Free stuff

OpenOffice.org

Great software - now better than ever

When OpenOffice.org 1.0 was released, no one could believe that software this good could be free. An estimated 16 million+ people have downloaded the software; many more have installed it from CDs or were passed copies by enthusiastic users. Community members produced translations in over 30 languages.

The OpenOffice.org community listened to users' comments, fixed their bugs, and is now proud to announce OpenOffice.org 1.1. More powerful, more compatible, more international, more accessible, more open than ever - and best of all, this world class software is still free!

OpenOffice.org 1.1 gives you everything you'd expect in office software. You can create dynamic documents, analyse data, design eye-catching presentations, produce dramatic illustrations, and open up your databases. You can publish your work in Portable Document Format (.pdf), and release your graphics in Flash (.swf) format - without needing any additional software. OpenOffice.org 1.1 is now available for more users than ever, with support for complex text layout (CTL) languages (such as Thai, Hindi, Arabic, and Hebrew) and vertical writing languages.

If you're used to using other office suites - such as Microsoft Office - you'll be completely at home with OpenOffice.org 1.1. However, as you become used to OpenOffice.org 1.1, you'll start to appreciate the extras that make your life easier. You can of course continue to use your old Microsoft Office files without any problems - and if you need to exchange files with people still using Microsoft Office, that's no problem either.

This is a great quote from an article...

Trying out OpenOffice.org is the pragmatic decision We are not advocating an exodus to OpenOffice.org. Whether it makes sense to use it today – or in two years – in your organization will be determined by your own business and IT criteria. But we are advocating a mass evaluation and effort to experience this alternative productivity suite (or its StarOffice sibling). Would your organization ignore an offer for free paper and pens? Sometimes offers are too good too be true, and sometimes they come with strings that make them untenable. But occasionally, that too-good-to-be-true deal is in fact a good deal. OpenOffice.org is, at the very least, good enough to download and evaluate for a few hours. You can certainly bet that Microsoft executives and the Office development team have taken the time to download and examine it, so why not you?

 

OpenOffice.org links:

OpenOffice.org - the centre of the OpenOffice.org universe. Mirror sites for downloading etc.

OpenOffice.org forums

Other Free Software worth a look:

http://www.opanda.com/ Opanda Photo filter - a freeware package (2mb download) that has all the filter colours you can poke a stick at (except for the tobacco graduated filter I lusted after) Ever read a 'Wheels' magazine or watched 'Top Gear' and wondered how they do those crazy drug induced coloured shots? Well I could never afford a full set of Cokin filters for my film SLRs, but have found the next best thing for digital.

http://www.z-a-recovery.com/ Zero Assumption Recovery for recovering deleted files or formatted CF / SD / etc camera media. Also freeware - getting some rave user comments on some forums I follow. 600kb approx download.

http://www.helicon.com.ua/pages/index.php?noisefilter Helicon noise filter is free and quick for removing noise from digital images. I use it a fair amount - it really helps with low light images taken at high ISO levels. Helicon free version can save in BMP, and when saving in JPG format the jpeg compression is adjustable unlike the free version of NeatImage so it suits my workflow better.

http://www.picasa.com/picasa/ Photo album / photo collection software. Been bought out by Google and now the software is free. I like this app quite a bit! I use a structured directory 'tree' for saving images on my PC - but Picasa is quicker to find a specific image I'm hunting for thanks to it's thumbnails and album grouping. Does a pretty good slideshow as well.

http://www.photofiltre.com A pretty good photo editor - worth a look. It doesn't have layers etc but it does have many other useful tools and filters for digital image enhancement.

Sphygmic Spreadsheet - an Excel 4.0 compatable spreadsheet, a very good piece of software to keep handy for the occasion you need a spreadsheet but don't have OpenOffice.org or Excel available. Freeware, 919kb. Alternate download location here.

Critec Accounting 98 - a discontinued product, quite a good accounting package. Freeware, 4Mb.

TurboCash - a full accounting package, open source and freeware, 40mb download. Currently testing this one myself. You will need to register [try a .com email address as my .co.nz email didn't appear to work]

OneStepAccounting - Standard version is freeware. A full accounting package, very easy to use. Included a 100+ page user guide. You will need to register.

Keynote - what I use at work for my project work, a tree structured, rich text tool. Very cool. One of the best things is that it runs as a standalone program and I don't need to be nice to the IT administrators to get it installed on my XP machine at work. Freeware, 1.5Mb.

Legacy Family Tree - a free family tree program, very good. I actually bought the full version. The free version is totally usable and this is one of the best software packages I have used. Try it you will like it! Freeware (upgrade to deluxe available) Approx 13mb download.

Ancestry.com - a free family tree program, quite good. The installer is directly from the internet, though you can get the .cab file out of your temp internet files folder and save it elsewhere. Freeware, 5Mb approx.

Cryptext - a public domain 160 bit encryption program. Very good 210kb

Serif Software - they are releasing older versions of their current products. While they are not cutting edge, there are some decent applications including desktop publishing [PagePlus 5]. They use their own download app with is a bit clunky, so I suggest going through with the normal registration prior to download (where you enter your email etc for the unlocking code to be sent to) and then download using FreshDownload or whatever from http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/download_location.asp

Freshdevices - Fresh Download is my downloader application of choice.

Imsisoft.com - the makers of TurboCAD. Keep an eye on their website as they release freeware versions of their products and download them as they become available. I have picked up freeware versions of TurboCAD (TurboCAD lite, and TurboCAD LE), and TurboProject (which isn't currently available). Their offerings change from time to time.

Email Remove - a neat tool that lets you delete email off your POP server before you download it. Freeware, 200kb

Avast - Anti Virus software. Quick updates, I use it. Freeware, 10.2Mb

FreeAV - Anti Virus software. I prefer Avast myself, but if you are in need.... Freeware, 3.9Mb