Software

Software Favorites

4/27/2006 Sketchup is now Free (there's a Pro version for $)
4/25/2006 Photo Story - From Microsoft - Animate still images - good for Senior Design
The following programs are useful beyond MSOffice. I use most of them regularly, but a few are there because they're free alternatives to commercial products. Those I've only tested quickly.
Each group (free, then commercial) is organized alphabetically by category

Category	Name	Cost	MAC	I Use	Description
Many Programs		Free	Some	Some	Amazing complilation. They'll probably charge for it eventually, but now it includes 13 really worthwhile pieces of software including several listed here.
Many Programs		Free	Yes	Some	Another fine compilation with minor overlap to Google Pack. You can get them all by dowloading and burning a CD. Or, you can link to them individually. It has games included.
Many Programs		Free	Some	Some	This is a compilation by the pros at download.com of what they feel are the best in multiple categories of Freeware. There is considerable overlap with what I have here.

Backup		Free +	Future	Yes	Backup 2GB free ($ for more) automatically. You choose the files (specific or type) and the schedule. Secure. Note that this software is definitely in beta - there are marked inconsistencies in what it displays as available and what it actually backs up. Disclaimer - If you use my link I'll get credit. For every 4 people who sign up I'll get an extra GB of storage. You can do so too.
General		Free	Yes	Special Purposes	Does almost everything MS Office does. The reason I don't use it every day is that I use outlining a lot. OO stinks in that one area. The drawing program is very good - you can do basic drawings for CAD work quickly, but don't expect to interchange with Autocad.
CAD		Free (licensed) @ Drexel $28 Otherwise	Yes	No	A very decent 2D Cad program developed by a single individual - impressive. To exchange a drawing to or from Autocad you'll need to use the "dxf" file format. Remember that you can do a great deal with the drawing portion of OpenOffice - free for everyone. We have a site license for the Drexel community. You can download it from the Drexel software server.
CAD		Free+	Future	Yes	A splendid 3D sketching tool. Google now owns it and is making links to Google Earth.
Images		Free	Yes	No	A "vector" graphics program - like Adobe Illustrator. It saves in the "open" format "svg" and does not currently has an export to "jpg" so it is not yet easy to use for website images.
Images		Free+	Yes	Yes	* Share photos - I take advantage of "family and friends" to limit those that aren't interesting to a wider audience. * My sites. AEngineer for general interest, JCM2044 for family, friends. * You have to pay for extensive use, but not a lot.
Images		Free	No	Yes	From Microsoft - Animate still images - good for Senior Design or any presentation.
Images		Free	No	No	To keep track of large collections of images, edit them in a basic way and display them. It's in Google Pack.
Images		Free	No	No	Paint.net is a quite good paint (bitmap) program. It's esepcially useful for modifying images with annotations. Take advantage of its layers, and save in its native format, then "save as" "jpg" if you want to use its resultswebsites. Note that you can "resize" the image to make thumbnails. You'll have to add Microsoft's "dot net" framework for it to work. The site tells you how.
Map		Free+	Yes	Yes	* Complements GoogleMap but many more features. It's in Google Pack. * Upgrading is what they want - often not necessary.
Planning		Free	Yes	Yes	Allows building Concept Maps - Useful for planning a project, and also for studying for exams. OpenSource.
Planning	Freemind	Free	Yes	Yes	A simple but elegant tool for organizing a bunch of ideas. Ideal at the brainstorming phase of a project. Quicker to use than cMap, but not as powerful. OpenSource
Planning		Free	No	Infrequent	* Scheduling program like MS Project * Still in early development, but quite good for free * Note that it's a port FROM linux
Simulation		Free	No	For Class	Building Energy simulation using DoE-2 - professional level tool with a decent wizard interface.
Utility		Free	Yes	Yes	A web-basede srvice (MS now owns it) for synchronizing files between multiple machines. It takes a bit of thought to set up, but works wonderfully in the background. Be aware however that if you accidentally delete a file on one machine it deletes it on all. For that reason it is NOT a complete substitute for a backup routine.
Utility	PowerPro	Free	No	Yes	Techie heaven - automate windows tasks, create custom tool bars, key macros etc. Quickkeys is easier, but this works really well. It takes a while to learn.
Web	Filezilla	Free	No	Yes	FTP client - for file transfer between FTP sites - e.g. to a web server like Dunx1.
Web		Free	Yes	Yes	* IE is trying to catch up - but it's unlikely. It's in Google Pack. * The extensions make it splendid. I use Adblock, NoScript, All-In-One Sidebar a lot.
Web		Free	No	Yes	Copy entire website to your local hard disk. Useful when must reference offline.
Web	NetVibes	Free	Yes	Yes	Easily configurable online homepage. It's what I currently use. This is a fast-changing area so it may be replaced next week.
Web		Free	Yes	No	A free web page/site creator. It doesn't do frames, but does do css. Most pros prefer Dreamweaver (I do), but this one is free and quite good.
Web		Now Free	No	Yes	Collect URL's and pieces of web pages, then produce reports. Also subscribe to blogs. This is one of many RSS feeds, but I find that it works really well for me.
Web		Free	Yes	Yes	A good EMail client that is being constantly improved. Firefox's sibling.
Words	Keynote	Free	No	Yes	Wonderful outline/notetaking/organizing tool. It's no longer being updated, but it's still very good.
Words		Free (licensed) @ Drexel $180 Otherwise	Yes	Yes	If you have to do a big paper this is an invaluable bibliography tool. Note that Drexel's library also provides a free online tool which I haven't tested.

Database		$250	Yes	Yes	Our department has a license for faculty and staff = free. You want to pay for Filemaker if you do a lot of database work and want a really good user interface - Access (in MSOffice) is more powerful, but tougher to use. Base in Openoffice is an Access clone. MySQL is free and even tougher for the non-techie.
Images		$100	No	Yes	Image editing program - the poor man's Photoshop. I actually prefer it for many things. If you want "free" and powerful (but not as easy to use initially) try "The Gimp"
Images		$90	No	Yes	A very complete program for keeping track of images. Not as easy to use as Picassa, but more powerful.
Utility		$20	No	Yes	Remembers clipboard items - and much more - includes a good screen capture. Use it if you do a lot of cut and paste.
Web		$30	No	Yes	Remembers passwords and identities. The have a portable version (Pass2Go) as well. Makes it easy to have a separate login for each website = safer.
Web		$19	No	Yes	Allows you to have a constant (in effect a static) connection to a machine that connects via DHCP. If you don't understand what this means ignore it.
Web		$30	No	Yes	There are many bookmark programs. This one happens to suit me. Many other would prefer an online service (free) like del.icio.us
Words		Now free	Yes	Yes	If you have to do a big paper this is an invaluable bibliography tool. Note that Drexel's library also provides a free online tool which I haven't tested.