http://www.kaleo.org/freeware-for-the-win-1.2263727
It's roughly 4 in the morning and I'm writing this. I should be sleeping by now, but the caffeine kicked in after I took a shower. So I'm rather awake. Also, Davin made me play Left4Dead 2, so I didn't get much studying for finals done, or any work done at all. I was also supposed to see Iron Man 2 last night, but the line was retardedly long. Don't people have anything better to do on Friday nights instead of standing in line for a movie? I'm willing to bet half of them didn't even watch the first Iron Man. Similar situation to Transformers 2. Anyways, I haven't updated often because I had finals week on my mind, and I'm only updating now because the Kaleo needed articles, apparently. I decided to give up on the "Articles of the week" feature of my blog considering that you can find almost the same stuff in my shared Google Reader feed. Anyways, here comes the pots!
For most of us, our cost of college includes tuition, room and board, and our laptops (or for the truly hardcore, desktops), and software. We can cut down our costs using financial aid and scholarships, but one aspect in which we can minimize costs is in the computer area, notably the software we can use.
Instead of dishing out over a hundred bucks for an entire Microsoft Office suite, or for Adobe Photoshop CS5, why not take a look around the Internet for free alternatives? You can be surprised what you can find. At best, you find a free alternative that be even better than the free product. At worse, you find nothing and are forced to purchase the software for use. I will talk about what a student can do to minimize or mitigate cost of software.
Free Software
Microsoft Office - Do you really need all the bells and whistles that comes with Microsoft Word, Excel, or Powerpoint? Or do you simply need a word editor that'll allow you to type double spaced documents with a one inch margin at 12 point font (Or if you're feeling dashing, 12.5 point font). Then you really don't need Microsoft Office, but either Abiword or Open Office, and even Google Documents.
Abiword is purely just a word editor, small, lightweight, and although it doesn't save as a .doc by default, you can save as that format and be able to open up the document on another computer.
Open Office is another alternative that not only provides a word editor, but a Powerpoint copycat called "Presentation" and other Office Equivalents. It may be less powerful than Office, but it'll still get the job done.
Lastly, Google Documents is a web based editor. The beauty of this is all the documents are online, so you don't have to worry about your computer crashing and losing all your files. As for saving onto your computer, you can export as various formats such as .doc, Open Office, or even PDF.
The only problem these free software have is that it may have minimal support for some of Office's newer formats, such as .docx. However, they still work for getting the job done, and for most students, that's all that really matters.
When we want to edit our pictures, we want to have a certain level of power. Paint is underwhelming, except for the few people who are pro at it. And Photoshop is incredibly expensive for some students. Then there's Gimp, a free alternative that gives you enough power to edit your pictures without having to fork over an arm and a leg. Granted, it may not be as advanced as Photoshop CS5, but again, for the typical student it gets the job done.
These are only a few of many alternative software you can get for free. A site that you can use to find what you need is http://www.freenew.net/, which makes it incredibly easy to find what you need, download, and install.
If all else fails and you can't find an alternative to your software, then you can still try to mitigate costs. You're a student with a .edu account, right? Then you're eligible for student discounts from vendors such as HP Academy (At least 6% off all products), or at the Microsoft Website for student discounts (Windows 7 Professional for around $60). Take advantage of your status as a student, and cut costs where you can!
Lastly, you can always find coupons and deals online from websites such as deals2buy and slick deals.
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