Free Stuff Part 3

Microsoft Office is a must have program if you want to write any type of document or presentation.  Well, not exactly.  The truth is, Microsoft Office Documents are what makes the business world go round, but that does not mean that Office itself must be the set of programs to open the documents.  While I would argue that Microsoft Office is by far the best office suite available, it is not always the most affordable.  Enter Open Office. 

Free Stuff Part 2

In the spirit of sharing good free programs, today I would like to talk about a great application that I have used for years.  The program is called GIMP.  GIMP stands for GNU (meaning free software) Image Manipulation Program.  It is a big fancy name, but when you get down to it, GIMP is a great alternative to Adobe Photoshop.  Or if you prefer, a much fancier version of Microsoft Paint.

What is it good for?  both Photoshop and Gimp are good for three main categories; image editing, image combination and creating original art.  This means you can do everything from clean up a photo, cut people and items out of photos, combine multiple photos or "paint" a picture.  Your success at using either program will greatly depend on your artistic talents.  Which means that I can use it to draw a pretty solid tic tack toe board and not much else.  I know the ins and outs of the program quite well, but I am no artist.

Everyone Likes Free Stuff

Computer programs can be expensive. Free programs can be trouble and have hidden costs. However, there are a lot of great free programs out there and I intend to share them with you. Each program that I post here I have personally tested and researched.

The first program is Microsoft Security Essentials. Security Essentials is a fantastic free Antivirus program put out by Microsoft. It runs very smoothly, provides excellent protection and is absolutely 100% free. This is their response to the old "Macs do not get viruses" argument. When your current antivirus subscription is up, uninstall it, download Security Essentials and never look back.

Not only is your current antivirus program probably costing you money, it is probably slowing down your computer and annoying you at the same time. Many antivirus companies try to sell you protection that is already included in Windows itself. Also, a good antivirus should work well and not need to tell you every 5 minutes that it is doing so. Security Essentials fits the bill. Get it at http://microsoft.com/securityessentials.

Reminder: Never run more than one antivirus program at a time.