How to run your PC using only Freewares
Have you ever wondered if it was possible to run you PC and do all the things you usually do with only freeware applications. Well if you look deeply, its possible and you will never have to waste a single penny on applications. I mean come on guys what do we really do with our PC’s mostly surfing the net, occasional office work, burn some CD, DVD and watch movies, videos and enjoy our music of course.
There are tons of freewares out there which will let you do all theses things all you have to do is pick out the best. I am running my laptop only using freeware applications the only thing I paid for was Windows XP Professional Edition OS. Here are few of the recommended free applications.
1. AntiVirus: AVG Free Antivirus provides protection against viruses, spywares,malwares but you shouldn’t skip on buying a proper antivirus like Norton Antivirus or Kaspersky Internet Security. Also Avast Home Edition does a pretty decent job.
2.Browser: Well when it comes to internet browsers I won’t touch anything except Mozilla Firefox undoubtedly the best web browser around. You can also try Opera and there is Google Chrome not to forget all of them are free. But I would strongly recommend using Firefox as your primary web browser.
3.Bittorrent client: uTorrent 1.8 was my choice like most of you. You could even try Bitcomet, Bitlord.
4. CD | DVD burning: I am using CD Burner XP 4 for my CD, DVD burning needs. It is very similar to our beloved CD burning program Nero and can burn Blu-Ray discs also. Lately a free version of Ashampoo Burning Studio Free 6.75 was also launched, Both of them have similar features only difference will be the interface may be. You can also try Star Burn 10 but I have never used it personally. It offers interesting features such as CD ripping apart fro CD burning and user interface looks very similar to Nero from the screenshots I have seen. So try your pick. Windows Xp also allows integrated CD burning feature but I strongly recommend not using it.
5. Compressors: When it comes to free compressors and archiver 7-Zip is the ultimate freeware due to large no supported formats and its simplicity.
6. Download accelerator: Orbit downlader is my choice when it comes to download accelerator/manager. You could even try Free Download Manager.
7. PDF reader: Foxit reader for free PDF readers. It small, fast, easy and reliable. Other similar application worth considering is PDF-XChange Viewer
8. Image viewer: I am using IrfanView which is more than just a image viewer and comes with loads of added features such as editing, printing, scanning, conversion etc. Another useful freeware application in this category will be Picasa from Google.
9. Music player: There is always Windows Media Player as an integrated option with Windows that will let you play most of the audio files. Apart from that I am using this cool freeware called J river Media Jukebox.
10. Productivity: Undoubtedly the best freeware alternative to Microsoft Office is Open office.
11. Video player and codec pack: I am using K-Lite Codec Pack 4.53 and VLC Media Player 0.9. Which lets me play all my video files and movies without any problems.
Well here you go, without spending a penny apart from your Operating system, you have a fully capable system based on free software that does just about everything their paid counterparts do.
Note: Some of the programs may require .net framework 2.0 and direct X 9.c to install and work.
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Hmmmmmmm. Quote:
…without spending a penny apart from your Operating system…
And with the picture of the badges showing Tux, Beatie and the gnu, three free Operating System mascots shouldn’t we be suggesting that maybe Microsoft isn’t the only way to go?
Stumbledupon this; thumbs down because you’re confusing freeware (free firmware) with free software.
@Pádraig Brady
I don’t think there is any firmware related thing there…….
I agree with all of this except the Anti virus section. What you should have said is that you must avoid paying for Norton as in some recent tests the free alternatives actually out performed it and didn’t kill your performance into the bargain. If you put AVG or Avast free versions on your computer and also put on Threatfire (free) you will have as good a protection as most people will need.
I see no point in getting involved in the OS argument as we all have our preferences. I have tried Ubuntu and liked it but I still use XP as it was on my computer when I bought it and didn’t pay extra as there was no option to buy without an OS. So in effect it was free, I know the companies add on a few dollars/pounds for it but as the computers are not available without it then that is the cost. As much as I like Ubuntu it will never be my favourite OS for the simple reason that XP is so much easier to use and it has all of the software I want to use.
@ John Lee
Yes its a fact that paid software sometimes doesn’t works as advertised. It ultimately depends on the users tastes, we can just recommend.
PDFCreator is a great piece of software that deserves mentioning.
It works like a printer, but it prints to PDF from whatever program you are printing from. If you burn the pdf’s to an RW disc and print them only when needed, you wind up saving a lot of paper and ink while maintaining records.
@ Thanks much appreciated I will be sure to try it ..
For media players, there is one better; VLC (VideoLAN) Google it.
I would love to know why you advise to buy a paid anti-virus, when avg performs much better, and with less performance robbed from your system?
Also, I am wondering why you didn’t mention winamp for a music player.
@ stevae
I do agree with you that avg performs well above certain paid antivirus programs but you can never compare AVG free with paid programs like Norton Antivirus or Kaspersky Internet Security. From my experience I can tell you as far as virus detection goes AVG is up there with the top guys but when it comes to getting rid of them it will let you down almost most of the time. So, you should not risk your computers security with free programs. As far as music players go every one has their choice