Free Software for Windows

There is a long list of free (as in speech) software programs that run on Windows. You can use this software for free, without ever having to change the underlying Operating System that you love/hate/need to do your work. Aside from the fact that free software for Windows makes it easier to evaluate the merits of free software in general (because you do not have to switch to a completely free operating system), it also reveals the intrinsic merits of free software: namely that features are built-in instead of priced in, quality is higher, and there are low barriers to keeping the software up-to-date.

Free Software You Should Try Now

• Mozilla The Mozilla Foundation offers a full suite of Internet software, including Firefox (browser), Thunderbird (email), Sunbird (calendar) and more.
• LibreOffice is full suite of Office Productivity software from word processing to spreadsheets. There are components for presentations, and drawing. The latest version even offers a database application.
• Gimp is a robust graphics editing package.
• ClamWin is free anti-virus software based on the same robust anti-virus software (ClamAV) that probably is run at your ISP or place of work to clean your email of viruses. If you are using Windows, you need anti-virus.
• Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s).

Redirecting the mouse and keyboard is as simple as moving the mouse off the edge of your screen. Synergy also merges the clipboards of all the systems into one, allowing cut-and-paste between systems. Furthermore, it synchronizes screen savers so they all start and stop together and, if screen locking is enabled, only one screen requires a password to unlock them all. Learn more about how it works.

• UltraVNC UltraVNC is an easy to use, fast and free sotware that can display the screen of another computer (via internet or network) on your own screen. The program allows you to use your mouse and keyboard to control the other PC remotely. It means that you can work on a remote computer, as if you were sitting in front of it, right from your current location.

If you provide computer support, you can easy access your customer's computers from anywhere in the world and resolve helpdesk issues remotely! Your customers don't have to pre-install software or execute complex procedures to get remote helpdesk support. UltraVNC allows you to remotely control a computer over any TCP/IP connection.

Firefox

Firefox is the stand-alone web browser that is part of the mozilla.org project. Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer, has better pop-up blocking offers more convenience when browsing (like tabbed browsing and multiple integrated search engines), offers faster page display, and is better at displaying all websites the way they are supposed to display. If you still use Internet Explorer from Microsoft to browse the Internet you have no idea what you're missing. In fact, you are probably the victim of the malware, spyware, and viruses that Internet Explorer helps to put on your computer. Download Firefox now, and you'll never have to click on the blue 'e' again.

The Open CD

One of the best places to get a bunch of great free software is the OpenCD project. You can download a free CD from them that is jam packed with all kinds of free (as in speech) software for free (as in no charge).

There is a staggering number of OSS projects out there. A typical source (Freshmeat) lists over 30.000 projects. There are also a vast number of Shareware and Freeware programs available that you can freely download from the net. However these do not qualify as OSS, because you do not have the right to modify the underlying source code. Usually you are not even able to inspect the source code, and often restrictions are placed your use of the program, such as non-commercial use only.

Enter TheOpenCD project. We have made a small collection of only the highest quality OSS for Windows, easily available on a CD. When you insert the disc into your computer it automatically launches a browser which will guide you through the contents of the disc, presenting the various programs, and allow you to easily install them. The programs are carefully selected to ensure stability, ease of use and a clean install and un-install from your computer. This CD is intended as a first introduction to the world of OSS, but it is our hope that you will later go on to explore other projects, and at some stage you may even want to try a whole new operating system such as Linux. In the Further Resource section of this disc we provide a list of other major OSS projects with links to their web pages. There is also a selection of essays about Open Source which should give you some more insight into the history and philosophy of OSS.