc support and mail merge. Platforms: Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MacOSX. Another option is AbiWord.
- Excel -> OpenOffice Calc. [screenshot] Calc is easy to use and has similar features and interfaces to Excel, including .xls support. Platforms: Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MacOSX.
- Photoshop -> GIMP. [screenshot] GIMP is an incredibly powerful graphics editor, and includes support for layers, color and light manipulation, batch processing, a wide range of filters, advanced text editing, transformations, and much more. Gimp's interace, unfortunately, is terrible, and Photoshop still has the edge in CMYK, gamma, adjustement layers, layer styles, and plugins. Platforms: Unix, Linux, Windows, MacOSX.
Internet
Multimedia
- Sound Forge/WaveLab -> Audacity. [screenshot] Audacity is a great package for recording, converting, editing, analyzing, and adding effects to audio. Platforms: Windows, MacOSX, Linux, Unix.
Web Development
- Dreamweaver -> Nvu. [screenshot] Nvu is a powerful WYSIWYG web development program that nearly matches Dreamweaver (and surpasses Frontpage) in features and ease-of-use. Platforms: Linux, MacOSX, Windows.
Programming
Security
- Symantec/McCafee Antivirus -> AVG Antivirus. [screenshot] AVG Antivirus Free Edition has free, regular virus definition updates, is light on resources, and includes e-mail protection.
Games
- Quake/Multiplayer FPS -> Tribes 2. [screenshot] The excellent team-play strategy FPS Tribes 2 is now being given away for free. For Windows only.
- Descent/Space Sim-Shooter -> Freespace 2 [screenshot] Freespace 2 is now free, for Windows, Linux, and MacOSX.
- C&C: Generals/3D RTS -> Ground Control. [screenshot] Ground Control is now free, for Windows.
- Call of Duty/Multiplayer Military FPS -> America's Army: Special Forces [screenshot] America's Army: Special Forces is a top-notch action game developed by the U.S. Army, free for Windows.
Misc
- Winzip -> IZArc. [screenshot] IZArc supports more formats than Winzip, integrates into Explorer, creates self-extracting archives, converts between archive formats, and more. For Windows only.
Author Comments:
Don't have the time to update this anymore.
Not remotely complete. Won't include many great freeware programs because most programs that perform the same functions are also free (for example, most popular media players, instant messangers, and web browsers are free).
The BEST list in existence on the topic of Linux alternatives to Windows software is here (Google cache here)
Promises to be a useful list. I say finish this list first, before any others you are working on. Please.
I promise I'm still far from done with this list. Just gotta find the time.
I'm surprised that Mozilla is not on this list... I tried it and never went back to Internet Explorer. It's amazing.
Internet (browser?): Firefox, Opera, Mozilla (as previously mentioned).
You and xfanatic50: please read the Author Comments.
Oopsie - sorry about that.
The 46 Best Freeware Utilities .
Yup, that's definitely one of the lists I'm plundering for this list!
Remote Selector - I'm not sure this fits into your list, but it's still the most awesome freeware I've ever come across. It makes PC DVD players region free, eliminates MacroVision and even lets you bypass those annoying FBI warnings. You used to have to pay for it, but when the developer decided to stop updating it, he made it free!
Yup, that looks great! It will only fit the form of this list, though, if there is a significant non-free software that provides the same functionality.
Atomic Clock Sync is a freebie that allows you to keep your PC's clock showing the correct time.
And as an alternative to AVG Antivirus there's AntiVir Classic . I have this installed and I have no complaints.
Where & how can software idea be communicated to freeware developers?
web design
Which is the best EXPENSE TRACKER software freeware available on net?
spyware remover