9 Apps that get it done (for free)
There are few things more frustrating than plopping down a bunch of money on software that you know you may never fully utilize before it’s completely outdated. And there are few things more unfortunate than not being able to use the same programs on all your computers due to licensing restrictions.
Inkscape a vector graphics illustrator in the same vein as Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator. Open source, plenty of tutorials to get anyone started, powerful tools, and completely free.
GIMP is like Photoshop although I’m told it’s not as powerful (I assume this is true, as I really only use Photoshop to resize photos or do fairly simple banners) and I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention Picassa another photo editor (from the Google.) GIMP and Picassa are both free.
OpenOffice is an open source software suite, with much (if not all) of the functionality of Microsoft Office, and it’s compatible (read and write) with the most common office software packages. If you’d rather not download another program try Google Docs. Both applications are free.
If you have plans on tweaking themes or designing websites from scratch SourceForge offers up Notepad++ (a source code editor with lots of cool features) and again, totally free.
Then you’re going to need an ftp program to upload and retrieve your files, Filezilla does that and a bit more. I probably don’t need to mention this, but it’s free.
I bet you need something to take screen captures to go with your website and online game reviews don’t you? MWSnap, and it is as free as it is awesome (which is both very free and extremely awesome.)
Finally, there’s Linux Puppy. It’s an operating system that you can (and should) install on removable media (like a CD or USB flash drive) especially if you have children or an older machine. Just change your boot order to boot from the USB and use Puppy as the operating system in case of crash, or your child can use Puppy without ever affecting your hard drive (meaning if he downloads oodles and gobbles of games or applications and files, they stay on the USB and don’t touch your hard drive.)