Free is free – and I love free stuff. Don’t you?

When it comes to computers, some days I think I’ve paid “too much already” – for desktops, laptops, monitors, printers, hard drives, digital cameras…

And all of this stuff is pretty much useless unless I’ve got some great software to go along with it.

Well, I’m tired of spending right now. Maybe you feel the same way -  enough is enough.

If you are tired of spending money on expensive software packages – here is a list of FREE software for you to download.

Remember: All of the software below is cross-platform capable – which means that it doesn’t matter whether you are a PC fan or a Mac junkie, you are covered!

1. OpenOffice

OpenOffice is a free multiplatform and multilingual office suite with word processor, spreadsheet, database, and presentation modules.

http://www.openoffice.org/

2. Gimp

Now you can finally enjoy your digital camera instead of using it as a cute little paperweight.

Gimp is a free graphics editor for image retouching and photo editing.

It’s great for resizing, editing, cropping photos, and converting between different image formats.

http://www.gimp.org/

3. Blender

Blender is a free, cross platform software suite for 3D creation.

Are you a budding animator on a budget? Blender is for you.

http://www.blender.org/

4. Audacity

Audacity is a free digital audio editor and recording application.

Use it to digitize your old cassettes or LPs, or simply connect a microphone and make your own noise. With special effects and noise reduction filters – you’ll wonder how you got along without it for so long.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

5. Pandora

Pandora is a personalized internet radio service.

Now you can listen to only the type of music you like on this fantastic Internet Radio – for free!

http://www.pandora.com/

6. Kindle (Software)

You’ve probably heard all about the Kindle device at Amazon – their expensive electronic device for downloading, storing, and reading electronic books.

Well now you can get the Kindle software for free, and buy Kindle eBooks for your PC or Mac. Thanks Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com

7. Google Reader

Blog hungry? Me too.

Google Reader is an RSS reader which makes subscribing to your favorite feeds a breeze.

Feed on as many blogs as you want – this reader is extremely popular for a reason!

www.google.com/reader Read the rest of this entry

You may have heard by now that within the next few weeks Microsoft will be releasing Windows 7 (October 22), finally replacing the problem-plagued Windows Vista operating system.

As a small business owner who needs to stay productive without the headaches of frequent computer issues, you are probably wondering:

Should You Bother Upgrading Your PC To Windows 7?

After all, you may still have vivid memories of trying to get your Windows Vista system to “play nice”.

So, the way I see it – the answer is Yes…No…and Maybe…

Yes.

If you are already running Windows Vista and you are not thrilled with it (and you have a fairly new PC with at least a 1 gigahertz processor and 1 GB of RAM) then you should upgrade when you can afford to do it.

By many accounts, the new Windows 7 should be much better than Vista – and inherently worth the upgrade.

No.

• Are you running an old PC with an older (Non-Vista) Windows operating system?
• Are you happy with the way your system is running?
• Are you currently running Windows XP?

Yes, yes, and yes?

I (like so many other small business owners) continue to use Windows XP and XP Professional because XP has proven to be stable.

It gets the job done without headaches. It works – period.

Personally, I am not interested in a “sexy interface” or “touch support” (At least not today!)

Actually, I am much more interested in how productive I can be on the Internet; so I use Mozilla Firefox and keep plugging along.

Since “upgrading” to Windows 7 from XP would require a clean install, it simply isn’t worth it to me.

A clean install would mean I’d have to back up all my files onto an external drive, and install all of my software and files again.

No thanks!

When I need to replace a computer – I’ll give Windows 7 a try.

Maybe.

Are you using a fairly new PC at home as a family, gaming or Entertainment System?

If so, then maybe you’ll want to check out Windows 7.

Why just maybe?

Maybe means: wait and see.

Windows 7 claims to have a cleaner interface than XP or Vista – along with beefed up multimedia support.

But if you can wait until November or December, you’ll get a much better overview of reality.

By then, real users will be everywhere on the Internet – and telling real stories about using the new operating system from Microsoft.

Economic Downturn.

Financial Meltdown.

No matter what we call it, many of us are looking for practical ways to cut costs and keep our business afloat.

The good news is that there are creative ways for us to save money without having to sacrifice productivity.

Let’s look at one of the more interesting ways: Open Source Software.

What is Open Source Software?

“Open source software (OSS) is defined as computer software for which the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license, that meets the Open Source Definition or that is in the public domain.

This permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified forms.” – Wikipedia

Take a look at this list of popular Open Source Software: 

•    OpenOffice
•    Wordpress
•    Mozilla Firefox
•    Mozilla Thunderbird

All of these applications have one important attribute in common: they are all FREE.

While large commercial software companies may want you to believe that “free software is worth every penny”,  I can tell you from experience that the programs I’ve listed are very capable and robust applications.

So, one of the easiest ways for your Small Business to cut costs is to stop paying for expensive commercial software packages and “upgrades”.

With open source applications, there are no discs to buy – no software “keys” to worry about.

Just download the application, and get to work.

OpenOffice

OpenOffice is the most popular open source application for Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Graphics, Presentations, and Databases.

This is an absolutely free software suite that can read and write files from other common office software applications.

Wordpress

Wordpress is the extremely popular free, open source Blog Publishing application.

The free-hosted version www.wordpress.com is the fastest, easiest way for you to get started on the road to Blogging.

Just set up your Wordpress.com account, and you are Blogging in minutes.

The self-hosted version www.wordpress.org will require you to get your own web hosting account.

While this makes the initial set-up a bit more complex, it does provide you with the means to fully control your domain name and Blog content.

In other words, you can do what you want with your self-hosted Blog.

Either way, the Wordpress application is free. Additionally, there are tons of free “themes” and plug-ins which will allow you to dress up your Blog any way you want.

As a matter of fact, this Blog is running just fine – thanks to Wordpress.org.

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is the free and open source web browser that I can’t seem to stop talking about. In my mind, Firefox is the fastest, most secure, and fully customizable way to surf the web.

I use it everyday, and simply love it.

Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source Email and News Application with tons of features not normally found in email apps.

One of the more interesting features is that you can integrate and use various Web mail accounts from one inbox.

Are you a Gmail or .Mac user? You can access your accounts in Thunderbird by simply providing your user names and passwords.

Cut costs, stay productive.

This is my short list of Open Source Software that will help your business save money and hum along as it always has.

Why not try one of the applications I’ve listed, and see how you like it?