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Free alternatives to paid for software.


Virtually everyone needs to install an office suite in order to access documents, presentations, and spreadsheets sent to you by friends, classmates, colleagues, and others. If you’re looking for a paid product, the only way to go is Microsoft Office.

If you’re not so keen on spending approximately £100 on the latest Office Suite, the best alternative would be LibreOffice. Reasons for using it:
* Includes basic and mid-level features (the more advanced it gets, the more likely it’s not supported or compatible with Office).
* Familiar interface which looks more like Office 2003 (before the Ribbon was introduced).
* Compatibility is decent, even on the newer .docx, .pptx, .xlsx formats.

Other Alternatives include:




Thunderbird is an open source email client, formerly developed and distributed by the Mozilla open source community. However, development of new features for the product has been halted, and only stable versions of the software are released and updated at this time. The Thunderbird application is free to download and use. Versions of Thunderbird are available for Windows 7 and 8, as well as several Linux operating systems. The Thunderbird client is easy to configure. Like Outlook, the user simply enters his email address and password, then the client finds the email server data via auto-discovery. Likewise, the Thunderbird interface is easy to use. The left sidebar contains an entry for each configured accounts and subfolders for the accounts. By default, the preview window displays under the inbox list in the center panel. However, all panels can be custom sized, similarly to the feature in Outlook.

Though Thunderbird includes a user-friendly contacts list, the application does not include a calendar or task list functionality by default. However, you can install extensions that provide both calendar and task list support, in particular the popular Lightning calendar based on the open iCal standard. Additionally, you can customize the interface by installing theme extensions. Another unique feature of Thunderbird is a chat feature that enables you to converse with users on Facebook Chat, Google Talk, IRC, Twitter and XMPP right from the application.

Other Alternatives include:



Scribus is a desktop publishing (DTP) application. Scribus is designed for flexible layout and typesetting, and the ability to prepare files for professional quality image setting equipment. It can also create animated and interactive PDF presentations and forms.

Other Alternatives include:



Adobe Photoshop, recently turned 25 and has become so dominant among industry professionals, there is seldom an alternative suggested to it. It is the go-to choice of the professional designer and illustrator, albeit the one which is the most expensive.

GIMP is the best free alternative to Adobe Photoshop you’ll ever stumble across. With a widely supported community and with its cross compatibility over a range of operating systems, GIMP clearly stands out as the best free alternative to Photoshop. Although it doesn’t offer all the features like Photoshop, it possess ample features to let you edit your photos in a breeze and with a stint of professionalism to it.
* Key Features: Layers, Selection editing, HDR, Re-touching, Noise removal, Lens and Colour correction, Sharpening and Plugin support to name afew.
* Supported File Formats: RAW formats, BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, TGA, XWD, XPM, PIX, CEL, MNG, PPM & PCX.

Other Alternatives include:


DaVinci Resolve is a program that started out as a color grading tool but is now morphing into a very capable video editor too. The interface is going to come across as a little daunting, but if you can devote the time to it, there’s no doubt it’s a powerful piece of software that is great for editing video clips together.

DaVinci Resolve is undoubtedly more powerful than your average free software package, but has no easy drag-and-drop approach. If that’s more your style then VideoPad Video Editor is basic but easy to use.

Other Alternatives include:




Inkscape is to Illustrator as GIMP is to Photoshop. It’s a high-quality bit of software that can pretty much do whatever Illustrator can, but you lose out on some of the polish and refinement that makes Illustrator so revered and beloved among professionals.

Vector graphics have one huge advantage over regular graphics: they don’t use pixels. This means you can draw once and export that image to any size and you won’t lose any pixels or gain unnecessary pixelation. It’s used heavily for things like comics, infographics, and logos.

Other Alternatives include:


NanoCAD is a free and easy to use professional grade CAD tool. It’s great for creating, editing and sharing CAD creations and even though it’s free, it matches up in many ways to some paid software. A nice alternative to AutoCAD for beginners and intermediates on a budget of zero.

Other Alternatives include:


Most people use Nero or other paid software to burn files onto DVDs or CDs. However, CDBurnerXP (originally designed for MIcosoft Windows XP) is free software that does the same work as that of Nero without being bloated and having redundant features such as the inclusion of a music player. The Windows default CD writer is not so bad either when it comes to simple CD burning.

Other Alternatives include:




In the modern IT environment, desktop virtualization can be extremely useful. The ability to run multiple, simultaneous operating systems as Virual Machines from a single device means you can:
* Evaluate new apps and systems in a safe, partitioned environment.
* Deploy and test your own software on multiple operating systems without needing multiple devices.
* Set up and regulate encrypted corporate desktops for remote employees or employees using their own devices.
* Run legacy programs that require an older OS on a machine with a newer OS.
* Transfer virtual machines between devices.


VirtualBox is a free solution that works with all x86 platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris.

Compared with VMware’s feature set. For one thing, VirtualBox doesn’t offer the same level of support for 3D graphics, which could be an issue if you plan to use graphic entensive applications.

Other Alternatives include:

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