Best Software for a Tough Economy
By Jessica Dolcourt, CNET Downloads
In tough economic times like these, good freeware becomes worth its weight in gold.
Professionals who squeeze every feature out of their top-shelf software will likely appreciate the investment, but those of us with more modest goals can still do just about anything for free. Assuming that you are willing to deal with a few minor character flaws and rough edges, we've got some tools to help you save your hard-earned dough. From graphic-design apps and security software to CD/DVD burners and ringtone makers, there's something available in this collection for most of us cost-conscious downloaders.
Small, amazingly effective and free, 7-Zip compresses files like a pro and unpacks archive formats including RAR, ISO and MSI. It can also pack ZIP, TAR and GZIP files. The latter two are often found on Linux and Unix systems, and are file types that the commercial go-tos can't muster. To shrink its footprint even more, try out 7-Zip's portable version.
Lots of paid programs make syncing files among different PCs and the Web simple, but if you're counting pennies, Windows Live's FolderShare offers a more than adequate substitute. FolderShare, too, keeps files synced across Windows and Mac platforms -- so long as they're under 2GB. In addition to the desktop client, you can access and configure FolderShare online. Our biggest gripe is that it won't sync files if a computer is off or hibernating, but with a little planning or help from others when you're away from a logged-off computer, you'll be able to keep information constantly current.
There's no shortage of well-rounded defragmentation applications, but IOBit Smart Defrag runs circles around them. Its built-in tool persistently defragments your most-used files without gumming up your system. Like Diskeeper, you can set it to run during idle moments, and its performance is steady enough to run on older and more resource-scant machines. Smart Defrag's scheduler also lets you plan late-night defragging, and can shut down the computer when it's done.
Unless you're editing data, audio, video and burned images a significant portion of your time, a fully caffeinated application such as Nero is probably overkill. If all you want to do is burn some discs, Ashampoo Burning Studio Free and BurnAware Free offer the same basic functions for CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray, without the extra bulk of Nero's video editing and slide show software.
ToneThis ringtone maker isn't especially attractive or advanced, but it is free, devilishly easy to use and can create, edit and receive SMS ringtones and scaled videos and photos from your PC to your phone (see supported models.) It's hobbled by some pesky flaws, but the core features work well enough to recommend the program for those watching their wallets.
Prepare to be impressed with free image-editing tool GIMP. GIMP supports layering and has a good-size tool kit for adjusting colors, curves and balances, and adding blur, zoom and distortion effects. Unlike some freeware photo editors, it has an effective red eye removal filter, and tools for creating paths and quickly changing perspective. Tutorials and an active user base help you work through stickier editing tasks. The plug-in GIMPshop unites GIMP's two panes and renames some functionality to match Photoshop's nomenclature.
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition and Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus
Out of all the freeware antivirus applications, AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition and Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus come closest to the comprehensive coverage of their premium cousins. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition offers frequent updates, scheduled scans and real-time protection. It also quarantines suspect files and processes, and rates search results for safety.
Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus also scans for definitions, and, unlike most security freeware, sniffs for rootkits. While thorough, Avira's freeware antivirus application tends to lag and is a bit more ad-heavy.
Free screen-recording software CamStudio isn't perfect by a long shot, but if you're scrappy and open to reading tutorials, you'll find a free way to take good-quality AVI and SWF recordings of your screen. The beta build remains somewhat buggy, and CamStudio is lean on options, but if you only need to blast out basic demos and tutorials of your own, CamStudio is a real find.
Spend a few moments configuring Gadwin PrintScreen before capturing your first image and you'll be a fan for life. Trust us, don't skip this step. Gadwin PrintScreen has plenty of customization settings for saving and processing images after you take them. You can save them to the clipboard, print them and automatically name files, for example. Gadwin PrintScreen doesn't have SnagIt 9's advanced editor library, but it will let you automatically open the captured images in any photo-editing application you like.
posted by hkghkghk at 7:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home