RSS Blog FeedUseful Software Tools Cheap or Free
Posted at 3:58 AM, Jul. 8, 2006
As a result of conversations with several people, there seems to be a need for low-cost or no-cost software to provide functionality many of us need. As such, I've been doing some research and have found the following which folks may consider. I've broken them up based on functional need.
Specifically, I was interested in 3 things:
ONE - being able to manipulate GSMLS extracted data for mail merge into MS Word without having to purchase Microsoft Excel.
TWO - find a free photo editor that would resize and crop photos easily.
THIRD - Find other useful FREE software folks may wish to consider.
All of these software programs will do much more. Each person should feel free to explore what they can use.
Anti-Virus
http://www.grisoft.com offers a free version of their AVG Anti-Virus software.
COMMENT: There are many ways of protecting against viruses and we should all have something. BUT, if someone doesn't have anything at all, here is something free.
Microsoft Word
http://www.software602.com/download/
http://www.thinkfree.com/ (internet only - requires broadband)
COMMENT: Try them, see what you think, they are FREE
Microsoft Excel
http://www.software602.com/download/
http://www.thinkfree.com/ (internet only - requires broadband)
COMMENT: Try them, see what you think, they are FREE.
NONE OF THESE PRODUCTS work with the old GSMLS XLS download format.
Software602 & ThinkFree work with the new GSMLS text download format.
Microsoft PowerPoint
http://www.thinkfree.com/ (internet only - requires broadband)
COMMENT: Try them, see what you think, they are FREE
Photo Editor
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/ (PhotoPlus 6)
http://www.software602.com/download/
COMMENT: We have 2 basic needs for dealing with photos: Sizing (while maintaining the aspect ratio and dealing with pixels) & Cropping.
Sizing - easily making 240x180 pixel copies of our pictures for loading to our web sites OR simply reducing the size of images.
Cropping - removing portions of a picture we do not need.
This program will do a ton more, but I've not messed with all its' features. I was simply looking for something FREE that would provide these 2 functions. This one does a nice job.
MORE GENERAL COMMENTS:
First, I know this is a lot of information, BUT IT'S FREE, so it's worth folks spending a little personal time to check out.
Second, I'm NOT a guru on these products and it's not my intention to become so. My training will always be done with the Microsoft Office Suite. Users of these products can use the respective software help function to find the similar product.
Third, I found NO product that would deal with the old GSMLS XLS download from tax search. There may yet be one, but so far I've not found it. The old GSMLS is putting our a PRE- release 5 version of an Excel file and ONLY MS Excel will open it (again - so far that I've found)
Fourth, There were 2 that work with the new GSMLS text download.
Fifth, ThinkFree is really cool in that you are given FREE, 30MB's of virtual disk space. That means the software is on their site, your files are on their site and all you need is a browser (IE 5.0 or better) to access it. This means you can play with your files without having to carry them around. You can do that too, however. It's worth checkout out.
FINALLY:
This should give those who are interested, and motivated to invest a little time, to save a dollar or two. I hope this information is useful.