Free Application Guide

[Hawks]

I noticed there wasn't one of these, so I thought I'd compile a list of free programs, where you can download them, and reviews. If you want to add your review/rating, just reply with a link to the program's site (if it's not already on the list), your rating and your review, and I'll edit it into the first post.

 

 

 

Graphics/Art/Etc

 

 

 

-The GIMP 9/10 - This is a great free graphics program that runs on pretty much any computer. It's like Photoshop without the cost, and a ton of fun extras you can download. It's compatible with PS brushes and a variety of file formats. My only complaint is it takes a while to start up and is known to randomly freeze up/shut down.

 

 

 

-Blender 3D 7/10 - A free 3-D modelling program, it requires that you also download the Python scripting language. I haven't used it extensively, but if you can learn the controls and deal with the tiny interface, it's a very useful program.

 

 

 

-Alice 9/10 - A fun animation/scripting program that you can download free from Carnigie Mellon. It comes with prebuilt models which you can add into a world and animate in various ways. You can also make your own and download more. It takes up a large amount of space however, and once again takes a while to start up.

 

 

 

-Apophysis 10/10 - A free fractal flame creator. It doesn't take a lot of space on your computer (until you start rendering the fractals). You don't have to do anything to create them, but you can get/write scripts to create specific fractals and you can change a lot of the details of the fractal (size, transformations, etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

Word-Processing/'Office'/Etc

 

 

 

-OpenOffice.org 3/10 - I really hate this suite of programs [Writer (like MSWord), Impress! (PowerPoint/Publisher), and Calc (Excel)] because if you're used to the layout of Microsoft Office these are totally different and lack a lot of features. The most useful aspect of the programs is the ability to save in almost any format, including PDF.

 

 

 

 

 

Random Things

 

 

 

-LEGO Digital Designer 7/10 - A random fun program for building with LEGO bricks on your computer. It's also useful if you want to do some 3D modelling but don't want to bother with learning how to use Blender/etc. because it's as simple as building with LEGOs! Your brick choices are somewhat limited and it allows you to do some things that you can't in real life. Also after finishing a model you can upload it to the LEGO site and buy it if you want.

[Dracion1]

There has:

 

 

 

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=773164

 

 

 

Also, I think you'll find some people will disagree with a lot of what you've said. I find oo.o a lot easier to use than word for example, and all the features I need are there anyway. The only real place where MS office is better is probably an actual office, where you need the features, and where it's considered standard. A lot of businesses offer 'training' for ms office, which is why some find oo.o confusing.

[dsavi]

Maybe this should be Free Open Source applications guide? In my opinion anyway.

 

 

 

Eclipse - An IDE with an excellent user interface with lots of features that I can't type so early in the morning.

 

 

 

CygWin - A Windows port of the bash shell. Far more useful than the DOS prompt.

 

 

 

Frets On Fire - This game KILLS boredom.

 

 

 

Inkscape - De facto standard of open source vector graphics programs.

[JoeDaStudd]

I'm currently setting up a few pages on my site which lists all the free programs by category and rating (user rating), with the option for users to submit them..

 

Once I get it all up and running I'll post a link (shouldn't be too long as its pretty basic).

 

 

 

Topics like this help a lot, but they soon get left behind, forgotten or deleted.

[Sam]

http://al.chemy.org/