Free Software Downloads for the Cheap Techie

You go to your local store or search around online and see the perfect software for that little task you have been wanting to do on your computer. The only problem is, you have to shell out $20 or more just to do one little thing. Not anymore, with the GNU license you can get the great functionality and an even better price, free. Anything from photo editing software to animation software. Anything you want, can generally be found for free with a few clicks of the mouse.

So, where do I look?

There are many websites that claim to carry free software and many of them do, along with expensive copies of other software. Such sites as www.download.com offer many different options when it comes to free software, but also offer other programs that you have to pay for, but give you a free trial or limit your use without paying.

Another site to check out, www.sourceforge.net, offers a large array of free software that is created by common people just like you who want the same functionality to be available to them without having to pay the large price tag for it. These people offer their software to the internet community for use and review and only ask that if you have any suggestions for improvements or new features, to let them know, and if you would like to help fund their work, you can make a donation.

Along with those two well known sources, there are many other not-so-well-known sources. Files such as www.freewarefiles.com or www.freeserifsoftware.com offer great deals as well with massive databases of available free software many of which are updated daily.

For many others, simply go to your favorite search engine such as www.google.com or www.jux2.com and do a search for "Free Software Downloads."

So, what's the bottom line?

As I said before, all of these programs are available for download for free. The bottom line, donations are welcome and often greatly appreciated. Sometimes, a donation might even get you access to additional functions and features of the software.

What if I do not want to search through endless lists and just want the software?

If you want to avoid the searches and digging for that particular software you want, then search for a specific free software at your favorite search engine.

Any suggestions?

A few suggestions for those who just want some software now.

Image Editing
The GIMP - www.gimp.org

Anti-Virus
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition - free.grisoft.com

Spyware removal
Spybot Search & Destroy - www.safer-networking.org

Adware removal
Ad-Aware SE Personal - www.lavasoftusa.com

Office software
OpenOffice.org - www.openoffice.org

Web Editing Tools
Matrix Y2K Website Studio 2005 - www.crystalfibers.com

Web Browsing
Mozilla Firefox - www.firefox.com

Internet Relay Chat Client
Visual IRC - www.visualirc.net

Archive Management
7-zip - www.7-zip.org
ALZip - www.altools.net

Password Safe
KeePass Password Safe - www.keepass.info

Anything else?

If there are any other softwares that you would like to get, you can contact me at atg45@hotmail.com and I'll find what you are wanting and send you the link to find it.