![]() Vendors of commercial security apps are quick to point out the many other benefits their products provide, including backups and other system-maintenance tools. 19).Īs I mentioned above, I will soon replace the commercial security suite I've been using on the PCs in my home office with Microsoft's free alternative, Security Essentials. 15), and Norton Internet Security for a singe PC (No. 6), Norton Internet Security 1 user-3 PCs (No. Security programs take 6 of the top 20 spots on Amazon's software-sales list: Norton 360 (No. Only your accountant will know the difference. Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations created in that you save as Office files work without a hitch in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. ppt formats when creating files in or other Office alternatives. Using the default file formats can cause problems when you share files with people who don't use the suite, so it's safest to stick with the more-universal. The free DropBox service lets you access and share files easily from any Web-enabled device (the PC interface is shown). The files are accessible from any Internet-connected device, including iPads and smart phones, using an Explorer-like directory. It's easy to share whole folders or individual files by sending people links via e-mail. ![]() The service adds a DropBox folder to your PC that you access in Windows Explorer just like any other folder. There's no version of Cloud Connect for, but a rough equivalent is to use the free DropBox service, which lets you save up to 2GB of data online (pay versions support up to 100GB for $20 a month of $200 a year). Since the introduction of the free Google Cloud Connect add-on for Office earlier this year, I've come to depend on the ability to sync Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations with Google Docs automatically. ![]() Personally, I'm accustomed to the ribbon look and have no problem switching between the new and old interfaces. An advantage for many people is the programs' use of the old-style menus rather than the Office ribbons. and other alternative suites support the standard Office file formats, although not Office 2007/2010 XML file types (.docx. My favorites remain -despite its bulk-and the Jarte word processor, which is based on the WordPad app that's bundled in Windows. In September 2009, I described several free alternatives to the Office suite and to the individual apps bundled in Office. It's no surprise that Microsoft Office 2010 takes four of the top 20 spots on software-sales list: Office 2010 Home & Student is number 2, Office 2010 Home & Business is 12th, Office for Mac 2011 Home & Student Family Pack is 13th, and Office for Mac 2011 Home & Student 1 Pack comes in 17th. Here's a rundown of Amazon's top-selling programs and their free counterparts. Granted, my criteria are pretty broad: the freebie has to offer only the basic functionality of the fee-based product and an interface that won't stymie the average user.Įxcluding Mac OS X Snow Leopard (number 8 on the list) and two Windows 7 Home Premium upgrades (standard and three-user family pack at 10 and 11, respectively), only two titles on Amazon's top 20 have no free equivalent that I'm aware of: Honest Technology's VHS to DVD Deluxe, which tops the Amazon list, and Nuance Communications' Dragon Naturally Speaking, which comes in at number 18. What about all those commercial security suites and system utilities? I ran down Amazon's list of the 20 best-selling software titles to find those for which no viable free alternative is available. (People who work from home and/or for themselves have to buy their own software, but they can at least write off the cost of the programs they use in their work.) The programs we use for work, such as Microsoft Office and specialty apps like Adobe Photoshop or Intuit's Quicken/ QuickBooks accounting software, are likely provided by our employer. Do-it-yourselfers have Linux as a free-OS alternative. That got me thinking: Is there any software that the average PC user needs to pay for? Most of us bought our current operating system-usually Windows or Mac OS X-as part of the purchase of the computer itself. I realized several months ago that I simply no longer needed to spend money for the convenience of an all-in-one security app. I'll replace it with Microsoft's free Security Essentials, which I've been using on my notebook since I bought it two years ago. Later this month I'll be canceling my subscription to a leading security suite that runs on two of my home-office PCs.
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