Westwood Village Computers

Wanting to reduce the software overhead in your small business?  Tired of spending money hand over fist every year for licenses to companies that don’t understand your needs?  There are many great software packages out there to help you accomplish your needs, and best of all, you don’t need to be a computer geek to learn how to use them.
Hello!

1. Software Package:  OpenOffice.org
   Platform Availability:  Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Apple Mac
   Replaces:  Microsoft Office
   Paid Support Available:  Yes, if you buy StarOffice (commercially supported OpenOffice) from Sun for as little as $34.95 USD

   This package is by far the epitome of the free software revolution.  For the small business, it can do everything you could ever want and more.  Best of all, it doesn’t include all the complicated things that Microsoft Office offers that just get in your way.  It has PDF export capability built in, has ability to open Microsoft Office documents natively, has the ability to save in Microsoft Office format, is fully scriptable, has a lot of freely available templates available and is very easy to use.

2. Software Package:  Firefox
   Platform Availability:  Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Apple Mac
   Replaces:  Microsoft Internet Explorer
   Paid Support Available:  No, but there is a free forum and knowledge base

   Firefox is probably the most famous of all the free software available on the Internet.  It is now celebrating its fifth birthday this year.  It is based on the Mozilla codebase from the old Netscape browser, which in turn was based on Mosaic, from the NCSA.  It has a few edges over Internet Explorer:  extensions (also known as add-ons), themes, and the inability to run Active X controls without a plugin (this is actually a good security feature).  The add-ons extend the capabilities of Firefox so much, that it actually changes into your own, personal version of a browser.  Themes allow you to change the look of the browser, also known as ’skins’ in other applications.

3. Software Package:  Thunderbird
   Platform Availability:  Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Apple MacIntosh
   Replaces:  Eudora, Pegasus, Outlook Express, Outlook
   Paid Support Available:  No, but there is a free forum and knowledge baseLike its cousin, Firefox, Thunderbird also has add-ons and themes.  With the new Thunderbird 3, the search mechanism is leap years faster than the search mechanism of any mail client I’ve ever used.  It employs a very simple set up for any mail accounts, including Gmail.
4. Software Package: Inkscape
   Platform Availability: Windows, Mac OSX 10.5, Mac OSX 10.6
   Replaces: Corel Draw, WordPerfect Graphics, Harvard Graphics
   Paid Support Available: No, but there is a free forum, mailing lists, wiki, and Planet Inkscape

   An all around great program.  It’s good for laying out vector graphics.  It’s too light on the text support to be a true desktop publishing application, but they are making it better all the time.

5. Software Package: The GIMP
   Platform Availability: Windows
   Replaces: Corel PhotoPaint, Adobe Photoshop, ColorWorks, Paintshop Pro
   Paid Support Available: No, but there are free mailing lists, Internet Relay Chat, and a plenty of published books

   For many people, The GIMP is just as good as the leader of the market, Adobe Photoshop, and it can even use a lot of Adobe Photoshop plugins.  It is more simplified than Adobe Photoshop, and so for a lot of complex operations it’s easier to use than Adobe Photoshop.  Adobe Photoshop definitely has a slicker, more polished interface.  Adobe Photoshop will also make a nice big dent in your wallet.  If you’re not making your living at graphics, it’s definitely worthwhile looking at The GIMP.  If you’re making your living at graphics, it’s still worth looking at.  Don’t dismiss it just because it’s free.  You’d be doing yourself a great dis-service.