Don't Spend A Dime: The Path to Low-Cost Computing

by James Floyd Kelly

Stop paying for software. A world full of high–quality software is out there that you don't have to spend a dime for. If you've just spent your entire computing budget on a PC only to find that you need software to do anything interesting, this is the book that will show you how to get what you need without wreaking havoc on your finances. Install the right software to make a great work computer for no extra cost. Packed with the practical, hands–on guidance and technical know–how that you've come to expect from Apress, Don't Spend A The Path to Low–Cost Computing takes you on a tour of the very best zero–cost software in each of the many categories that matter to the typical PC user. Learn to edit photos on the Internet without having to install any software at all. Find out where to get a free office suite for word processing and spreadsheet work. Whatever your need, James Kelly , best–selling technology author, guides you through the exciting and often confusing world of zero–cost computing. This book Before you go buy that $400.00 office suite―or worse, before you “borrow” it from work―stop! Let this book show you how to save hundreds of dollars in expensive software. Learn all about the free tools that the digerati use to make their lives better, and stop paying out the nose for software. Don't spend a dime!

Genres: Computers

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[The Angry Lawn Gnome · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the best part of this book is simply that it might induce a bunch of people who would have never considered freeware to take a hard look at some of the products out there, all legit and all free.

The downside is that no book can keep up with how things change; some of the products on the list may or may not now be the best choice, and one product the author praised seems to be a whole different beast than it was when this book was published..

→ Now that Oracle bought Sun Microsystems it seems that a lot of the people involved in OpenOffice.org have moved onto LibreOffice. I honestly have no idea which one is better than the other, but its something somebody looking at freeware might want to investigate. Both are freeware, both are easily downloadable, etc.

→ I personally find GIMP a bear to use, as in VERY confusing with documentation that doesn't seem to match what you see on-screeen. Doubtless I'm not the adept the author is, but to my mind it is the kind of program you better block out a whole day or better yet a weekend to pound into your head what button does what and why. (I'm not talking becoming an expert, either. Just a competent user. And no, I've not yet taken my own advice. :) ) But it seemed to this user the author understated how hard it can be to understand.

→ Cobian used to be written in an open source language. It no longer is, for no reason I can figure. Even though it is still freeware, if the people behind it decide to start charging for the product, where does that leave you? (I'm honestly not sure, maybe you just don't bother with upgrades?) Still, there's something funny about a switch like that.

Also, the reviews I've read of Cobian are all over the place. Might be a meaningless tidbit, or maybe I'm a girly man, but when I start seeing all reviews as either five star or one star I'd really like to know what the heck is going on here.

→ He should've made a general pronouncement somewhere that the biggest "downside" to freeware is the simple fact that product documentation can range from pretty good (OpenOfffice.org) to downright non-existent/indecipherable as with Gnucash. Granted that wasn't a product he recommended, but it is pretty darn good...until you try to figure out how to do something a bit out of the usual.

I guess I appreciate the effort that went into the book, but I strongly suggest anyone looking poke around a bit before taking his recommendations.