THERE IS A FREE LUNCH (OR AT LEAST A CHEAP ONE)
Shareware and freeware can meet many of your software needs
Originally published in PWAC Contact, the newsletter of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada, 2000.
Please note: This article is quite out of date, and most of the products reviewed below have since been upgraded or discontinued. The links provided have not been updated and I cannot vouch for their accuracy.
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By Mark Shainblum
I'm typing this article in a word processor you've probably never heard of. It's called WordExpress, from Microvision Development, and at $49.95 US it's reasonably inexpensive. Open simultaneously on my desktop is a copy of WordWright from Lextek International, and it's real cheap. As in free.
WordExpress has a few more bells and whistles than WordWright, although admittedly not as many as Microsoft Word, but Word costs a bit more than $49.95, and considerably more than free*. StarOffice from Sun Microsystems, however, rivals Microsoft Office bell for bell and whistle for whistle. It contains not only a word processor but a spreadsheet, a PowerPoint-like presentation program, a database and all the extras you'd expect from a full-blown office suite, and yes, it's also free. In fact, Sun paid millions to buy German software maker StarDivision for the express purpose of giving StarOffice away.
WHAT'S HAPPENING TO GOOD OLD CAPITALISM?
Good question, because – like Sun – software developers all over the world are giving their products away for nothing or next-to-nothing. Also installed on my hard drive are file managers, e-mail programs, calendars, virus checkers, graphics viewers and web development tools, and there are thousands of others in categories I don't need or haven't gotten to yet. I've downloaded most of these products from the Internet, and they all fall into one of three categories: shareware, freeware or free Open Source software. WordWright and WordExpress are relative newcomers, I only downloaded them in the hour or so before beginning to write this article. They were both reasonably fast downloads too, weighing in at less than five megabytes installed in both cases. Compare that to the bloated offerings from Microsoft, Corel and Lotus which install themselves on your hard drive the way Belgium installed itself in the Congo.
Welcome to the world of alternative software.
FREE LUNCH
According to a recent Statistics Canada report, freelance writers are among the lowest paid working people in Canada, grossing an average of about $15,000 per a year. Simultaneously, writers also belong to one of the most heavily computer and software dependent professions in the country, which puts us squarely between a rock and a hard place. Either we pay exorbitant prices for commercial office software that is often not well-suited to our needs, or we rationalize like crazy and use under-the-table copies provided by friends and family.
There is another option: The Internet is chock full of fully professional software, all ready for immediate download and instantaneous use. And make no mistake, the rules of this game are different, there is a free lunch when it comes to shareware, freeware and Open Source software. (Or, at the very least, there's a cheap lunch). Though the buyer must always beware, you cannot assume that software from these sources is in any way inferior to the shrink-wrapped products on sale at your local Future Shop. Shareware, freeware and Open Source are simply parallel production and distribution systems which bypass the traditional wholesale and retail middlemen. StarOffice, for its part, is a commercial software package that has been transformed into freeware. And because it is seamlessly compatible with Microsoft Office, some people are beginning to view it as the harbinger of the end of the shrink-wrapped software business.
SHAREWARE? FREEWARE? OPEN SOURCE?
Briefly, shareware, freeware and Open Source are similar philosophies of alternative software distribution with a few significant differences:
Shareware is software you can install on your computer and legally use for a set period of time, after which you are expected to register and pay for it. Some shareware products will stop working after the set period, others have major functions disabled until you pay, while many will simply nag you for payment every time the program is booted, but will otherwise continue to work indefinitely.
Freeware is software given away for free by its developers. You may install it, use it at will and even give copies to your friends -- legally. Many freeware developers ask for voluntary donations to cover development costs, some give the software application away for free but sell optional manuals, others simply provide the software and ask for nothing in return.
Open Source or Free Software is similar to freeware but with one significant difference: A freeware developer still owns her program and controls its development. Open Source software is distributed not only for free, but usually with an explicit renunciation of copyright. The original source code of the product is made available to all developers, who are basically free to modify the program and distribute their own modified versions at will.
WHERE TO GO
There are literally dozens of places to download software on the Web. Since I’m on PC, my expertise in Mac and other platforms is limited, so this list is mostly restricted to Windows 3.1/95/98/NT download sites. My personal favourites, in order of preference, are:
Softseek (http://www.softseek.com/). It's not the best-known download site, but it's the best organized and most complete. Softseek lists software in virtually every category, up to and including fonts and add-ons for existing software.
Cnet Download.com (http://download.cnet.com) Formerly known as shareware.com, this site was better known than Softseek, but nowhere near as well organized. It is now vastly improved and is more or less on a par with Softseek. Searching both sites is advisable, because what one misses the other often finds.
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Tucows (http://www.tucows.com) and Stroud’s Consummate Winsock Site (http://cws.internet.com/) are both wonderful sites, but their content is largely restricted to Internet-related software like e-mail tools, browsers, virus checkers and website development programs. This is not true of Tucows’ Macintosh site however, which boasts a wide array of Mac programs in all areas.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD
Downloading and installing software in Windows 95/98 is a remarkably easy process that's remarkably difficult to explain in a few words, though the process is far more intuitive in the Mac OS. An ISP in Texas called GowerNet has an excellent downloading tutorial at http://www.gower.net/download/download.html. Softseek has its own at http://www.softseek.com/_other/help.html. On Cnet Downloads.com, click the “Downloading Tips” link from the main page at http://download.cnet.com/downloads/. These sites can explain the process much better than I can, but two observations from my personal experience: 1) You should always create a “Downloads” directory and download shareware files into it before installing. 2) I use a shareware file manager called Windows Commander (see below) instead of the built-in Windows Explorer program because it’s much more intuitive and can zip and unzip programs with a simple drag-and-drop action, a great boon when you’re installing software.
DON'T FEAR THE DOWNLOAD
There is no reason to fear software downloaded from reputable sites. Downloading is a relatively simple and painless matter, and if you practice basic safe computing -- you do have a virus checker, right? -- the danger of importing a virus into your system is minimal. If you don't already have a virus checker, it’s the first piece of software you should acquire before downloading anything else. McAfee VirusScan is the best-known program of this type, but the shareware version fills your screen with annoying advertising pitches and stops working after 30 days. F-Prot is a good free virus checker, but it runs in DOS mode, which may feel a little unfamiliar to some people. Computer Associates offers its own Windows-based virus checker, InnoculateIt, for free, but it's very difficult to access the busy CA download site. All are available through the download sites listed above. If you’re willing to pay a few bucks, there are dozens of others.
ALTERNATIVE WORD PROCESSORS: THE MOVIE
What's next? As writers, of course, our primary interest is in word processing, and there are a variety of options in this area. Though Microsoft Word is the 500 pound gorilla of the word processing world, Corel WordPerfect and Lotus WordPro are also mainstream enough to be excluded from consideration. We're looking at real Brand X stuff here. In general all of these products were at least okay, some of them were great, some were virtually indistinguishable from shrink-wrapped competitors which cost hundreds of dollars more.
All of these programs reviewed below should be available through one or more of the download sites listed above. In most cases I also provide the home website of the developer.
Things to look for:
1. Ease of use. Many of us have spent years mastering our software and we’re comfortable with certain standard interfaces. Radically different ways of doing things increases your learning curve and reduces the likelihood you’ll actually use the software. Some of these programs claim to have seamless, MS-Word-like work environments, which is true to varying degrees. Another notable deficiency in almost all of these products is the lack of a decent word counter, a meat-and-potatoes item for writers.
2. Compatibility with standard document formats like MS-Word .doc and Rich Text .rtf. The latter is a minimum requirement. Any word processor that cannot save and open RTF documents is too far from the mainstream to be useful to freelance writers. Aside from plain text, it’s the only universal format you can fall back on to share documents with others, regardless of word processor. MS-Word .doc compatibility is a plus, especially if you have a directories full of older Word files. Be warned, though: Most of these word processors claim MS-Word compatibility; but that usually mean only Word 6.0, 7.0/95 or Word 97, rarely all three and never earlier versions. As downloaded, none of them could handle WordPerfect or WordPro documents, although optional filters are sometimes available for an extra fee.
3. Quality rendering of on-screen fonts. This is more important than it sounds, because poor on-screen rendering causes fatigue, eye-strain and reduced efficiency. It also makes it harder to format documents properly. Frankly, none of the word processors reviewed below did as good a job in this area as the Big Three, but some were almost there.
4. Use of system resources. It makes sense to keep that older 486 or Pentium wheezing along for a little while if you're trying to save money. The same logic applies to smaller, low-power laptops. Most of these programs only use a fraction of the hard drive space, RAM and processor speed demanded by bloatware from the big guys. Moreover, if you only need a word processor, why should you be forced to pay for spreadsheets, presentation programs and databases you'll never use?
AbiWord from AbiSource Solutions. An Open Source product in preview release, AbiWord is a prime example of how fast these products can change. When I first downloaded AbiWord in October of 1999, I described it as “free and generally passable, but not ready for prime time, at least not at the time of this writing. It's still in development and many basic functions, like spellcheck and word count don't work yet.” Now, in January 2000, AbiWord has a much smoother, very Word-like interface, a fully functional spellchecker, and most of the bells and whistles you’d need. The current version, Preview Release 0.7.7 still seems a little buggy, however. You might want to wait till the next release. At 1.5 MB installed, though, you can’t beat it for price or size. Price: Free. Available from http://www.abisource.com.
Final Writer from Softwood Inc. I hesitate to even mention this product, because I could only find it through one source and Softwood’s own website has been down “temporarily” for several months now. Nevertheless, it’s a perfectly decent little word processor with a unique, tabbed interface. Every page in a open document has its own tab, making it a snap to jump – for example – from page 1 to 34 in a single step. It definitely has its uses, but several major functions are disabled until the registration fee is paid. Price: $29.95 US. Available from Cnet Download.com.
WordExpress from Microvision Developments. A very good, multifunctional word processor that reminds me of Word 6.0. It's nicely arranged with very intuitive buttons and controls, it has most of the functionality a writer would need, and renders onscreen fonts reasonably well. It has a very professional look and feel overall. Downside: The undo button only goes back one change, and the optional MS-Word filter only opens and saves to Word version 6.0. Price: $49.95 US. Available from http://www.mvd.com/wordexpress/index.htm
WordWright from Lextek International. A perfectly decent freeware word processor with some surprising extras, such as a four-language spellchecker with English, French, German and Spanish dictionaries. The program is financed by a unique advertising panel on the toolbar which resembles an Internet ad banner. Every time you log onto the net, new advertising is downloaded (though you can pay for an ad-free version if you like). WordWright's interface is unpretty but perfectly functional and the program likewise has more than enough basic functionality for everyday use. WordWright can open and save .rtf and Word 97 .doc files, although it sometimes chokes on earlier versions of Word. Price: Free. (Ad-free version: $19.95 US). Available from http://www.lextek.com/wordwright/
602Pro from Software602. An excellent office suite from the Czech Republic. Of all the programs reviewed here, it is easily the most Microsoft-like in look and feel. Working in 602Text, the word processor component, you can easily forget you're not using Word 97. The toolbar is slightly different, but well designed and functional. On-screen rendering of fonts is the best of all of the software packages reviewed. The spreadsheet, 602Tab is similarly seamless with Excel. 602Pro also features 602Photo, a nice little graphics-editing package -- almost like a small version of Adobe PhotoShop, and 602Desktop, a very nice file management tool. Unlike StarOffice, reviewed below, 602Suite has no database, presentation program or built-in e-mail support, but it's a much smaller program with a shorter learning curve. Sneakily, though the base $49.95 US version is fully compatible with MS-Word, you have to pay extra for a PlusPack to get .rtf, which is more important in my view. The PlusPack also provides filters for WordPerfect and a range of other word processors. Those issues aside, 602Pro is easily worth $49.95. If you need the additional functionality, the whole 602Pro suite costs the same as WordExpress reviewed above. Price: $49.95 US. Available from http://www.software602.com/
StarOffice from the StarDivision unit of Sun Microsystems. Basically, whatever Microsoft Office, Corel WordPerfect Suite and Lotus SmartSuite can do, StarOffice can also do, and more. It features an excellent word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation program, a database and a networking server - all (except the latter) inter-compatible with their Microsoft equivalents. Although 602Pro is a close runner-up in terms of quality, StarOffice is easily the best of the free programs reviewed here, better in fact than most of the programs you’re supposed to pay for. At 65 megabytes installed, it’s much smaller than the 300 megabytes demanded by a complete install of Microsoft Office, but it’s still relatively big, much bigger than any of the other shareware and freeware packages reviewed here. Another warning, StarOffice was originally designed to run on the Unix operating system, so it does certain things in a decidedly non-Windows way. This can be confusing to dedicated Windows users. Moreover, StarOffice doesn’t distinguish between its word processor, spreadsheet, database and other components. They all work through a single interface, A StarOffice desktop and file manager which sit on top of the regular Windows desktop. Once you figure them out, they’re quite intuitive, but it may take you a little while to get your bearings. Not a high price to pay to save upwards of $600.00. Price: Free. (A CD-ROM version is available by mail for $9.95 US) Available from http://www.sun.com/dot-com/staroffice.html
OTHER APPLICATIONS WORTH DOWNLOADING
A random, extremely personal selection. You can find all of these programs at Softseek, Cnet Download.com, Tucows, Stroud’s or directly at the developer’s website.
Windows Commander is simply the most useful piece of shareware I've ever downloaded. It serves much the same function as the built-in Windows Explorer file manager, but in a much more user-friendly and intuitive fashion. Amazingly, it also has built-in file compression and decompression ("zipping"), so you don't need a separate compression utility, and the latest version has built-in FTP. You can use it as a File Transfer Tool in place of programs like WS_FTP or Fetch. Yes, I paid the registration fee for this one, and it was worth every penny. Price . Available from http://www.ghisler.com/.
Eudora Lite, easily the best free e-mail program available on the net, light years ahead of nasty Outlook Express. Price: Free. Available from http://www.eudora.com/eudoralight/.
Pegasus Mail, the second-best free e-mail program available on the net. It's more powerful than Eudora Lite, but somewhat more complicated to use. Pegasus comes with built in e-mail encryption, for the security conscious. Price: Free. Available from http://www.pegasus.usa.com/.
Y2K Supertest, a combined Y2K test and date correction utility that brings your older 486 or Pentium computer into compliance with the year 2000. Price: $39.95 US. Available from http://www.accute.com/.
ACDSee, an excellent graphical viewer program that allows you to view pictures in all the major electronic formats. Price: $74.93 Canadian. Available from http://www.acdsystems.com/products/acdsee/.
DigiDay Clock, a desktop timekeeping and event-reminder utility. (My friends jump out of their skins when it announces the time at 15 minute intervals). Price: $17.95 US. Available from: http://www.visionx.com/clock/.
1st Page 2000, an amazingly complete, sophisticated and user-friendly web-page authoring tool. Price: Free. Available from http://www.evrsoft.com/.
SiteAid, a much simpler, but still useful web-page authoring tool. Price: Free. Available from http://www.siteaid.com/.
Opera, a very small, very fast web browser from Norway. Opera also has special features for physically handicapped computer users. Price $35.00 US. Available from http://www.opera.com/.
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*It's hard to make direct comparisons, but the selling price for a non-upgrade, standalone copy of Word 2000 is $499.00 at http://www.camelot.ca. The entire, non-upgrade, Office 2000 Suite is $611.99 Canadian at http://www.chapters.ca. You can usually get cheaper prices by waiting for specials, by purchasing upgrade rather than non-upgrade editions or by getting a student to purchase a discounted educational version for you, but even the latter two options are somewhat borderline.