In the last six months, I’ve become a free software hound. It all started with a post about free software. My eyes were opened to a whole world of free and fabulous software. I wanted to share with you some of the software that I now use almost every day. And it’s free and fabulous!

Please note: ?I am not against people making money on their tools. I feel trapped by the endless updates. I don’t like the fact that some of my favorite and fabulous programs were jacked up by the latest update.?

Thursday 13
Free and Fabulous

1. Edit Pad Lite:?This is a simple text editor. I’ve used it for years. Pros: When you don’t use it for a few minutes, it goes into your bar. I know that sounds simple, but I can’t tell you how many times it’s saved me. ?Edit Pad Lite Page

2. Free RIP:?I have a number of CDs that were created by people that Windows can’t find the licenses for. Why? Who knows? So rather than carting my entire computer to bed so I can listen to my SleepTracks.com insomnia tapes, I used this program! Ta Da! ?Free RIP rips my CDs into WAV, MP3, Vorbis, WMA or FLAC. Free Rip page

3. Free Commander:?This program makes it easy to move files between drives or onto CDs. Again, this sounds very simple, but it’s wicked helpful. ?Free Commander Page

4. Plurk:?Plurk is like Twitter only better. You can have conversations with people from around the world. I’ve learned so much about… everything. I’ve made great food from recipes, learned programming tips, received fabulous software hints and… wow…. I’ve received tremendous support when I’ve needed it – and given it when it’s needed. ?Give it a try. If you like learning and talking to people, you’ll love it. Plurk Page

5. Gmail:?I received my first piece of email in 1996. In 1996, email was a fun way to connect with people. Now? It’s all about the business and spam. Sigh. Gmail has fabulous spam filters. I’ve been able to organize my email into different boxes that filter into “personal”, “work” and “writing” categories. If you haven’t tried it, you owe it to your life to get it. ?Gmail.com

6. GTalk:?This is a free program from Google. You can speak, computer to computer, with people around the world. You can also IM or Text message your friends. I use this program to keep up with clients and friends. GTalk Page

7. Google Calendar:?Why do I love this program? Google text messages me before every appointment at times I designate. So when I’m writing, I have time to return to the present. When you set an appointment you can email the person you are meeting. They confirm. After years of wondering if my client’s knew they had appointments? This is a god send. Google Calendar Page

8. Skype:?I’ve had skype for a long, long time. But I’ve only used it for voicemail. For example, I used it when I was on the Colorado Trail to keep up with my voicemail. I’ve started to use it, this year, to contact people around the world via computer to computer. I’ve had fabulous conversations with writers. When my husband was in Mexico, we chatted a few times a day. All free. ?Skype Page

9. Avast and AVG:?I have these programs on different computers. I haven’t had a problem with any virus or trojan with this caveat. I caught a trojan from a blog. Avast was on it immediately, but it took some time to get rid of the trojan. But hey, it’s free. Avast?or AVG

10. GIMPshop:?If you know me, you know that I hate Adobe products. I know. I know. They are everything and forty bags of chips. (Hey, I hate Apple to… go figure.) Adobe products make me nuts. I started using GIMP sometime last year and couldn’t figure it out. Recently, I started using GIMPshop. It has most of the tool bars as Photoshop, so it’s familiar, easy, and phew, not Adobe. ?GimpShop Page

11. GNU Cash:?I’ve grown to despise Quicken. In a fit of desperation (read Quicken screwed up a years worth of household accounting when I’m trying to do our taxes), I found GNU Cash. Ahhh… Easy tutorials and very straight forward interface. Plus, you can download from your banks, etc. I am now in the process of setting everything into it. Go ahead, spend another $90 updating your Quicken. I’m using GNU Cash for my personal and business accounting. GNU Cash page

12. Other InBox:??This is a fabulous product. It’s designed so you can make email addresses on the fly. For example, if I see a newsletter or an article that I want to read, but it requires and email address? I just use an other inbox address. I don’t have to tell other inbox that I’m doing it. As long as I use my account, it goes to the right place. I use it for all my website contact forms. ?Ok, here’s the true luxury —>it sends a summary of your email every morning<—- swoon! When you get hundreds of email a day, this is truly delicious! I have a beta release version, but the full version should be available very soon. Other Inbox page

13. Todoist:?This is a powerful project management/time management tool. I use it to track all of my websites and projects. You can set priorities (a la Covey) and hierarchies by project. For any busy person, this is a fabulous way to keep all of your “To Dos” in one place. Plus, there’s a delicious check the box and disappear into history function! ToDoIst Page

What favorite free programs do you use? Leave them in the comments and I’ll add them here!?

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• “This cleans out the PC?s registry way deep inside taking out all registry changes some programs leave behind. I?ve used it well over a year on three different PC?s flawlessly.” The Walking Mark
• “The one piece of free software that I absolutely could not live without is Note Tab Lite, one of the most muscular text editors I?ve ever used. They have a pro version, but I?ve never felt the need for anything more than the freebie one. Best thing about it? One click lets you substitute it for Notepad in Windows so that it becomes your default text editor” ?Cameleon at Coffee Break
• “A free program I use is SparkPeople, which is like weight watchers but free.” All Rileyed Up, Los Angelista
• “I use ?SpyBot Search and Destroy. Oh, and Digsby! Yay for awesome free programs!” Mary?
• “I?m hooked on Pandora and also on Just Hear It, which finds any song you want to hear.” Los Angelista
• “About the only one I use is AdAware. Amazing how much garbage it finds every week!” Heather at Word Trix

Check out other Thursday 13ers?

I learned recently that there is a lot of fabulous and free software available. ? I asked people what free programs they like and came up with a great list of programs.

Thursday Thirteen #39 – Free and fabulous software

Here’s my list of the best free software out there:

1. Virus protection: Avast is by far the most popular free virus software.? It has been around for a long time and has both a pay version and a free version (home use).? Avg is gaining popularity because it has more features in it’s free version. Both are stable and have been in use over a decade.? I will tell you that Avast caught a virus on my laptop that McAfee missed.

2. Image manipulation: Now, I own Photoshop from my years in the Open Grove.? However, I hate photoshop – just hate it.? Gimp is a very popular, and free, alternative to photoshop.? I’m planning on becoming very friendly with Gimp this fall!

3. Drawing software: My photoshop hatred is only a microfiber less than my hatred for Illustrator.? Inkscape is a free, and user friendly, Illustrator.? My new friend….

4.? Text editor: I became interested in text editors due to my deep hatred for GoLive. (Yes, I have a problem with Adobe products.? Don’t tell me how superior you are because you like Adobe products – I’m over it.)?? Anyway, I fell in love with Edit Pad lite.? I learned recently of Google Notebook which works great for websites or other information.

5.? Clean up computer: Ever think that your computer is slow and sucky?? Often that’s because it’s storing a bunch of crap that you don’t want it to store.? I’ve started using Crap Cleaner (now called CCleaner).? It’s easy, controllable interface make clearing your computer junk easy.

6.? Application launcher: I don’t use a lot of different programs, so this is not such a huge category for me.? But I like both Launchy and Rocket dock.? The idea is that you can open a new program with a click or a key stroke thus saving time.

7.? View graphics: Ever struggle to simply look at your photos?? Try IrfanView. This program is super cool.

8.? Sound recording : Since my least favorite software company bought my most favorite audio program, I’ve been a little stuck.? Audacity is awesome.

9.? File transfer programs: Yes, I know that Windows Explorer will do Internet file transfer, but you will probably retire before it happens.? (In other words, it’s very, very slow.)? I have used Leech for a very long time.? Firefox has a new FTP plug in that’s worth checking out. And a lot of people love Filezilla.

10.? Web browser: Firefox is fast, free and truly superior to Internet Explorer. For those of you who don’t use it because your favorite sites are IE only – there is a firefox plug-in to over come that. Just try it. You’ll be very happy.

11.? Spam/Ad detection and removal: I started using? Ad Aware by Lavasoft right after my machine was hijacked by spamware.? No program could find or remove the spamware.? Adverts popped up on my machine even when I wasn’t on the internet. Ad Aware found and removed the spamware from my computer and registry.? It continues to have the highest rating of any spamware remover and is soooooo much better than Windows Defender (and less resource intensive).

12.? Bubble map: For the true visual geeks, here’s a free bubble map program.? I hate these things but would feel remiss if I didn’t share it with you. ? CMap

13.? What are your favorite fabulous free software? Leave them in the comments and I’ll add them to the post!

First, Colleen at Loose Leaf Notes reminds us: “I?m nervous of free software. My computer geek repair man told me to be wary of it because it can come with viruses (even though I use protection).”? I think that’s why it’s crucial that we share what we know works.

• Ad Aware by Lavasoft is used by Adelle Laudan, Tink
• Audacity is used by Tink
• AVG is used by Sandy Carlson, Tink, She, Tricia
• CCleaner is used by Hootin’ Anni, Tink, Tempest Knight
• Gimp is used by Soren J
• Filezilla is used by Tink
• Firefox is used by Nicholas, Michelle, Colleen, Tink, Brian
• “I love Piknik on Flickr?it?s simple, fast and easy to use!” (Janet at Fond of Snape)
• “I use MacZip on a regular basis.” (Sarah at Puss Reboots)
• “Flickr has a free membership. It is limited as to what you can do?but it is fun.? So is Big Huge Labs?.that is where I make my mosaics. (Tommie at Tuesday Update)
• “For Mac users Yummy FTP is fantastic!” (Slender Octopus)
• I like Open Office and will switch to it completely on my next computer. I?m tempted to switch to a Linux OS with it too because I don?t think Microsoft needs any more of my money.? Switch is a great little freeware audio converter that can transform any audio file format into any other format.? PCPitstop has a complete suite of free tests to optimize your computer?s performance as well as identifying potential problems and solutions.? Finally,? Zamzar offers free online file conversion, so you can get rid of those pesky Vista office files that nothing else can open. (There is now a free version of Linux called Ubuntu.)
• “For images and pictures I have Picasa.” (Tink)
• “Eusing is phenomenal in scrubbing the registry of the computer.” (Mark at the Walking Man)
• “I use Zone Alarm” (She)
• “There?s a great text editor for the mac (not free) called BBEdit for the PC, I?d recommend UltraEdit (also not free).? There is a Mac version of Filezilla too (to the commenter that mentioned Yummy)” (FuriousBall)
• “The only free software I have used is Picassa and Photobucket.” (Jo)
• “have also Adobe Reader and MS Reader for my ebooks. uTorrent is also great. Hehehe! Then I?ve got a few others from Spacejock software: yWriter and Sonar. *wg*” (Tempest Knight)
• “One of my favorites is Vim which is a vi simulator for windows (i.e. a very powerful text editor).” (Soren J)
• “We have Paint Shop Pro here at home as well as a few odd freebies and find we enjoy them and even my 5 year old could learn to use them.” (Tricia)