| Type of Software | For Windows
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For Mac OS X
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For Linux
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| Sick of pop-up ads? Well then, you need a better browser. |  Using Windows? Then Firefox for Windows is your best bet. It blocks pop-ups, incorporates tabs, and is usually faster than IE. Another great browser you might want to check out is Opera. It's very fast, very small, and fulfills your need for Norwegian software. |
 For Mac there are four great choices. Safari with its brushed metal face, is one slick-looking browser, & pretty much the default browser for most Mac users. It blocks pop-ups, incorporates tabs, is faster than IE for most things, and does lots of other cool tricks. But I've found I like Camino better. It's based on Mozilla, but doesn't seem to have the memory leaks that Firefox does. It uses less of the CPU's cycles than Safari, so fewer spinning beach balls. Give it a try, you may like it too. Mac users can also use Firefox for Mac, and Opera Both of which are faster and more secure than IE. Actually, Opera is probably the best of them all, but I've just never gotten used to the interface. |
Linux users can download Firefox for Linux. It blocks pop-ups, incorporates tabs. has built-in Google searching, yada, yada. Or, built into KDE is the very fast Konqueror browser (on which Safari is based), and Opera also makes a Linux version. |
| Need any anti-virus software? |  If you're using Windows you do. AOL discontinued updating it's great free anti-virus progam, so unless you want to subscribe to AOL, delete it and install something else. Here are 3: Avira AntiVir is supposed to be pretty good, but I was never able to download any updates, so I deleted it. Then there's Grisoft's AVG I'm using it right now - seems fine, or Alwil's Avast 4 home edition has a very cool looking interface. AVG & Avast rate about the same in most comparisons. Unless you're paying for Norton or McAfee download one of these and use it!. |
 Macs are built on the bulletproof BSD Unix operating system, so we don't need no stinkin' anti-virus program!There have been reports in the press recenly that seem to indicate that Mac's immunity to viruses is over, but so far, these have all been "proof-of-concept" viri - meaning they were created just to show that it could be done. So far (knock on wood) there aren't any out there in the wild. |
 Linux users ask, "What's a virus?" | Got spyware? |  If you're using Windows, and you connect to the internet, it's a pretty safe bet you've got tons of it. Do yourself a favor & download these 3 free programs: 1. Spybot Search and Destroy; You have to run all three of these every week or 10 days or so - consider it a tax for running Windows. The order you run them doesn't matter; the last 2 you run will always find something the frist one missed. IF YOU FEEL YOU MUST RUN WINDOWS, YOU HAVE TO DO THIS! Now get going. |
 There are virtually no spyware or ad ware, or malware programs that can run on a Mac. But for the extremely paranoid, Little Snitch will alert you if a program tries to send info to the internet without asking you first. Little Snitch Prevents applications from "phoning home". It protects you from trojans, worms, and other network parasites. And it shows you which applications send information over the internet. |
Spyware? Linux users just laugh and laugh. |
| Want a free Office Suite? |  Sure you do. OpenOffice is a complete office suite fully compatible with Microsoft Office. It contains a word processor that reads and wites in MS Word format (as well as many other formats), a spreadsheet which uses MS Excel's .xls as its native format, and a presentation program that can read and write in PowerPoint format. It also contains a drawing program & other toys. OpenOffice would be an amazing program even if it cost money. The most amazing thing is that it's free. It's a big download, about 63 megs, so if you have broadband, give it a try! |
 NeoOffice is a full featured office productivity suite including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, vector drawing, database, and macro functionality. It can be used as a free alternative to Microsoft Office on the Mac. You can exchange documents with Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org users, even on other platforms. It is based on Open Office, but runs natively on OS X. |
OpenOffice is the office suite of choice for Linux users. But KDE's K-Office also deserves a look. Especially since if you're running KDE, you've already got it. |
| Need a free graphics program? |  GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It's vey much like photoshop, but not quite. On the other hand it doesn't cost many hundreds of dollars. Unless you are a professional, Gimp is more than you'll ever need for images. If you are familiar with Photoshop, you might want to try Gimpshop. Gimpshop is just Gimp with the menu structure and terminology changes to match that of photoshop. |
There's a Gimp for Mac users too. It's the same as the windows version, but it runs using X-11, which you have on your OS X install disk. A native version is coming soon, so you won't need X-11. There's also a Gimpshop for Mac too. |
There's a Gimp for Linux users too - in fact the Linux version is the original. There's also a Gimpshop for Linux too. |
| Need some Mac-specific stuff? |  Video on a Mac is great, but sometimes you run into Windows-specific formats, or other wierd things. VLC is the greatest video player I've ever seen. It plays everything and anything you can throw at it. Also, Flip-4-Mac is a browser plug in that plays those nasty Windows Media files right in your browser. Get these things. Mac the Ripper will rip a copy of any DVD so you can make a backup copy. Cyberduck is a great open-source ftp client for Mac. Acquisition is the very best P2P client for Mac. You pretty much have to have it. Uno is a simple program that allows you to customize the windows so that they all look unified. Just check it out. |
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| Need to unpack some of this free software? |  For Windows, 7 Zip is my favorite. It's free (as in beer), open source, simple but effective and includes vital shell extensions that make compressing/expanding files a one-click procedure, and its compression ratio is better than WinZip. |
 Mac users can and should use Stuffit. It's free for Mac, and it does everything (the windows vesion costs $40). It usually comes with the Mac, so you've probably already got it, but be sure you've the most recent version. |
Linux users have several free compression/expander programs to chose from, but what's so funny 'bout peace, love, and "tar -xzvf filename"? |
Do you know of any free software that you just can't do without? Well, don't just keep it to your self! Share with us! Post it here. Thanks!
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