Free as in Beer...

For those of you who are economically conscious, or just cheap there are free (as in Beer) alternatives for almost any commercial software out there.

So let's get started.

Office and Productivty: OpenOffice is the best choice that comes to mind when you think about this one. Its ported to almost every platform (NeoOffice ports it to the mac). This productivity suite includes a Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Presentation editor plus some extras. Most linux distros come bundled with it which makes it practical.

2d Graphics Editing: One word: GIMP. The Gnu Image Manipulation Program is the Open SOurce community's answer to Adobe Photoshop. It is full featured, but if you're accustomed to using the 'shop, I recommend GIMPShop , which takes GIMP and turns it into something more familiar.

3d Graphics: If full featured is what you need, Blender is what you need. It started as a free closed source app, but after its parent company went bankrupt, money was raised to pay off the stockholders and release the program as Open Source. its updated faster than most comercial 3d apps and its quite full featured. If all you need is a polygon modeler, I recommend you use Wings3D . Wings 3d will be a trip down memory lane to those who used Nichimen Graphic's Nendo or even Mirai to some degree. Its a pure modeler, so you'll need a different program to apply textures and render. For 3d rendering, there's Yafray . Yafray is a very functional and effective raytracer, it does radiosity and caustics.

Audio: Audacity probably doesn't have the prestige that most comercial audio applications have but its becoming increasingly popular.

I'll further add more as they come up. Post comments to what you want pointed to, and I'll be sure and include a small review of said software and link.

Cheers.

Hell is indeed frozen.

Apple Compter just announced a gradual transition to the x86 architecture. Again for those of you living under a rock these past few years, this means hardcore apple fans are probably in need of a diaper change, as this means Apple is dumping the G5 made by IBM for cheaper silicon. What this exactly means remains to be see tho the fatc remains that unrest and dissent amongst Windows users has hit a historical high and would mean a rather big push for apple with their more robust and secure OS.

Live coverage and details can be found here.

I wonder what bill is thinking.