• Author:
  • Leete, Mary
• Subject:
  Business Applications
• Published by:
  John Wiley & Sons Inc (US)
• Published:
  24/06/2005
• Price:
  $32.99
• <  Buy this book  >

Find great programs for Windows(r), Mac OS(r) X, or Linux(r)

Write reports, make presentations, build Web pages, fix photos, and more - free!

Why spend a fortune on software when some of the best programs are free? This cool guide will set you free with step-by-step instructions for finding, downloading and using the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, Firefox and Thunderbird for safer surfing and e-mail, the GIMP image editor, Blender for 3D animation, iPodder for catching podcasts, high quality children's educational software, and more.

Discover how to
* Locate the best free software
* Install and use more than 20 programs
* Record and edit sound with Audacity
* Use Skype free Internet phone and conferencing
* Find cool game software

Mary Leete is a co-author of <i>OpenOffice.org For Dummies and a contributing author to 50 Fast Flash Techniques. She discovered the cool world of free software several years ago when her husband, Gurdy, suddenly went from spending a fortune on software every year, to spending nothing! This caught her attention and she has ever since been an enthusiastic supporter and user of free software. Mary spent many years working as a computer programmer, so she appreciates the “looking under the hood” feature that free software affords (although she has never looked under its hood herself). Mary is currently in awe of free software’s recent meteoric rise, with its new polished and stable versions that are now as good as, and often better than, proprietary software, and she hopes that this book will further the cause of the Free Software movement, whose basis lies in the principle of giving.

Introduction.

Part I: Plunging Into Free Software.

Chapter 1: How to Use Tons of Powerful, Free Software — Fast.

Chapter 2: The Best Places to Get Free Software.

Part II: Using Powerful, Free Office Software.

Chapter 3: Word Processing with OpenOffice.org Writer.

Chapter 4: Formatting Your Writer Documents.

Chapter 5: Creating Spreadsheets with OpenOffice.org Calc.

Chapter 6: Juggling Numbers in Calc.

Chapter 7: Building Databases with OpenOffice.org Base.

Chapter 8: Creating Reports from Your Database.

Part III: Exploring the Internet — More Easily, More Securely, and More Featurefully.

Chapter 9: Surfing and Searching the Web Securely with Mozilla Firefox.

Chapter 10: Reading E-mail with Mozilla Thunderbird.

Chapter 11: Publishing Your Own Web Pages with OpenOffice.org Writer.

Chapter 12: Enjoying Podcasts with iPodder.

Chapter 13: Making Free Phone Calls with Skype.

Part IV: Using Powerful, Free Multimedia Software.

Chapter 14: Creating Graphics with OpenOffice.Org Draw.

Chapter 15: Making Presentations with OpenOffice.Org Impress.

Chapter 16: Digital Imaging with the GIMP.

Chapter 17: Drawing and Filtering Images in the GIMP.

Chapter 18: Drawing Diagrams with Dia.

Chapter 19: Creating 3D Animations with Blender.

Chapter 20: Recording Sound with Audacity.

Part V: More Powerful, Free Software.

Chapter 21: Learning with Free Educational Software.

Chapter 22: Fun with Arcade, Simulation, Puzzle, Strategy, and 3D Games.

Chapter 23: A Friendly, Free, and Powerful Alternative to Windows XP.

Part VI: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 24: Ten Lists of More Great Free Software and Stuff: A Directory.

Chapter 25: Ten Unreasonable Advantages of Free Software.

Appendix: Installing Programs Using KPackage and Installation Wizards.

Index.