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Bill Husted, Special to The Star 1:02 p.m. PT Feb. 11, 2017

Bill Husted(Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

My grandfather was a long-legged man with no more than a high school education. He raised a family based on what he could earn as a gunsmith. Money was usually tight, soinstead of buying fancy gunsmithing tools, he often made his own. They werent pretty like the ones youd see in a catalog, but they worked just fine.

I remember he often said: If you cant get pork chops, chili would do. His family ate a lot of chili. But they did eat.

I am lucky. I can afford just about any computer program I want. ButId be fine if I couldnt do that. Like my grandfather, I know where to find some decent chili when pork chops are scarce. So today well talk about some of the programs I use almost every day, and then well mention free programs that would serve me just fine if the for-pay programs were out of my reach.

If you have a chili budget but are hankering for pork chops, I may be able to help. And if you are a pork chop sort of person, you can see what I prefer if you have the cash.

As youd figure, based on the fact that I do a lot of writing, a word processor is a big deal for me. I spend more time with mine than I do with Lucy the Beagle. I use Microsoft Word. Like a lot of the programs Ill talk about today, it can either be obtained as part of Microsoft Officeor you can buy it separately for about $110 directly from Microsoft at https://www.microsoftstore.com.You also may find it at retailers for a bit less or more. I really like the program.

But there are some excellent free word processors. Most are basically imitations of Office, sonot only do that contain a word processor; they throw in a bunch of other programs, too. Ive used most of these programs, and they work just fine. Most can read and write in the same format used by Word. So youll still be able to use files that others created in Word. Rather than rate each one, let me refer you to this excellent web page that reviews each at length and also furnishes links so that you can download the programs. It can be found athttp://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-microsoft-office-alternatives.

Email is essential for me both for work and keeping up with friends. I use another Microsoft product for that the professional version of Microsoft Outlook. Like Word, you can get it as part of some not all versions of Office. Or you can buy from the Microsoft store (same address as I mentioned for Word)for $110. You can also find it for less money at other online sites or in some retail stores. Its a great program.

But I also regularly use another free email program called Thunderbird. You can learn about it or download it here: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird.Id be just fine with this program if I didnt have Outlook. It has many of the same features. I use it every day, since I have Outlook set up for my personal email and use Thunderbird for reader email. Ive yet to have a problem with it.

At one time, I was fairly serious about photography, right down to having a pretty good home studio complete with studio lighting. I even did some professional work at times. I am not as passionate about photography now, but still use some expensive equipment and software. I do my editing with Adobe Photoshop. I have an old version, but it still works fine. Nowadays, a lot of people basically rent Photoshop from Adobe for $9.95 a month. Id recommend, however, getting Photoshops little sister, Adobe Elements 15 for $70. You can get it from adobe.com or find it in stores. Elements is just right for most people, and Photoshop may be overly expensive and complicated.

There are plenty of free replacements for a photo editing program. Here is a time when I have to do something I hate; I need to be honest with you. Unlike my other examples, Im not crazy about any of the free replacements. You can read about some of the best of them athttp://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/the-10-best-photoshop-alternatives-you-need-know.html.

But heres the deal: Ive used Photoshop so often and so long that maybe Im being stubborn. My guess is that if you experiment with some of the free versions mentioned in the article above it is easy to try several, since you dont have to pay that youll prove me wrong and find one you love.

So pick the way that fits your budget. If you can easily afford the commercial versions, then you cant go wrong. But if your appetite for pork chops doesnt fit your chili budget, youll do fine with the free versions Ive mentioned.

Bill Husted writes abouttechnology. Contact him attecbud@bellsouth.net.

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