Technology Resources
Here is a list of free and/or open source software available for download on the Internet . Many of these software options are comparable to professional software developed by companies such as Microsoft and Adobe.
Image Editing
Picasa - http://picasa.google.com
Free photo album software provided by Google that allows simple photo editing and manipulation such as cropping, color adjustment, and redeye removal. Picasa also allows you to share your digital photos online.
The GIMP - http://www.gimp.org
The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an open source advanced graphics manipulation program comparable to Adobe Photoshop available for free under the GNU liscense. The Gimp is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and more.
Tux Paint - http://www.tuxpaint.org
Tux Paint is a free, basic image creation and manipulation software designed for kids ages 3 and up, and comparable to Microsoft Paint. Tux Paint is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and more.
Stock Images
stock.xchng - http://www.sxc.hu
Stock.xchng is an online repository of images and photos free of royalties, copyright, and charge. To ensure images are completly unrestricted use the "Advanced Search" tab and select "no" from the "Restricted OK" drop-down box.
Google Image Search - http://images.google.com
The famous seach engine will search the web for images related to the keywords entered. All results may not be available for free, please respect copyright.
Productivity
CutePDF Writer - http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
CutePDF Writer is a free virtual printer that will convert amost any document into a PDF file. Requires Ghostscript found below.
GPL Ghostscript - download page
A PostScript to PDF converter. Required for CutePDF. Please make sure to download the latest version.
Google Docs - http://docs.google.com
Google Docs is Google's web-based, collaborative productivity suite. Google Docs can create and import word processing documets, spreadsheets, and slide presentations. Google Docs can also be used to share documents with others allowing them to make changes as well. Google Docs is free for personal use and operating system independent.
NeoOffice - http://www.neooffice.org
NeoOffice is a port of OpenOffice.org designed specifically for Mac OS X.
OpenOffice.org - http://www.openoffice.org
OpenOffice.org is the free, open source alternative to Microsoft's Office productivity suite. The OpenOffice.org suite contains applications for word processing, spreadsheets, image editing, slide presentations, and databases. OpenOffice.org runs natively on many operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and more.
WriteBoard - http://www.writeboard.com
WriteBoard is a free online, collaborative text program. Writeboard allows you to create a "room" and share it with others so you can collaborate on a single text document. WriteBoard tracks changes and can roll back to a previous version. WriteBoard is web-based and operating system independent.
Zoho - http://www.zoho.com
Zoho is a collection of many different collaboration programs. Zoho contains software for everything from word processing to wikis to project management. Most of Zoho's software is free for personal use with limitations. Zoho is web-based and operating system independent.
Audio
Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net
Audacity is a free, open source audio recording and editing software. Audacity is mulitlingual and available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and more. In order to export to MP3 format, you must also download the LAME MP3 encoder.
LAME MP3 Encoder - http://lame.sourceforge.net
The LAME MP3 encoder is required for exporting MP3 files in Audacity. LAME is open source and free under the LGPL license.
Free Play Music - http://www.freeplaymusic.com
Free Play Music is an online repository of music free of royalties and cost. Free Play Music contains many different genres and styles with options for precut clips.
Web Publishing
Blogger - http://www.blogger.com
Blogger is free blogging software provided by Google. You can choose to host the Blogger software on your own server or let Google host your blog for you. Google lets you create, edit, and customize many blogs under just one account.
Google Sites - http://sites.google.com
Google Sites is a free, web-based WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web site/page creator. Creating web pages in Google Sites is easy as point-and-click and requires no knowledge of HTML. Google Sites also has collaboration elements that allow you to choose others who can edit your site.
Web Browsing
Google Chrome - http://www.google.com/chrome
Chrome is a free web browser developed by Google. Chrome is a fast and secure alternative to Internet Explorer. Google Chrome is only available to Windows users at the time of writing.
Mozilla Firefox - http://www.mozilla.com/firefox
Firefox is a free, open source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Firefox is quickly growing in popularity as an alternative to the web browser preinstalled on your operating system. Firefox is fast, secure, and has many user created add-ons to increase functionality. Firefox is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and more.
Mozilla Thunderbird - http://www.mozillamessaging.com/
Thunderbird is a free, open source email client comparable to Microsoft's Outlook. Thunderbird supports both IMAP and POP protocols, has user created add-ons to increase functionality, a built-in junk mail filter, and phishing proctection. Thuderbird is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and more.
Video Editing
iMovie - http://www.apple.com/imovie
iMovie is Apple's video editing software that comes free with OS X. iMovie is a user-friendly and easy to use software that is great for amateur video editing. iMovie has many features that make editing video clips, creating slide shows of your digital photos, and creating digital home movies a breeze.
Windows Movie Maker - Windows XP Download
Movie Maker is the free video editing software for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Movie Maker is another great amateur video editing software that lets you edit video clips and create your own digital home movies with many effects and transitions included. Movie Maker can be dowloaded for Windows XP Service Pack 2 and later, and comes with Windows Vista and Windows 9 out of the box.
Windows Media Encoder - Download Page
Windows Media Encoer is a high quality video capture program. WME supports features such as multi-channel audio, HD video capture, and mixed-mode voice and music content. WME is free for Windows XP and later.
