You have just purchased a new computer and realized that it came with no software. Good news, their is lots of free software that can be downloaded. With a open source boom in the last year and a half, many companies are now releasing open source software. Open source software is a matter of the users freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. One success story has been, Mozilla FireFox, is an open source browser that has given us a better alternative to Microsoft’s IE. Here are some of my recommendations.

Operating systems (Wanting to get rid of Microsoft’s XP or Vista)

• Ubuntu Linux
• Suse Linux

Browsers (Replacement for IE 6)

• Firefox:


Office Tools ( Replacement for Microsoft’s Office Suite Program)

• Open Office - Compatible with Microsoft’s Office. Perfect for the home user. I recommend it highly.

Photo Editing Software ( Replacement for Photoshop)

• Gimp

Spyware Remover

• Spy-bot Search and Destroy

Instant Messenger ( Replacement for Yahoo Messenger and AOL Chat)

• Gaim Messenger - Lets you talk to people on different IM Networks.

Choosing Anti Virus software can be a little mind blowing. Their are countless companies claiming that their software is superior. The two most important factors to consider are, How good does the software detect “in the wild viruses, and How often does the software give false positives. You must also decide between a paid version or a FREE version. I suggest going with a paid version if you do things on the internet that make you high risk for getting a virus or if you are a new computer user.

Some Free Anti Virus Software:

• Avast Home - my current preference ,catches almost everything, it has a very bad User Interface and is complicated.
• Command Antivirus- free online version, paid downloaded version
• AVG - WAS a favorite of mine, it just doesn’t catch much.

Some Paid Anti Virus Software:

• Norton Antivirus - best all around, bloated and almost impossible to completely remove.
• Mcafee Virus Scangood virus scanner, annoying program
• Panda Antivirus Platinum
• F-Secure Anti-Virus