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YouTubeI just got a PC laptop that has nothing on it. Nothing on my Mac will work, obviously. I just want like a basic word processor, etc... Also I definitely want freeware stuff, no stealing.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Q&A
Free PC software?
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sixby9is42
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OpenOffice is free.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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first install antivir or AVG to guard against virii
then:
firefox (install adblock and noscript add-ons)
Thunderbird (Install the Lightning extension for calendar/googlecalendar)
openoffice
GIMP (image processing)
VLC media player
XMplayer (small mp3 player used when VLC is overkill)
InfraRecorder cd/dvd burner
jkdefrag
WinDirStat file managementI dunno what all you wanna do with that computer, but that'll get ya started.
A handy thing to do is go to http://portableapps.com/ and you can get portable versions of lots of free software that you can park on a thumb drive and run on any computer. You can also install them on your local hard drive and sync with a big thumbdrive too, so you can take all your stuff with you without having to drag the whole laptop around all the time.
Posted 3 years ago # -
lifeliberty
Here
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is there an operating system installed?
Posted 3 years ago # -
Coremodels
Really close to Explorer's Club.
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Definitely agree on VLC, by far the best player I've found. GIMP is nice too, I have CS3 and still use GIMP for quick photo edits because it's faster and simpler.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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I think I'll bite the bullet and buy office in a few weeks, but I am heading to vegas for trade shows next week. I basically only bought the laptop because we want to be able to process cards on site (so I bought a card reader and have already worked this out with my merchant services...) but want to be able to do some other work while I am out there. I have never owned a PC before, so I don't know how much more "protected" I need to be than with a mac.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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I am not too worried about media stuff. I listen to music for 10 hours a day at Tigertree so I usually stay away from it otherwise. I do have a question about the TV tuner though. It said I could buy one online to watch TV on the computer but couldn't find it. Is it a software or hardware thing?
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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TV tuner is hardware. VLC can also handle such capture devices.
BTW: Openoffice has a really nice object oriented drawing program similar to corel draw or others. Between GIMP for image editing and OpenofficeDraw for drawing, layout and direct PDF export you're set for all kinds of design work. I think it blows MSOffice out of the water. I love it. I use it for all the maps, annotated aerial photos, and geophysical survey maps I do at work.
Posted 3 years ago # -
gramarye
In Exile
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I love OpenOffice and use it at home, and I wish I could convince the federal government to switch to it. Unfortunately, the government is more standard-conscious than cost-conscious or feature-conscious.
I need to find someone with an Ubuntu machine willing to give me a quick tour of it sometime. I've heard good things about it on Internet forums, but then again, someone's written something good about just about everything online.
I liked GIMP, but it was a resource hog, so I didn't reinstall it when my old hard drive died.
Tigertree: I'll second Firefox and Thunderbird, and I like the Sunbird calendar program, too, though it's not as well-developed as the other two yet.
Posted 3 years ago # -
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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I'll pile on with the mentioned programs. I've used OpenOffice for the bulk of my word processing and spreadsheet needs for a few years now, and I really don't miss any of the standard MSOffice suite.
As far as VLC, T-bird and FF, I've been using them for years and they're great..
Posted 3 years ago # -
th0m
Beechwold
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gramarye wrote >>
I love OpenOffice and use it at home, and I wish I could convince the federal government to switch to it. Unfortunately, the government is more standard-conscious than cost-conscious or feature-conscious.
I need to find someone with an Ubuntu machine willing to give me a quick tour of it sometime. I've heard good things about it on Internet forums, but then again, someone's written something good about just about everything online.i'd be happy to show you it sometime, it runs on windows too. i'm curious though if you have heard of people in official capacities rejecting its use? for the most part in my job, only insane crazy macro's or people's entirely-too-creative-for-all-the-wrong-reasons word document layouts wind up doing funky things, but i'm increasingly impressed by its compatibility 99% of time (of course we don't use 99% of the features in word or excel hehehe it seems)
Posted 3 years ago # -
pez
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gramarye wrote >>
I need to find someone with an Ubuntu machine willing to give me a quick tour of it sometime. I've heard good things about it on Internet forums, but then again, someone's written something go
You can give yourself a tour on your own PC, download the Ubuntu Live CD. You can boot from it, use the 'try' option and it won't even touch your hard disk. I personally use Kubuntu (K Desktop vs Gnome), but it's build on the same platform and available as a Live CD. Another popular Linux test drive is Knoppix, also available as a Live CD, I think Knoppix now includes Firefox on the disk, you have to jack around with Ubuntu to get it, all of the distributions include Open Office.
A lot of people I work with use the Live CDs on their laptops while traveling to get on the Internet on locked-down PCs.Posted 3 years ago # -
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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I'll pile on with the mentioned programs. I've used OpenOffice for the bulk of my word processing and spreadsheet needs for a few years now, and I really don't miss any of the standard MSOffice suite.
As far as VLC, T-bird and FF, I've been using them for years and they're great..
Posted 3 years ago # -
gramarye
In Exile
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Hmm. I just downloaded VLC player to give it a try. Maybe it just takes getting used to. I've already identified a few really annoying habits in it that even lowly WinAmp avoids--like flipping one back to the top of one's playlist whenever one moves something around on it. The "Show Current Item" button also just returns me to the beginning of the playlist, not the currently playing song. Maybe there are ways to avoid these that I just need to play around with it more to figure out.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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the trick is that VLC is a lousy MP3 player, but a great video player.
Use xmplayer or winamp for music.
Posted 3 years ago # -
columbusdreamer
Wo TON
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I have office enterprise 2007 if want to load it on your computer.
Posted 3 years ago #
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