The Web's best free stuff

[Negus]

Link:
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/em...e-stuff_1.html

I've only recently discovered Staroffice from google packs. IMO, it's a good FREE alternative to Microsoft Office which is way out of my budget right now. It's good enough for writing basic letters,spreadsheets, etc. Compatible din sa MS Word and MS Excel formats.

[theveed]

Staroffice has been around for quite a long time already... Yes, it's a very good alternative for those who wants to stay legal but can't afford MS' pricing.

As for "freebies" stuff... I've been a member of mypoints.com (formerly bonusmail) since 1994, they're a click-for-points site that I've accumulated over 7k points without realizing... That amounts to over $80 in voucher/gift certificates over the years without doing much...

Search for "open source applications" and you'll get a lot of free alternatives for software such as Gimp, for example.

[niky]

I've used StarOffice before,,, lots of features, but the interface is slightly different, so it requires a little familiarization.

I'm currently using OpenOffice on the Eee... much more familiar than Star, but it's not as full featured as either Star or MS Office.

Running GIMP, too. Not as good as PhotoChop... errh... Shop, but okay for mild touch-ups.

[Jun aka Pekto]

I won't bother to link because they're all a short Yahoo/Google search away:

There's a lot of nice freebies out there. Those I have .....
Google Earth - nuff said
NASA World Wind - like Google Earth except it's either the Moon or Mars.
Celestia - 3d planetarium program
MS Virtual PC 2007
ImgBurn - cd/dvd app
MS Photo Gallery - for those who don't have Vista
Converber - my favorite unit conversion app
ScummVM - plays older LucasArts classic games
DOSBox - play older DOS games
POVRAY - 3d raytracing app
DScaler - the best tv tuner app ever
Open Office - the free Star Office (Neo Office in OSX)

Plus a whole host of web browsers, graphics viewers, converters, codecs, internet security, etc.

[pup2]

Nagsawa na ko sa MS na tuwing new release ay ang laki ng tinataas ng requirement kahit puro bloatware. Nainis na ako sa new releases nila na puro bugs hanggang walang patch. I've gone haywire over the number of times I've needed to re-install for one reason or another.

Gusto ko din matuto ng bagong bagay despite my age. Kaya imbes na mag re-install ako ng XP recently after yet another crash, Ubuntu na ang ginagamit ko even as we speak. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and so far, I don't miss MS AT ALL!

[Jun aka Pekto]

I've used StarOffice before,,, lots of features, but the interface is slightly different, so it requires a little familiarization.

I'm currently using OpenOffice on the Eee... much more familiar than Star, but it's not as full featured as either Star or MS Office.

Running GIMP, too. Not as good as PhotoChop... errh... Shop, but okay for mild touch-ups.

They're the same app (both are made by Sun Micro Systems) except now, Star Office has more features but is for purchase only. Open Office is the free, less featured version. Years ago, Star Office used to be free. There was no Open Office.

[Memphis Raines]

A couple of years ago during the hype of Microsoft raids on internet cafes, I tried out nearly all these free ware which also drove me to learn Linux Ubuntu, Xandros, StarOffice, etc.

They ran fine when surfing but then had so much connectivity issues like StarOffice most of the time conks out since Linux printer driver even for a simple LX-300 printer is so unstable .

I ended up getting original Microsoft products in the end for the sake of my cyber cafe since it offered so much convenience.

Oh well

[Jun aka Pekto]

Ubuntu na ang ginagamit ko even as we speak. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and so far, I don't miss MS AT ALL!

I use several distros of Linux such as Mandriva (formerly Mandrake), Ubuntu, SuSE, and that Enlightment live cd.

They're all fine for light work such as office work and internet-related apps. But when it comes to something heavier like video-editing, Linux is pretty lacking. I've tried Cinerella, Kdenlive, and one other app. None of them come close to the versatility and ease of use found on even the most basic video editors in OSX or WIndows.

Linux is free. So, I can't really complain. But, when I'm pressed to get work done, even free can't cut it. Linux progressed a lot since the mid-90's when I was trying to get Slackware 3.4 to work (took a lot of work just to get X-windows running). The only thing holding me back is the lack of really good 3rd-party commercial software.

I used to lean heavily on Windows and Linux. Now, it's more and more Windows and OSX since both have the software I need..

Add: That doesn't mean I've given up on Linux. I still use it. But, it's more gee whiz stuff and internet use, rather than real work. Right now...... I just got done d/l Ubuntu 7.10.

[Jun aka Pekto]

Another freebie and one of my personal favorites....
Weather Pulse

[artpogi]

Another freebie and one of my personal favorites....
Weather Pulse

hey I like that

[pup2]

I don't need to do video editing since ibang tao gumagawa nun for me. I just need the vids to play and so far, so good.

Sabi nga nung iba, dati madaming driver problems ang linux. Masasabi ko din na totoo dahil inexperiment ko siya several years back. And it WAS hell trying to get the X thing to even work.

The good news is that Ubuntu updates are quite frequent and very regular so I don't think we should give up on it. Rather, perhaps it can be tried out on SOHO/Personal machines or maybe 1 unit sa network.

Its partitioning and formatting features alone are sooo worth it (I have two 320 GB drives -- pag format lang maghapon magdamag na yata). And where windows conks out with a black or blue screen of death, one can always boot Ubuntu off a CD!

[niky]

They're the same app (both are made by Sun Micro Systems) except now, Star Office has more features but is for purchase only. Open Office is the free, less featured version. Years ago, Star Office used to be free. There was no Open Office.

Oh. I had the old free Star Office. We got a whole bunch of StarOffice CDs as giveaways from Cynthia Mamon at Sun MicroSystems when we did a project with them before. Used them for a while, but when Windows updated, we didn't renew... they were good, mind you, but since we needed licensed Windows copies for our systems, MSOffice came for free with the bundle.

[badsekktor]

Another freebie and one of my personal favorites....
Weather Pulse

realt time ba to? it would be very useful kung realtime

[JCBalunsat]

I dunno but freeware = limitations. Since most developers don't get anything but fame when producing one program or application. Some say they do it for the love of the industry as well as for the "poor". I really don't believe that because I believe that they do it so that they could get publicity and get hired by big Bill or some other big software manufacturer. Don't get me wrong, I've used them all, Ubuntu, Redhat etc. but since gaming is my thing, neither one of them made me happy. I guess the saying "You get what you pay for" really does apply. Same with cars .02.

OT: Can anybody give me a forum post counter? TIA

[Jun aka Pekto]

realt time ba to? it would be very useful kung realtime

If you mean realtime like a webcam, no. I don't think there's a weather satellite imagery system yet that's realtime. Normally, most satellite loops get a new frame every hour while others update every 30 minutes. If there's enough frames, then they can be played in a loop.

Even radar takes around 5 minutes to get a new frame. One time we had a thunderstorm pass overhead. The last radar frame we had was when the storm was still to the west. By the time we got the next frame, the storm was already past us to the east. I think the Doppler radars update every 2 minutes.

Unfortunately, Weather Pulse only does still images for Asia. But, the US side has animated satellite loops with Doppler radar overlays. Still, there's only so much free can get. It costs a lot of money to get more closeup and detailed loops like the ones at work.

[Jun aka Pekto]

I don't need to do video editing since ibang tao gumagawa nun for me. I just need the vids to play and so far, so good.

That's as good reason as any to use Linux. I mean I use it too so long as it does what I ask of it.