16 free programs and apps that that you actually want
photo by: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³
I recently wrote an article on programs that are worth paying for, and the free alternatives to them. Today I have decided to focus strictly on some of the best free programs and apps that I have used. There are so many of them out there. If you truly wanted to, you could use these free programs for just about everything, and never have to buy another piece of software again. Let’s get started.
Word processors and office programs.
- Google Docs. This is a full featured online office suite from Google. You won’t find 100% of the features you find in MS Office, but you will find most of them. For myself, the huge advantage is how easily you can share your documents with other members of your team, even if they work remotely. Google docs includes a word processor, spreadsheets, a calendar, and presentations. You can also store and share files. Another feature is the ability to embed documents in your websites. I have used the spreadsheet to set up a keybox code sheet to share with other Realtors to gain access to my real estate listings. The possibilities are endless.
- OpenOffice. This is a full featured open source office suite that rivals MS Office. It has many advanced features, and is easy to use. You can’t go wrong with free software like this. I highly recommend downloading it and giving the software a try. It includes database software, word processor, spreadsheets, and more. Here is how it is described on the OpenOffice website:
OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in aninternational open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completelyfree of charge for any purpose.
Social networking platforms and apps.
- Twitter.com. Yes, this one is obvious, but if you own a business with a website and are not on Twitter yet, now is the time. I receive thousands of hits to my website from Twitter, and it is completely free.
- Ping.fm. This acts as a middleman for many popular social networking sites. You can type one update and have it post to Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Blogger, Bebo, and a TON of other sites that I bet you didn’t even know existed. I use Ping.fm to update about 20 different social media sites and blogs for myself, and I am not even using half of what they have available.
-Twaitter.com. This is an app that works with Twitter, and soon Ping.fm, to schedule messages for later, and to also schedule recurring messages. Very useful to get the word out about your business. Your messages can still get posted even while you are working on other things.
Image editing.
- Gimp. I would refer to this as a watered down Photoshop clone. It has a lot of features, and is more advanced than most of the other free image editing software I have used. I find it a little hard to use, but I have been using Photoshop for over ten years, so making that transition is tough. For a free image editing software packed with features, I would recommend Gimp.
- Paint.net. This program has less features, but its easy to use and great for basic image manipulation. Use it to crop photos, or change the image size. You can add text, adjust colors, etc… Again, it is completely free, so well worth taking a look at.
Listening to music.
- Lala.com. Listen to just about any full album that you can think of, online and streaming. The catch is, if you want to listen to the album more than once, you either have to pay a minimal fee to have unlimited access to the streaming version, or purchase the MP3. Lala is great for checking out new albums before buying, or for discovering new music.
- Pandora.com. This is basically an online radio. You decide which type of music it plays. You can type in the name of your favorite band, it it will play music by them and similar artists. You can also create new stations based on genre, and a few other options. It is completely free to use.
- GrooveShark.com. Search for music by just about any artist, and create a play list. Listen to streaming music online. Independent artists can also upload their own music to gain exposure. This is a great site.
- Blip.fm. Discover new music here, or share your favorite music. Blip.fm allows users to update their status on the site and on Twitter with links to music they like. Check this site out, it’s really cool.
- Winamp.com. I remember this as the first really cool software to play MP3 audio. It was one of the first to have visualization plugins and changable skins to update the look. Winamp brings back some old memories. It was good then, and even better now with tons of updated features, including video playback. And it is still free. Go download Winamp.
Building a website or blogging.
- Wordpress.com. For a free hosted blog that is fast and easy to set up, check out Wordpress.
- Blogger.com. Another app from Google, this is a great free blogging platform. I personally prefer Wordpress, because I think it is easier to use and has better looking themes available. The huge advantage of using blogger is that you can put adsense on your site to earn income, and add scripts. An example would be a sign up form that emails the sign up information to you. The Wordpress.com does not allow any of this, so if that is what you are looking to do, try out Blogger.
- Wordpress.org. This is by far my favorite. You can use the Wordpress platform on your own server for free, and this allows you to install adsense, scripts, and anything else that you want to. It is fairly simple to set up, but some basic knowledge of using FTP is required. I don’t recommend this for your very first blog unless you know something about building websites.
- Google Analytics. If you are serious about your website or blog, you need to know the stats. Where is your traffic coming from? What pages are they viewing? How long are they staying on the site? How many visitors do you get each month? Without knowing all of this, it will be impossible to make the needed changes to your site to maximize your readership, profits, etc… All you have to do is paste a piece of code in to your site, and Google does the rest. This is very useful and well worth learning to use.
That sums up this list. If you have any to add, or suggestions for new categories for future posts, go ahead and leave me a comment.
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I’ll have to try the Google software. Thanks for info. and Merry Christmas.