The following software is all open source which means it’s free.
It also means that some very hard-working anonymous people worked there butts off to make these free products for you.
So make sure if you download and use any of these products to make a donation to the developers.
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Apache OpenOffice
OpenOffice completely replaces Microsoft Word (or similar word processors).
It has word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics databases and more.
Even if you currently have a word processor which you have a full version of you should download OpenOffice.
It stores all the data in an international open standard format which mean there is no more worrying about saving a document to open in both PC/MAC applications.
It is also available in many languages.
Photoscape
Photoscape is an excellent photo editing software.
Like most open source software it is not the prettiest but the programs themselves are fabulous.
I have been working on Photoscape for a few weeks and I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what it can do.
With Photoscape you can create slideshows, edit (from resizing to adding effects), make a collage, splice, screen capture (which is how I capture most of the screens for my posts), make animated GIFS, figure out what the hex codes are in your logo with their colour picker and more.
FileZilla
I use FileZilla on a weekly basis with my e-store.
It is a must have if you upload you own content onto your server.
If you use a web provider which includes hosting then you do not need this product.
Some of FileZilla’s key features are it is easy to use, supports FTP, FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS) and SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), has remote file editing/search and works on a multitude of platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X etc.).
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is an opensource web browser.
It is great for those of us who like their browsers to be more than just a tool to check their email.
There are many free add-ons that help make your web experience.
The most popular add-ons include; Adblock Plus, Flashblock and Firebug (a must have for any web developer).
WordPress
WordPress is free software that allows you to make beautiful websites and blogs.
There are two types of WordPress; WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
WordPress.com is quick and easy to use.
No hosting needed and everything is self-contained.
However, if you are willing to learn some basic html/CSS and willing to spend some money on hosting I highly recommend WordPress.org.
Thinking Outside The Sandbox is Wordress.org based.
Is it possible to switch to wordpress.org when you’re already on wordpress.com? I didn’t know there was a different but I’d love more customizability (is that a word?).
You can move from .com to .org. Here are the instructions WordPress.com gives (scroll down half a page) . I had a .com for my store’s blog and because I had only a few posts I found it easy to set up my wordpress.org blog and then copy and paste in my posts.