Green Star Computers Recommends:
The following software recommendations are all excellent in that they stand up well to commercial software in terms of quality & performance. The software listed below does not contain spyware or viruses. All are free as in free beer, most are also free as in free speech.
Free speech as it applies to software means you can do what you like with your software, after all it's yours. Microsoft doesn't want you to think about this, but they disagree with the idea that you should be able to do with your software what you please. See your Windows EULA (End User License Agreement) for proof. It's common knowledge that you are not free to do with your Windows as you please. Don't believe me? Try installing your Windows on more than one machine. Or reinstall Windows after you make a significant repair or upgrade to your computer. You'll soon see what I mean after having to enter your 42 digit License key and "activate" your Windows after installation (this is akin to not being allowed to use the product you purchased until you prove you didn't steal it each time you wish to use it) and so on.
Every computer running MS Windows needs to have Virus Protection. It's not a bad idea to install anti-virus software on computers running Mac OS either. AVG is excellent, it can be configured to update itself automatically at a time that is convenient to you. I use AVG on my Windows PC's.
AVG Antivirus
A robust audio editor & recorder that is easy to use and fun to play with. Audacity is full featured enough to do professional quality audio editing, yet simple enough to use that it can easily be used by children with little instruction. Load this up, grab your kids & a microphone and let the fun begin. Audacity can record audio in mono, stereo or even multi-channel surround, mix multiple tracks, and much more. Audacity is open source software.
Audacity
Try this for some burning inspiration. : ) Burns CD's & DVD's, create or burn ISO images, data CD's & DVD's, DVD Video, Audio CD, Audio CD ripping, & an ID3 tag editor.
CD Burner XP
The Mozilla Foundation's follow-up to the Firefox browser, Thunderbird is a solid, easy to use email client. Set up your email accounts in Thunderbird, and let it check you email for you. Great for those with multiple email accounts. A far better choice than Outlook Express. Green Star uses Thunderbird on our computers.
Mozilla Thunderbird
The GIMP is an Open Source image editor. This program rivals Paint Shop Pro & Photoshop with it's features, options and extensibility. The GIMP can handle all of your image editing needs, from digital photo touch-up to creating your own graphics from scratch.
The GIMP
Linux Install and Live CD
Distros
(These downloads are for those who have broadband connections. Even the smaller Linux distros weigh in at 40-80 megabytes, up to 700 megabytes for the more robust live CD's.)
You'll be amazed at what your computer can do withoutMS Windows. Boot up your computer with the Live CD of your choice in your CD-ROM drive and you're in business. The Live CD's run completely from CD, and do not touch the data on your hard drive. When you're done with the Live CD, reboot the computer. Remove the Live CD from the drive when prompted and your computer will start up as usual. There are many different distros (distributions or "varieties") of Linux both on Live CD, and standard CD-ROM for installation to your hard disk. Each distro has a different purpose, see the live CD list at frozentech.com or the full list of live & install CDs at distrowatch.com .
Use a Linux Live CD to familiarize yourself or your kids with Linux and stop making Bill Gates richer. Or use it to get online when your computer is refusing to work properly. Yes, these Live CD's will get your computer up, running & on the internet in minutes rather than having to spend hours installing & setting up as you would have to do with Windows. Use a Live CD to turn your old PC into a router, firewall, or digital photo editing station. Or turn an old dusty laptop into a digital picture frame. Green Star can show you how or we can do it for you.
Linux Live & Install CD's
Full list of Linux live CD's available at frozentech.com
Full list of Linux install & Live CD's available at distrowatch.com
Our recommended Linux distros (in no particular order):
Slax Linux - Slax is a modern, portable, small and fast Linux operating system with a modular approach and outstanding design. Despite its small size, Slax provides a wide collection of pre-installed software for daily use, including a well organized graphical user interface and useful recovery tools for system administrators. In just a few steps, you can customize your own version right from the web page.
Knoppix - This is where Live CD's began, available in several variations. This is the foundation for many of the Live CD Distros. KDE desktop.
Puppy Linux - A lightweight distro with slightly higher system requirements than Damn Small Linux, but is much more full-featured out of the box.
PCLinuxOS - An up-&-coming distro that has been getting noticed, and for good reason. The PCLinuxOS community is small, but growing and the developers are very responsive to user requests. It is a full featured desktop distribution. PCLinuxOS is also fast & very stable. KDE desktop.
PCLinuxOS Gnome Edition - Community remaster featuring the Gnome desktop.
Business Edition Linux (BEL) - Community remaster of PCLinuxOS designed for small offices. They have a desktop & server edition. Open source designed for small business!Damn Small Linux - Lightweight distro designed to run on a 486 or better, which is to say, any computer made within the last 10 years, and probably just about any working PC. This can breathe new life into the old computer you have stuffed in your closet. Fluxbox desktop. DSL can even be run from within Windows.
Ubuntu - A full-featured distro with an online community full of experts who can help with any issues you may encounter. Gnome desktop. Also available as Kubuntu with KDE desktop.
Linux Mint - Originally launched as a variant of Ubuntu with integrated media codecs, it has now developed into one of the most user-friendly distributions on the market - complete with a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, a web-based package installation interface, and a number of different editions. Perhaps most importantly, much like PCLinuxOS, developers and users are in constant interaction, resulting in dramatic, user-driven improvements with every new release. We use this distro on a daily basis, on our daily-use production machines and print/file servers and can highly recommend Linux Mint.
NimbleX - A lightweight distro based on Slax. Can be installed to hard disk or USB flash drive. In just a few steps, you can build your own customized version right from the web page. KDE desktop.
Drop the expensive MS Office habit. With MS Office costing roughly $300 for the new version every 2-3 years, that habit can get incredibly pricey for multiple computers, especially if looked at over the course of several version upgrades. Try Open Office, it will probably serve you or your organization just as well without breaking the bank. It includes: Writer - a word processor, Calc - create spreadsheets, Impress - multimedia presentations, Draw - create illustrations, and manage your databases with Database User Tools. Open Office can open & save to Microsoft formats as well as to Open Document formats so that you can keep your data free (as in free speech). Documents can be also be exported as Portable Document Format (.pdf) files compatible with Adobe Reader, and images can be exported as Flash graphics files (.swf).
Open Office
A personal firewall is essentially security software designed to monitor all incoming & outgoing traffic on your computer. Personal firewalls can only protect PC's which already have such software installed, whereas a hardware firewall protects all PC's behind it on the network and is far more flexible and expandable. If you have a broadband internet connection (Cable or DSL), you should as a minimum, have a personal firewall installed on each computer that is not behind a hardware firewall (usually a router). For that matter, using a personal firewall as well as a hardware firewall is even better. Layering on the protection is the way to go. If you don't have a hardware firewall on your broadband connection, I advise you to get one. Note: wireless devices are convenient, but they have speed/bandwidth limitations & the security is much weaker than a wired connection. We prefer wired networks for this reason, and recommend that you use wired networks as much as possible. Call us if you'd like Green Star to install your router for you. See below for our recommendation for personal firewall software.
Hardware Firewalls
A hardware firewall is much more robust and far more secure than a Personal (software) firewall. If you have an old PC laying around collecting dust, Green Star can most likely (hardware dependent) convert it to a rock-solid hardware firewall with industrial strength security for minimal cash outlay. This method gives the highest level of protection. In fact, the old PC doesn't need a sound card, video card, or modem. After installation of the firewall software it won't even need a monitor, keyboard or mouse. The firewall can be configured remotely via a web browser. Just a working CD-ROM drive & 2 ethernet ports. Adding an ethernet card is inexpensive.
Zone Alarm
Spyware has become the scourge of the web surfer. Scan your Windows PC with these tools if it starts acting strangely in relation to the internet. Preventative maintenance won't hurt either. Use these two programs together, as they each have strengths and weaknesses, and are better at catching certain things, so that together they form an effective spyware dragnet.
and...
Internet Explorer is full of security holes, slow, and less than user-friendly. Try tabbed browsing with one of these browsers and rediscover the internet. Firefox extensions can make your browsing experience far more pleasant by blocking ads, popups, and other nuisances, as well as adding functionality to the browser. I use Firefox on my Windows & Linux boxes.
Mozilla Firefox
or..
Mozilla Suite