Ultimate Predator Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Anti-Spyware: SpywareBlaster, Spybot - Search and Destroy, Windows Defender Anti-Virus: Avast Home Edition Browser: Firefox CD/DVD Burning: AVStoDVD, InfraRecorder Disk Management: NCleaner, Disk Defragmenter (Included in Windows) File-Sharing: Frostwire, BitTorrent Firewall: Comodo Free Firewall FTP: FileZilla Graphics: Paint.NET Instant Messenger: Windows Live Messenger with A-Patch Media Player/Codecs: Windows Media Player 11 (audio and streaming videos), VLC Media Player (downloaded videos) Office: Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise or OpenOffice PC Visuals: XPize or Vize Technical Tools: Dial-a-fix, HijackThis,Unlocker Utilities: 7Zip, Dizzy, Foxit Reader Web Program: Notepad ++ Only Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise costs money from the list above though you can use OpenOffice as an alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Tarun Posted July 30, 2007 Administrator Share Posted July 30, 2007 I'd get rid of all the codec packs. K-Lite has QTLite and QT Alternative, which are illegal. They had to remove QT Alternative from their pack. Vista Codec Pack is very good though. FTP: Filezilla IM: Trillian, Miranda or Pidgin. Office: OpenOffice Utilities: Foxit PDF Reader File compression: IZarc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldmannen Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 It is a noble goal (I think) to convert all your software into open source software. However, freeware is not open source. Freeware is a loosely applied term for software that don't cost any money. Most freeware are proprietary software with the source code closed. Open source refers to software which the source code is available to the public. Read how the Open Source Definition at the Open Source Initiative's (OSI) website to understand open source. You talk about wanting to turn away from "paid-for software", but there are actually some open source software which does cost money. Open source is not about price, its about the availability of the source code, so it should not be confused with freeware which is software which is gratis to use. Also, not that "free software" is not the same as freeware. "Free software" is a term, that mostly refers to the free software definition by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). Free software and open source is practically mostly the same, but free software has a stronger focus on end-user freedom. Recommended reading is; * http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html * http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd * http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ FOSS (free open source software) alternatives to proprietary/non-free software. CD/DVD: InfraRecorder. Codecs: Actually, with VLC media player and Media Player Classic (MPC), I play anything, I've thrown at it so far, I think without need install any additional codecs. File sharing: DC++, eMule, Shareaza. FTP: FileZilla. Graphics: Paint.NET, GIMP (GIMP 2.4 is expected to come soon). Instant Messenger: Miranda IM, Pidgin, aMSN. Media Player: VLC media player, Media Player Classic (MPC) Office: OpenOffice.org. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 Cheers for the lists. Tarun - what should I use instead of it? Still, I can't help that some suggestions aren't as good as what I good, but I'm still looking into it (like Office). Also, will VLC and MPC play streaming videos (like QT) online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenknight Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 I use K-Lite Codec Pack Standard, it doesn't include QTLite or QT Alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Tarun Posted July 31, 2007 Administrator Share Posted July 31, 2007 Cheers for the lists. Tarun - what should I use instead of it? Still, I can't help that some suggestions aren't as good as what I good, but I'm still looking into it (like Office). Also, will VLC and MPC play streaming videos (like QT) online? Hm, could have sworn I commented on another codec pack. The Vista Codec Pack. VLC has plugins you can install for Firefox and IE also, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 VLC doesn't work for FF, I've tried before. Vista Codec Pack works on XP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Tarun Posted July 31, 2007 Administrator Share Posted July 31, 2007 VLC doesn't work for FF, I've tried before. Ah, but it does. I remember using it now from using it with Fx before. You can also check the Features - Miscellaneous where it says it supports both Mozilla/Firefox plugin and ActiveX plugin in IE. Vista Codec Pack works on XP? Sure does. I'm using it and have it installed now to try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 1, 2007 Author Share Posted August 1, 2007 Oh, cool. Well thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 23, 2007 Author Share Posted August 23, 2007 It is a noble goal (I think) to convert all your software into open source software. However, freeware is not open source. Freeware is a loosely applied term for software that don't cost any money. Most freeware are proprietary software with the source code closed. Open source refers to software which the source code is available to the public. Read how the Open Source Definition at the Open Source Initiative's (OSI) website to understand open source. You talk about wanting to turn away from "paid-for software", but there are actually some open source software which does cost money. Open source is not about price, its about the availability of the source code, so it should not be confused with freeware which is software which is gratis to use. Also, not that "free software" is not the same as freeware. "Free software" is a term, that mostly refers to the free software definition by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). Free software and open source is practically mostly the same, but free software has a stronger focus on end-user freedom. Recommended reading is; * http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html * http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd * http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ FOSS (free open source software) alternatives to proprietary/non-free software. CD/DVD: InfraRecorder. Codecs: Actually, with VLC media player and Media Player Classic (MPC), I play anything, I've thrown at it so far, I think without need install any additional codecs. File sharing: DC++, eMule, Shareaza. FTP: FileZilla. Graphics: Paint.NET, GIMP (GIMP 2.4 is expected to come soon). Instant Messenger: Miranda IM, Pidgin, aMSN. Media Player: VLC media player, Media Player Classic (MPC) Office: OpenOffice.org. I've been reading p on all of this. very, very interesting. It has made try and convert to Linux. Tarun, why should I use Foxit, it isn't open-source. Also, VLC won't let me play Quicktime online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Tarun Posted August 23, 2007 Administrator Share Posted August 23, 2007 Foxit PDF Reader is freeware, which goes with the topic plus it's lightweight, portable and fast. :hello: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 23, 2007 Author Share Posted August 23, 2007 Anti-Spyware: Ad-Aware SE Personal, SpywareBlaster, Spybot - Search and Destroy Anti-Virus/Firewall: Outpost Security Suite Pro Browser: Firefox CD/DVD Burning: ConvertXtoDVD, Daemon Tools, Magic DVD Ripper/Copier, Nero Burning ROM Codecs: Vista Codec Pakage Disk Management: NCleaner, Disk Cleanup (Included in Windows), Disk Defragmenter (Included in Windows) File-Sharing: Frostwire, uTorrent FTP: FileZilla Graphics: Paint.NET Instant Messenger: Windows Live Messenger with A-Patch Media Player: Windows Media Player 11 (audio and streaming videos), VLC Media Player (downloaded videos) Office: Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise PC Visuals: XPize Technical Tools: Avira UnErase Personal, Dial-a-fix, HijackThis, UPHClean Unlocker Utilities: Dizzy, Foxit Reader, IZarc, Tweak UI Web Program: Notepad ++ Only the following cost money from the list above; Outpost Security Suite Pro, ConvertXtoDVD, Magic DVD Ripper/Copier and Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise. New list. I could do with alternatives to: Everest Ultimate Ediiton TuneUp Utilities I tried Pidgin, I still prefer MSN with A-Patch, as it also supports Yahoo contacts in the same application, wihtout having to make YIM profile. I'm going to use Outpost till it expires, then back to free versions (what are the current best freeware versions for firewall and antivirus)? I can't find any decent free versions for CD/DVD copying. And as much as I want to, MS 2007 is still far better than OpenOffice. Too much so for me to drop it, especially with uni coming up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And, basically, I would like my software to be free, as properly in the sense of free to own and open-source, but I know for all software thats hard, so if not that, at least freeware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldmannen Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 For PDF there is Sumatra PDF. Very quick and light-weight. For MSN there is aMSN or Miranda IM. For CD/DVD there is InfraRecorder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 24, 2007 Author Share Posted August 24, 2007 I've already got Foxit, is the other much better? Problem with your suggestions is that neither allow YIM contacts to be run through the MSN protocol, as I have many YIM contacts in some of MSN account. I did try creating a new YIM account, but when I went to add contacts, it came up wiht an error (in Pidgin). I'll have a look at InfraRcorder, though I've got a feeling I've used it before. I've got a minor problem with my PC, my DVD drive isn't being picked up by all programs when I slip a blank DVD/CD in, and so far only Nero Burning ROM Portable Edition, and the others I've listed accept it. I still can't find decent free DVD rippers. File sharing: DC++, eMule, Shareaza. Frostwire is free, and though uTorrent isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldmannen Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 I've already got Foxit, is the other much better? Problem with your suggestions is that neither allow YIM contacts to be run through the MSN protocol, as I have many YIM contacts in some of MSN account. I did try creating a new YIM account, but when I went to add contacts, it came up wiht an error (in Pidgin). I'll have a look at InfraRcorder, though I've got a feeling I've used it before. I've got a minor problem with my PC, my DVD drive isn't being picked up by all programs when I slip a blank DVD/CD in, and so far only Nero Burning ROM Portable Edition, and the others I've listed accept it. I still can't find decent free DVD rippers. File sharing: DC++, eMule, Shareaza. Frostwire is free, and though uTorrent isn't. I never tried Foxit PDF, so I don't know. But I am satisfied with Sumatra PDF, its very quick, fast and lightweight. It has the advantage (imho), of being open source, which Foxit is not. I used InfraRecorder with a Samsung SH-183 DVD burner to burn the Ubuntu 7.04 "Feisty Fawn" ISO. Also used on a laptop to burn another ISO. I never used any DVD rippers, as I never felt I had the need to. An open source alternative to uTorrent is ABC and the official BitTorrent client. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 24, 2007 Author Share Posted August 24, 2007 Well, I've had a few problems with my DVD recorder, its fairly old... I'll look into the torrent clients. And I tried Miranda, still prefer MSN for the reason given above. EDIT: Tried ABC, I prefer uTorrent, particularly because its so small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 26, 2007 Author Share Posted August 26, 2007 Anti-Spyware: Ad-Aware SE Personal, SpywareBlaster, Spybot - Search and Destroy Anti-Virus/Firewall: Outpost Security Suite Pro Browser: Firefox CD/DVD Burning: ConvertXtoDVD, Daemon Tools, Magic DVD Ripper/Copier, Nero Burning ROM Codecs: Vista Codec Pakage Disk Management: NCleaner, Disk Cleanup (Included in Windows), Disk Defragmenter (Included in Windows) File-Sharing: Frostwire, uTorrent FTP: FileZilla Graphics: Paint.NET Instant Messenger: Windows Live Messenger with A-Patch Media Player: Windows Media Player 11 (audio and streaming videos), VLC Media Player (downloaded videos) Office: Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise PC Visuals: XPize Technical Tools: Avira UnErase Personal, Dial-a-fix, HijackThis, UPHClean Unlocker Utilities: Dizzy, Foxit Reader, IZarc, Tweak UI Web Program: Notepad ++ Only the following cost money from the list above; Outpost Security Suite Pro, ConvertXtoDVD, Magic DVD Ripper/Copier and Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise. New list. I could do with alternatives to: Everest Ultimate Ediiton TuneUp Utilities I tried Pidgin, I still prefer MSN with A-Patch, as it also supports Yahoo contacts in the same application, wihtout having to make YIM profile. I'm going to use Outpost till it expires, then back to free versions (what are the current best freeware versions for firewall and antivirus)? I can't find any decent free versions for CD/DVD copying. And as much as I want to, MS 2007 is still far better than OpenOffice. Too much so for me to drop it, especially with uni coming up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And, basically, I would like my software to be free, as properly in the sense of free to own and open-source, but I know for all software thats hard, so if not that, at least freeware. So, thoughts anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenknight Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 Check this out: Top Freeware Picks http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20 Gives lots of alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 27, 2007 Author Share Posted August 27, 2007 Check this out: Top Freeware Picks http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20 Gives lots of alternatives. Hmm, not the greatest of lists, doesn't even show some of the stuff Tarun recommends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldmannen Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 Anti-Spyware: Ad-Aware SE Personal, SpywareBlaster, Spybot - Search and Destroy Anti-Virus/Firewall: Outpost Security Suite Pro Browser: Firefox CD/DVD Burning: ConvertXtoDVD, Daemon Tools, Magic DVD Ripper/Copier, Nero Burning ROM Codecs: Vista Codec Pakage Disk Management: NCleaner, Disk Cleanup (Included in Windows), Disk Defragmenter (Included in Windows) File-Sharing: Frostwire, uTorrent FTP: FileZilla Graphics: Paint.NET Instant Messenger: Windows Live Messenger with A-Patch Media Player: Windows Media Player 11 (audio and streaming videos), VLC Media Player (downloaded videos) Office: Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise PC Visuals: XPize Technical Tools: Avira UnErase Personal, Dial-a-fix, HijackThis, UPHClean Unlocker Utilities: Dizzy, Foxit Reader, IZarc, Tweak UI Web Program: Notepad ++ Only the following cost money from the list above; Outpost Security Suite Pro, ConvertXtoDVD, Magic DVD Ripper/Copier and Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise. New list. I could do with alternatives to: Everest Ultimate Ediiton TuneUp Utilities I tried Pidgin, I still prefer MSN with A-Patch, as it also supports Yahoo contacts in the same application, wihtout having to make YIM profile. I'm going to use Outpost till it expires, then back to free versions (what are the current best freeware versions for firewall and antivirus)? I can't find any decent free versions for CD/DVD copying. And as much as I want to, MS 2007 is still far better than OpenOffice. Too much so for me to drop it, especially with uni coming up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And, basically, I would like my software to be free, as properly in the sense of free to own and open-source, but I know for all software thats hard, so if not that, at least freeware. So, thoughts anyone? My thought are that, its a surprisingly small amount of free open source software on that list considering thats what you're aiming for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Tarun Posted August 27, 2007 Administrator Share Posted August 27, 2007 After reading about open-source more in-depth, I most definitely want to turn all my paid-for software to decent reeware. I'm also interested in open-source stuff, but in particular freeware. My thought are that, its a surprisingly small amount of free open source software on that list considering thats what you're aiming for. Seems to me that he has accomplished his goal and gotten a lot of freeware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 Indeed. I find real decent free software is few and far between, whilst there is plenty of decent freeware about. I tried. Thats the best I can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenknight Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Check this out: Top Freeware Picks http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20 Gives lots of alternatives. Hmm, not the greatest of lists, doesn't even show some of the stuff Tarun recommends. It's not an all-inclusive list by any means, it's MajorGeeks recommendations. I know Tarun has some different ones - I said these were alternatives. I don't agree with all of them myself, actually - Duplicate Cleaner, for instance; dangerous thing to mess around with, I wouldn't have included it. I thought you might find some of what you're still looking for there, like an alternative to Everest and a CD/DVD burner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldmannen Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Indeed. I find real decent free software is few and far between, whilst there is plenty of decent freeware about. I tried. Thats the best I can do. I think quite the opposite. I am very satisfied with 7-Zip, Apache, MySQL, PHP, FileZilla, Blender, HeidiSQL, VLC media player, Media Player Classic, musikCube, SumatraPDF, BitTorrent, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Miranda IM, Tor, PuTTY, ZSNES, OpenOffice.org, WinMerge, Perl, wget, Inkscape, Code::Blocks, NSIS, UPX, Dev-C++, Python, GCC, DC++, nmap, Stunnel, Hydrogen, InfraRecorder, xpy, Stellarium, Celestia, NASA World Wind, Ubuntu and all other free open source software that I use. And BZFlag, Doom Legacy, SuperTux, Secret Maryo Chronicles, Battle for Wesnoth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Predator Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 Just because you've made it clear to me that there is lots of free software, doesn't make it great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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