PC Magazine’s Best Free Software

Here you will find a listing of PC Magazine’s Best Free Software.

An excerpt from PC Magazine Online.

Hall of Fame

Adobe Reader
www.adobe.com
This simplest of Adobe’s PDF programs lets you do just about anything PDF-related (besides create new ones).

AIM
www.aim.com
One of the most widely used pieces of free software ever, AOL Instant Messenger offers a ton of capabilities.
 

Audacity
audacity.sourceforge.net
Whether you’re recording or editing, Audacity is all about audio in practically any format.

Firefox
www.mozilla.com
 

GIMP
www.gimp.org
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) does most of what Photoshop does.

iTunes

www.apple.com/itunes
When you’re attached to the top media player in the land (iPod), success is a given. iTunes continues to build sales and refine its organization of songs, video, games, podcasts, and more.

OpenOffice.org
www.openoffice.org
You can spend a lot for Microsoft Office or nothing for this suite with full-function word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentations, even an equations editor.

Skype
www.skype.com
You’ll pay to call regular phones, but if you sign up all your friends, Skype provides easy (and even international) calls and video-conferencing for nothing.

Thunderbird
www.mozilla.com/thunderbird
Mozilla’s no-cost e-mail alternative is extensible, fast, and easy to master. And a wealth of free add-ons means there’s not much this program won’t do, from calendars to encryption.

Ubuntu
www.ubuntu.com
 This Linux-based OS comes with many of these Hall of Fame products (Firefox, OpenOffice.org) preinstalled.

WinAmp
www.winamp.com
After a decade of playing music, the “skinnable” WinAmp has several versions, including one with full CD ripping and burning.

Practice Your Touch Typing Skills

In a earlier post I discussed a website called, Learn2Type. There  is another website that I would like to mention and that is Keybr.com.  It is a simple touch type practice tool that shows you how fast and error free your typing is through a series of exercises. Keybr.com is free to use and doesn’t require a sign-up. Here is a screenshot:

 

Online File Conversion

I discovered a gem of a website a few weeks ago after reading one of our organizations blogs. The website is http://www.zamzar.com . Basically it is a free online file conversion website. This is a very handy application to have because many times you may need a specific file, let’s say a Word doc file, to be a PDF file. If you go to this website you are able to convert the Word file to a PDF file in just minutes. Sometimes there is a little wait, but it is free so no complaining on my part. Here are some file formats that Zamzar converts:

• Document formats
• Image formats
• Music formats
• Video formats
• Compressed formats

There is a maximum upload of 100 mb which can be split between up to five different files.  The process of converting a file is simple:

1. Select the file to convert.
2. Choose the format to convert to.
3. Enter your email address.
4. Click on convert.

In a matter of minutes or sometimes longer you will receive an email message containing the link to your new file.

Free Web-Based Word Processing and More

Everyone knows about Google the search engine but not everyone is aware that Google offers FREE web-based word processing and much more. It is true! Google offers a web-based alternative to Microsoft Office or other office suites. When several people start sending documents back and forth to each other over the Internet, it is easy to lose track of what version of spreadsheet or word processor you are using. Google Docs and Spreadsheets keeps documents current and lets the people you chose update files from their own computers.

You can:

1. Create basic documents and spreadsheets from scratch.
2. Upload your existing files.
3. Choose who can access your documents and spreadsheets.
4. Share instantly.
5. Edit with others in real time.
6. Organize your documents.
7. Edit from anywhere.
8. Safely store your work.
9. Easily save and export copies.
10. Publish your work as a web page.
11. Control who can see your pages.
12. Post your documents to your blog.
13. Publish within your company or group.

 Check out this link:

google-docs-spreadsheets.pdf

 

Free Computer Classes

We offer several free computer classes to the  public at the Regional Library Computer Center. The Birmingham Public Library is seperated into two buildings in downtown Birmingham. We are located on the third floor of the Linn Henley Research Building next to Linn Park.

Here is our Class Schedule.