| CMS Summer 2007 - Computer
Resources Learn, experiment, have fun, and save money this summer by trying out some or all of the highly rated, tried and true, free computer software listed below. |
SECURITY |
| Avast! Home Edition |
| Avast! Virus software from ALWIL Software has a free version for home users. After downloading and installing the program, you must register the product to get a license key. If you decide not to register, you will get a 60-day trial period. |
| AVG Free Advisor |
| AVG Anti-Virus is free for home use and supports discounts for schools. Registration is not necessary, but registered users have access to the online forum and some additional benefits. |
| Comodo Firewall |
| The Comodo Free Firewall works as well as the top firewalls that charge a fee. Be sure to check out Comodo Anti Virus and Comodo AntiSpam. Also, Comodo Backup, Comodo Verification Engine, and Comodo iVault complement the others for a complete security package. |
PRODUCTIVITY |
| OpenOffice.org |
OpenOffice is an open source project, which means nobody owns it and anyone can use it for free. It contains a Microsoft Office-compatible word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and data base. OpenOffice can read and edit any of the Microsoft products, while having he capability to save in a Microsoft Office format. |
| Google Apps |
Recently, Google officially launched the Google Apps Education Edition. It is free for all students and staff. The service includes the following tools: GMail (2 GB), Google Talk, Google Calendar, Start Page, Docs and Spreadsheets, and Page Creator. |
GRAPHICS AND DESKTOP PUBLISHING
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| Paint.NET 3 |
| Paint.NET is free open source software for image editing and photo manipulation that runs on the Windows platform. It has a variety of useful and powerful tools including cropping, rotating, resizing, adjusting color, creating collages, special effects, layers, multi-imaging, and unlimited undo. It can be compared to a home edition of Photoshop without the cost. |
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS |
| The following free graphics programs from Irfanview (Windows), GIMP (Windows, Mac OS X and Unix), and Picasa (Windows) are also available. Also, Scribus (Windows, Mac OS X, OS 2, Linus/Unix) is an open source desktop publishing program. |
IrfanView - www.irfanview.com |
Summer 2007 Connected Newsletter |