It’s hard pick up a magazine and not find an article about Linux and it’s free software versus Microsoft and the ever growing costs of paying for a fully functioning Windows PC. There’s been a lot of progress with Linux and it’s movement towards an easy to use desktop environment. Brand new computer users are shown Linux and how to do things, then stick with that operating system. The problem arises when their child wants to play a Windows based game, or the relatives recommend a finance package that’s Windows only. There’s no question free Linux alternatives can be found for any package, but what about free Windows alternatives?
I’ve built a fair number of computers over the years, for paying customers and friends. The big boys ( Dell, HP, even MDG in Canada ) offer Windows XP and a bundle or software free or included in the price of a new computer, but the “whitebox” manufacturers or mom and pop shops can’t offer the same. Or can they?
This project started for me when we were dumping a large number of Pentium based computers that were preloaded with Windows 95. I planned to load the PCs with decent software and give them to employees. We could give the end users a PC and Windows 95, but that was it. In this world of internet access and viruses, spam and Trojans, what to do to give these computers a full featured load. A want list grew for what to load: current browser, email client, productivity package, anti-virus, firewall, and some entertainment. After a lot of web searching and review reading I came up with our initial “Free Software” list.
Windows 95 posed it’s own challenges, since I found it was no longer supported by Microsoft and software packages now support Windows 98 upwards. This list is perfect for loading an old computer and giving it to relatives, setting up a second or third basic machine at home for the family, etc. It works just as well for a brand new machine; if fact I would recommend using Windows XP and this list of great free software.
The nice thing about free software is just that: it’s free to use, so download it and give it a try. Then try a competitor if you find it’s features more to your liking.
March 6th 2005
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