The World of Freeware - Another Slap to Microsoft

While programs such as Internet Explorer are free, I thought it would be worthwhile to mention some other free programs you can use instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer and other bundled Internet applications.  The most popular alternative to Internet Explorer is Firefox. This is a rapidly growing browser.  It is highly customizable with themes and extensions.  Until Internet Explorer 7, it was a lot better for avoiding spyware and sported tab browsing; IE7 offers better support for these now. 

I personally use Firefox and don't think there is anything worth keeping IE7 for.  As for Outlook Express and the new Mail program, Mozilla also offers the Thunderbird email client as well as Sunfire, a calendar program.

When it comes to media players, there are oodles of them in the market. Microsoft operating systems come packaged with Windows Media Player (expect a few special versions).  While you may want to use this, there are other free alternatives.  Many people use iTunes or winamp for audio.  Both are free and support iPods.  Another good alternative is VLC.  It supports a huge assortment of audio as well as video formats.

Next: Other Sources of Free or Cheap Software >>
 

More Software Articles
More By jkabaseball