The World of Freeware - Photoshop and Office Alternatives
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Another very expensive program you may consider buying is Adobe's Photoshop. There isn't any major competition for Photoshop. Finding a cheaper version isn't easy. Sure there are other programs out there, but they don't offer nearly as many tools as Photoshop. Adobe makes a stripped down version for called elements for ~$80, and the full-blown version will run you over $600. At this price tag you could buy a new computer. Could there really be a program that will save you $600? Yes.
While there isn't a great alternative, the program called "Gimp" does a surprisingly good job as an alternative to Photoshop. While it isn't as easy and doesn't have all the features, it does do many of the same things Photoshop can do. There are other programs out there that are really good, such as paint.net and Pixia. Gimp is the best I've ever come across. I would recommend starting with Gimp and then trying some of the others if it doesn't work for you.
A program that is almost as standard as Microsoft Windows is Microsoft's Office suite. At school we are taught how to create PowerPoint presentations, type in Word, and make spreadsheets in Excel. It becomes effortless for us to do these tasks in these programs. After we leave school, it hits us that this program isn't free. It's not even cheap! You're looking at another $500 for Office Professional 2007. What do we do now?
Don't sweat it, we have a free alternative. Take a look at OpenOffice.org. It offers many of the same programs and features as Office. While you'll not be as familiar with it as you are with Office, with a little time you can figure everything out. Don't worry about the boss sending you a PowerPoint file and not being able to open it up. All Office formats are compatible with openoffice.org. While it doesn't really offer a program like Outlook, there are other programs out there that will be just as good.
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