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Great software that you don’t have to pay for.

So what’s the difference between Open Source and Free?

Wikipedia describes Open Source software as “Open source software (OSS) projects are built and maintained by network of volunteer programmers. Prime examples of open source products are the Apache HTTP Server, the internet address system Internet Protocol, and the internet browser Mozilla Firefox. Yet, one of the most successful programs is the Linux operating system, an open source Unix-like operating system.”

Free software is often created and maintained by commercial software developers who release a free version in order to let you try their application before buying a more feature-laden version. Often, the free version serves the user’s needs quite well.

The web hosting offered by OrangeCat.net uses several Open Source applications including the FreeBSD operating system (also the underpinning of Apple’s Mac OSX) and the Apache web server software.

Here are a few of our favorite Open Source applications for the Windows O/S - most of which we use on a regular basis. We’ll list some our favorite free applications for Windows and Macs in later posts. We’ll have our Open Source list for Macs later this week. In the near future, we’ll go in these great apps a little more in-depth, one at a time.

In the meantime, download the ones that interest you and start using them. If you have any reservations about learning about how they work, visit HowDoIDoThatVideos.com and see if there is video for the software. If there isn’t now, there very likely will be in the near future.

Web Browsers

If you’re not using Firefox, the Open Source web browser from Mozilla.org, you are missing out on some of the best the web has to offer. Faster and more standards compliant than Internet Explorer, extensible with add-ons that allow you to surf the net safer and easier, themes that allow your Firefox to look like you want it, and much more. Use more than one computer. There is a Firefox plugin that keeps your Bookmarks in sync on two or more computers, even if you have a mix of PCs, Macs and Linux boxes. Get Firefox here.

Email

Thunderbird from Mozilla.org is an extensible Open Source desktop email client that is at home on PCs, Macs and Linux alike. Just like web browser Firefox, Thunderbird has a ton of plugins and themes so you can get it to look like you want and do what you want. Pick up and send mail from multiple email accounts, set up signatures for each of your mailboxes, and much more. Like all Open Source software, Thunderbird is free for you to download and use. Get Thunderbird here.

Calendar

One more Mozilla product before we move on. If you have a need for a desktop calendar program (and who doesn’t?), you might want to give Mozilla Sunbird a try. Set appointments and alarms, get help remembering birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates. Schedule your days and weeks. Set reminders about dates far in the future. Then publish the calendars you choose to the web in standard iCal format. There’s even a 3rd party PHP application that can handle that for you. Get Sunbird here.

Office Applications

OpenOffice can do anything that Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access can do. But it can do more. And it’s much easier on our wallet. In their own words, “OpenOffice.org 2 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.” Get OpenOffice here.

AbiWord 2.6.3 is an award winning, small, fast, full-featured and cross-platform word processor. Get your copy today to experience the state of the art in word processing. Light weight, easy to use and it can read and write MS Word and Open Doc files. Get AbiWord here.

Image Processing

Ever had a need for PhotoShop but couldn’t justify the expense of buying it. If so, you owe it to ourself to take a good look at theGIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP can do most of the things that PhotoShop can do and it’s Open Source so anyone can download and use it. There are hundreds of plugins and extensions developed by theGIMP Community. TheGIMP can read and write PhotoShop PSD files as well handle images in it’s native XCF format. Get theGIMP here.

Audio Processing

Record, edit and output audio files in all of the popular formats including MP3, WAV, AIFF and Ogg Vorbis. Convert your records and tapes into digital recording and put them on CDs. Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds. Audacity is cross-platform and top-quality. Get Audacity here.

HTML and Text Editing

KompoZer is a complete web authoring system that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG web page editing. KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding. KompoZer has built-in FTP and site management capability. Get KompoZer here.

Notepad++ is a free (free as in “free speech”, but also as in “free beer”) source code editor and Notepad replacement, which supports several programming languages, running under the MS Windows environment. It features syntax color-coding and some nice HTML features. Get Notepad++ here.

Last updated (v3.70) in 2004, Crimson Editor is an oldie but goodie. HTML and PHP syntax coloring, simple interface, light-weight text editing program, it is no longer in development, but is available for download. If your are comfortable hand-coding, Crimson Editor may be all you’ll ever need. Get Crimson Editor here.

FTP Client

Open Source and cross-platform, we use this program all the time. It is fast and has a logical side-by-side interface. FileZilla supports FTP, FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS) and SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). It supports resume and transfer of large files. Site Manager, drag-and-drop and remote file editing are just a few more of it’s features. Get FileZilla here.

RSS Client

Applications that collect data from RSS-compliant sites are called RSS readers or “aggregators.” RSSOwl is such an application. RSSOwl lets you gather, organize, update, and store information from any compliant source in a convenient, easy to use interface, save selected information in various formats for offline viewing and sharing, and much more. It’s easy to configure, available in many many languages and the best of all: It’s platform-independent. Get RRS Owl here.

File Utility

Fantastic archiving utility to extract and pack archives of an extensive amount of formats. PeaZip also features password protecting archives, keyfile support, system integration, a lovely interface, and much more.Get PeaZip here.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of Open Source software for the Windows platform. These are programs I’ve used and feel comfortable recommending. We’ll be reviewing more software as time allows. A more complete list of Windows Open Source software is available at: OpenSourceWindows.org