Why pay more?

Hi, I am back from a short sick leave so apologies for the lack of posts in the last few weeks.

This week I am going to give you a few tips and links to software which is completely free to use and can replace some really expensive pieces of software which you may be thinking of purchasing. I am in no way affiliated with any of the below companies. This is all my honest opinion.

Let's start with Office. If your needs are an easy to use word processor, spreadsheet and slide presentation suite of software, you could use Open Office. This is free software and easily installed and can save you hundreds of dollars. It can also open up documents made with MS Office. http://download.openoffice.org/index.html and you are set to go.

The next bit of software which comes free with Windows XP (SP2). Windows Movie Maker. This bit of software is GREAT for making and editing movies or slide shows. It is easy to use and you can add music and titles to each slide. Just go to "Start" -- "All Programs" -- "Accessories" -- "Microsoft Movie Maker".
There is a great tutorial at the following link: http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/moviemaker/a/mov_mak_beg.htm


If you have tons of pictures on your PC, then I would recommend using Picasa. This is free software from Google which indexes all your pictures and keeps them arranged according to date taken. It is like getting a secretary to organize all your pictures in nice, neat folders. On top of that, Picasa is great for editing pictures like getting rid of red eye and cropping pictures. It automatically keeps a copy of the original. If you have a Google account, you can also use Picasa to upload your pictures to the web to Picasa Web Albums. This is great for backup and to share your pics with family and friends. Get Picasa free at http://picasa.google.com/download/index.html

Have you heard of VOIP? That is Voice Over IP. It is a method of using internet connections to make phone calls. There are a number of companies which provide free VOIP. The one I recommend is Skype. The phone calls are free from Skype user to Skype user, and you can call at low prices from Skype to a regular phone line. On top of that, if you have a webcam (you can pick up a cheap web camera for under 20 dollars), you can also make video phone calls for FREE. Imagine calling your loved ones thousands of miles away and being able to see them while you talk. Get Skype at http://www.skype.com/download/ and make sure you get as many people as you can onto Skype because the more people on Skype, the more free calls you can make.