The time to go back to school is fast approaching and as all parents of school age children are aware, it can be frightfully expensive. With books to buy, new laptops, it seems that there is no end to the expense for the college age student. The freshmen will find they are required to create quite a few term papers, occasionally prepare PowerPoint presentations. The most well known applications that perform these functions are quite expensive. Fortunately, there are a few ways to ease the burden somewhat.
If your student is enrolled in the classes with heavy usage of a computer, be it laptop or desktop, there is quite a bit of software that is available at little to no cost. I have done some research into this area and would like to share my findings with you.
Free Office Type Software
The Microsoft Office Home and Student version has a retail price of $149. The full version of Office is much, much more. There is an even better option than the $149 Home and Student version. The Open Office Productivity Suite software package is free and can be downloaded to your computer. It was designed to completely replicate MS Office and does a great job of it.
The Microsoft Office Home and Student version has a retail price of $149. The full version of Office is much, much more. There is an even better option than the $149 Home and Student version. The Open Office Productivity Suite software package is free and can be downloaded to your computer. It was designed to completely replicate MS Office and does a great job of it.
Another option would be to utilize Google Documents. This is an on-line application that will allow you to create and access documents from anywhere you have online access. Zoho Writer is another free option that will perform the word processing function.
For those involved in graphics, Adobe Photoshop is the state of the art software to use here. It comes at the steep price of $650. Adobe Photoshop Elements is a stripped down version that can be found for around $100. However, the freebie Paint.net cannot be beat for image editing, but it is Windows only. Mac users can get in on the free software using GIMP. While the name may not be politically correct, it will perform all of the functions of Photoshop. Linux and Windows users can also utilize GIMP.
Free Graphics Software
There is no cheap software of much use available for those involved in graphic design. Adobe is the absolute best and again, it is in the $600 range. Don't despair, once again there is free software that will fill the gap and won't break the budget. Inscape, Raven and KompoZer will all perform in the graphics area and at no cost to you.
There is no cheap software of much use available for those involved in graphic design. Adobe is the absolute best and again, it is in the $600 range. Don't despair, once again there is free software that will fill the gap and won't break the budget. Inscape, Raven and KompoZer will all perform in the graphics area and at no cost to you.
Free Antivirus and Spyware Protection Software
Even the protection software that protects you against virus attacks, Spyware can be found at no cost. I use Spybot Search and Destroy to protect against spyware attacks. Antivirus software that is free is AVG, avast!, Malwarebytes Antimalware are available free.
Even the protection software that protects you against virus attacks, Spyware can be found at no cost. I use Spybot Search and Destroy to protect against spyware attacks. Antivirus software that is free is AVG, avast!, Malwarebytes Antimalware are available free.
To find a download link to any of the free packages mentioned above, use your BFF (Best Friend Forever) Google to search for the link. Happy Hunting and take advantage of the savings coming from these free computer software packages. They are safe and available.
My name is Rick Blackmon and a retired computer engineer. I have researched the internet to get material about the Free computer software mentioned in this article. I reviewed several articles in the Houston Chronicle for more information. The article was written in its entirety by me. Please contact me if you have any questions, using the contact information on my websites in the links above.
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