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Kim Komando helps us to discover the free alternatives to Microsoft Word, Photoshop and more.

For decades, Microsoft Office has dominated homes and businesses around the world.(Photo: Microsoft)

For years, people have grumbled about the price of software. Adobe products have always been expensive, and many customers were agitated when the company shifted to Creative Cloud, which meant a monthly or annual subscription. Meanwhile, Microsoft Office is a staple for computers everywhere, but the price tag often irritates people who just want a decent word processor.

Luckily, there are lots of free substitutes, and there are plenty of reasons people may turn to them. Some folks just cant afford mainstream software. Others are starting new businesses and dont want to invest in expensive programs that they can essentially get for free. Still, others are trying out new media for the first time, such as digital photography, digital audio or video, and they want to learn the basics before buying expensive packages.

Whatever your reasons, youll find a wide range of software alternatives. In years past, alternative programs usually meant lousy. Youd end up with something buggy, watered-down, and incompatible with other services. Nowadays, thats no longer the case. Many programs are nearly as sophisticated as their expensive inspirations, and some users might argue that these offerings surpass them.

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For decades, Microsoft Office has dominated homes and businesses around the world. The Office suite has everything you need: a word processor, spreadsheets, presentations, and email.

But many customers and college-bound students are surprised when their new Dell or HP doesnt have Office installed. Theyve already shelled out money for a new computer, and now they have to spend another $150 for the software to make it useful.

Thats where LibreOffice comes in. This free, open-source software has what Microsoft Office has, plus some perks, such as templates and extensions. The word processor, called Writer, can handle documents from Microsoft Word, and the rest of the LibreOffice suite can upload and modify files from their corresponding Office programs.Learn more about LibreOffice.

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If youre a professional designer, youve probably invested in heavy-hitting software like InDesign, because that has become the industry standard. But if youre good at making brochures or newsletters, and you dont want to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, consider Scribus. The program gives you all kinds of easy-to-use design options, from business cards to magazines.Readmore about Scribus.

(Photo: Stephanie B. Taylor/USA TODAY)

Outlook is very handy for electronic communication, and entire organizations turn to this program to support their email servers. But Mozillas Thunderbird is a free, powerful, lightweight email service that easily rivals its Microsoft counterpart.Read more about Mozilla Thunderbird.

Business owners are going to want the best accounting software. For complex number crunching, youll want something powerful and intuitive, and Quicken and Quickbooks Pro are pretty much that.

Business owners use Quicken and Quickbooks for complex number crunching.(Photo: Intuit)

But for personal finances, you may enjoy AceMoney Lite, a free program that handles investment tracking, bill reminders, and general checkbook balancing. This program is designed for individual households, so you dont get bogged down in abstruse functions you dont need. Click here to get AceMoney Lite.

Theres also GnuCash, which is great for home budgets but can maintain serious bookkeeping as well. If you need a free program for invoicing, accounts receivable, payroll and shipping, GnuCash is equipped to tackle all of these as well.

Adobe Photoshop(Photo: Adobe)

Lets face it: Photoshop is an overwhelming program, and unless youre a graphics pro who is really particular about your photos, or you want to manipulate your images in clever ways, theres no reason to have all those powerful features.

A free alternative is GIMP, which enables you to heavily edit photos, create original artwork, and even help design websites. GIMP will never be as respected as Photoshop, but the software is very impressive and similarly complex.

If its too complex, thats not a problem. There are morefree photo editors that are beginner-friendly.

As more people record their own songs and podcasts, fledgling recording artists all want to know: How do they edit their work to make it presentable? Most people arent satisfied to post raw sound files to the internet, but Pro Tools and Audition are expensive.

The reigning champion, after all these years, is still Audacity. This free, open-source software has helped many people make the transition into digital audio. It doesnt have nearly the options of Pro Tools, but youll learn the basics of setting levels and mixing tracks. For simple projects with strict budgets, Audacity is a great option.

n this film publicity image released by The Weinstein Company, Colin Firth portrays King George VI in "The King's Speech."(Photo: AP Photo/The Weinstein Company, Laurie Sparham)

What do The Kings Speech, Bruce Almighty, and Road to Perdition have in common? They were pieced together with a video editing program called Lightworks. Many Hollywood editors swear by it, and although they used the professional edition, the basic version of Lightworks is available for free.

Considering how expensive video editing software can get, Lightworks is a shocking alternative to blockbuster programs like Avid or Premiere.Read more about Lightworks.

What are some other deals you can find on software necessities? Be sure to listen or download my podcasts, or click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen to the Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet or computer. From buying advice to digital life issues, click here for my free podcasts.

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Kids are spending an increasing amount of time online, just take a look at Gen Z.However, the internet is not a place one can always count on to keep things age appropriate.

Thankfully, there area number of parental control software programs to help make the web a safer placefor the youngest of eyes. Options for free parental control software are varied, but one of them is sure to suit your needs.

Optimal Compatibility Many find it ideal to have parental control software that can be easily used on any device. The following programs are not only free, but also available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.

Qustodio Qustodios parental control software is also available on Kindle and Nook. Its free version allows you to set the rules, time schedules, and blocks adult content.

There is a paid version geared towardsolder children that monitors SMS messaging, social media activity, and per-app controls. This all encompassing software covers its bases, making it easy to see why it is one of the most preferred programs.

K9 Web Protection K9 Web Protections parental control software offers what Digital Trends referred to as phenomenal cloud-based filtering. It allows users to block websites by category, and keeps activity reports. Users can set time schedules and override settings with parental passwords when necessary.

OpenDNS Family Shield For parents looking to protect their entire household from unwanted material, Family Shield offers optimal filtering. This parental control softwarefromOpenDNSautomatically blocks flagged domains.

Additionally, this software stands out because it can be applied to your routerit filters all traffic that passes throughsimply by changing the DNS server numbers found in your control panel. By doing so, every device that connects to your network will benefit from the filters.

Kidlogger and Spyrix Free Keylogger Those wanting to be more covert can look to keylogging programs such as Kidlogger and Spyrix Free Keylogger. Though both are considered parental control software, theyre mainly a way to monitor your children after the fact through the tracking of keystrokes, web history, and program use. The phone app version also logs phones calls by number and contact name.

These programs are not be ideal for younger children, but are better suited for parents of teens who want to preventonline bullying or other undesired activity. Working With What Youve Got Computer systems are not a bad place to start your search forbasic parental control software. They provide a convenient and seamless source for restricting and monitoring internet features.

Windows Family Safety Windows 10 requires that you open an account with their Family Safety feature if you wish to access their free parental control software. Features include activity reports, and the ability to block any sites, apps, or games. The software also allows parents to customize the time scheduling and control the childs purchasing activity.

Add to that whiletracking your childs physical location asthey use Windows mobile devices and you have an extremely versatile parental control software built into yourWindows OS system.

MacOS MacOS doesnt have specific parental control software, but it offers more than a few options for parental controls, all of which can be accessed under the Parental Controls pane in System Preferences. These include blocking applications and websites, customizing who your child can message with, and setting time limits.

This system also has thehelpfulability to hide profanity in most content, prohibit the computers built-in camera, and halt any disc-burning. Users can remotely manage parental controls for multiple Macs on a single network, too.

Looking to Browsers Itisnt all that far-fetched an idea that browsers can seamlessly incorporate parental control software. This option works bestfor younger users, as older kids and teens can easily navigatearound it.

Zoodles Zoodles is a kid-friendly web browser essentially keeps the security features within the browser, making it easy for parents to avoid when they are the ones surfing the web.

The browser serves as a walled garden: all of its content is kid-friendly with zero risk of anything inappropriate popping up. By combining filtered browsing and a dedicated web browser, Zoodles is designed to appeal to younger children.

FoxFilter FoxFilter affords users blocking capabilities based on individual keywords and sites while being able to add trusted sites. The softwares sensitivity can be tweaked to scan body content as well as the title and URL.

This add-on can get tricky as it heavily relies on keywordsif one uses too many they may find themselves blocked from most of the internet. However, there is free email support offered for this add-on to help new users learn their way around it. Available on both Google Chrome and Firefox.

LeechBlock for Firefox and Nanny for Google Chrome Productivity control can be a highly valued feature not only for the children but for the adults too and these extensions are the solution in such cases.

LeechBlock for Firefox and Nanny for Google Chrome both block particular sites at specific times of the day. For example, Facebook is typically blocked from noon to 6 p.m.. Additionally, these extensions let parents limit the amount of time their children can access a certain website without having to block the domain entirely.

As technology becomes more incorporated into childrens daily lives, the need for parental control software will only continue to grow. This software is quicklybecoming more user-friendly as they develop better means to help parents protect their children from the dark side of the internet.

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BOSS Magazine | Protect Your Kids With Today's Best Free Parental ... - BOSS Magazine

If you're in the managed IT services business, there's a good chance you use open source software to help deliver services to clients.

In order to make the most of open source, it's important to understand the different strategies that can add value to open source platforms.

In other words, if you're an MSP, you should understand how open source code which is usually (but not always) given away for free can be leveraged to provide products or services that people are willing to pay for.

This is a topic that has been central to the development of open source and free software since they emerged in the 1980s and developers who gave code away for free began thinking of ways to make money.

Open Source Business Models

Over the years, free and open source software developers have tried a number of different strategies for monetizing their software.

The main ones include:

This list is not exhaustive.

Other open source business models have been tried, sometimes with success, over the years.

But for MSPs, the five open source business strategies discussed above are the ones that are likely to be of greatest interest.

Again, that matters if you're in the managed services business and use free or open source software.

You need a way to convince your customers that obtaining that software from you, or getting your help in managing it, is a service worth paying for even though the software itself is free of cost.

See original here:
Five Ways MSPs Can Add Value to Free and Open Source Software - MSPmentor

Read to know why adopting free software can stop WannaCry like cyber-attacks in the future.

The world is still under the shock from the recent WannaCry attack. Though experts claim the situation is under control, they don't rule out the possibilities of more such attacks in the coming days. As per reports, WannaCry ransomware (a type of malware) affected approximately 230,000 computers in 150 countries, bringing regular operations to a halt in many places. The most affected are America shipping companies and healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. The impact of this attack is comparatively low in India.

Want to keep your computers safe? Experts suggest adopting free software

Ransomware is a malware (or a malicious programme) which encrypts files in computers or smartphones and makes them unusable and demand money for decrypting the files. In the recent attack, which is considered one of the massive ransomware attacks, crackers were demanding $300 to $500 bitcoin for decrypting the file.

WannaCry is the name of the ransomware that targets the Microsoft Windows operating system. This malware was used to launch the WannaCry ransomware attack on May 12. Sometimes it uses different names like WannaCrypt, WannaCry, WanaCrypt0r, WCrypt and WCRY, to name a few.

Crackers used the loophole present in Microsoft SMB Protocol to spread this program to other computers. All machine running the version of Windows operating system before windows 10 without MS17 -010 security patch are prone to this ransomware attack.

Fixing a problem permanently lies on how better we understand the root cause of the problem. I don't think anyone can build completely foolproof programmes or an operating system that is not prone to any sort of such attacks.

But a programme and its source code under public scrutiny can identify the loopholes in the system and patch immediately before crackers exploit that vulnerability. This is the main reason all major malware attacks are mainly affecting proprietary software like Microsoft Windows operating systems.

When a user does not have any control over the programme that she is running, the program controls the user. That also makes it is easy for someone else to take complete control over that computer or smartphone. In the case of free software, user controls the program and the source code is open for everyone to access that in turns make free software very much secured compared to any other proprietary software.

Unlikely from the past, nowadays, free software operating systems (GNU/Linux ) are more user-friendly and easy to use. Ubuntu, Mint, Debian Fedora are widely used PC operating system with a greater community support. By taking a decision to migrate from proprietary operating system to a GNU/Linux operating systems, you are not only staying safe but also become part of culture and community who believe in sharing and collaborating.

The malware is spread on the network by leveraging the vulnerability in "Server Message Block" (SMB), a network protocol in the Windows Operating System. Last month it was revealed that the software "EternalBlue" developed by the American National Security Agency (NSA) and has used to leak personal information using this security vulnerability. WannaCry is believed to be using the same software. The unholy alliance between the American IT giants and the National Security Agency is no more a secret.

Edward Snowden, a national security contractor, was one of the first persons to disclose this illicit relationship between the NSA and American IT giants which revealed the massive surveillance programme targeting the citizens with the direct help of American IT giants.

Hence, any long-term solutions need to be discussed and developed outside the ambit of the unholy alliance between the NSA and IT giants, the free software way.

(The writer is a software engineer and a member of Free Software Movement Karnataka)

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WannaCry: Free software is the way forward - Oneindia

Hackers offering free anti-virus software to battle against the WannaCry infection say they have had thousands of downloads since releasing their work online.

One hacker who goes under the twitter name @HIBC2017 says he spent 36 hours designing an anti-virus programme that directly protects computers from the ransomware which has infected an estimated 200,000 systems worldwide since Friday.

"The problem with anti-virus software is that it can take you a while to get set up whereas, with the code I've designed, it can protect instantly," he told Sky News.

"I've put it online for free and made it so you just click on a few buttons."

"I've had more than 5,000 downloads so far which is brilliant but I'm just happy that I'm making people's lives easier."

Other so-called "white hat hackers" have also designed and released free anti-virus software to the masses to fight against the "black hat hackers".

The author of "Tearstopper" says their software has helped around 2,000 people protect themselves.

Microsoft also released a patch to help secure computers from the vulnerability that the WannaCry ransomware is taking advantage of, but thousands of users are clearly making use of the work of more amateur hackers, who often work in bedrooms just for fun and curiosity.

The coordinated attack on Friday hit the NHS and dozens of countries worldwide. It is believed to be the biggest attack of its kind.

Evidence suggests a group linked to North Korea was behind the hack, according to security experts.

It is widely known that 22-year-old UK security researcher, Marcus Hutchins, discovered a hidden "kill switch" which managed to slow the spread of the attack after discovering a weakness.

Other hackers have offered advice and collaborated on work to understand the virus.

Many hackers are apparently angry with this attack as it crossed a line by harming the work of doctors in the NHS.

Some hackers say they are now determined to help the authorities track down the culprits. "There's a lot of talent out there doing this around the clock," @HIBC2017 said.

"It's just a matter of time until they're caught and many people will be helping in any way they can."

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Hackers offer free anti-virus after ransomware cyberattack - Sky News - Sky News