This week is the final installment in my four-week series on open source software alternatives. My goal has been to provide you with a list of software applications that duplicate what is commercially available and just maybe save you a few bucks. I encourage you to always seek out open source alternatives before you plunk down your hard-earned dollars. You can find them by simply googling your software...read more

This week we are continuing our discussion of open source software that aims to replace or eliminate the need to pay outlandish prices for commercial software. Previously we discussed biggies like replacing Microsoft Office with Open Office, Photoshop with GIMP/Paint.NET, and tools for protecting your computer from viruses, spyware, and for working with PDFs. The focus this week will be on audio/video...read more

This week I'm going to continue with my list of Open Source software alternatives to save you a few bucks. Last week I talked about some of the biggies, Open Office to replace Microsoft Office, GIMP and Paint.NET to replace Photoshop, and some great music tools.

Let's turn to desktop email/calendar clients.

•Thunderbird, http://www.mozillamessaging.com/thunderbird/, is an excellent...read more

A regular theme in my columns has been Open Source versus corporate-driven software. This week, I'm going to provide you with a list of excellent free software that can replace common software that people pay good money for. I'll still assume you're paying for the operating system (Windows or OSX), unless you're a die hard Linux fan, in which case this is old hat to you.

Let's...read more