Back to school: Free software can help with studies

Back to school: Free software can help with studies

By RENÉ GUZMAN STAFF WRITER

Aug. 15, 2010, 5:30PM

Back to school means more than just hitting the books. It also means hitting the computer to bang out a term paper, create a PowerPoint-type presentation or simply go online to find out next week's assignments.

From word processing to image editing, you'll find a wealth of aptly named freeware that meets or even exceeds its commercial rivals when it comes to features and operability. And whether you download these freebies or just play with them online, they're sure to save you hundreds in software costs. (Trust us, we have the prices for some of the more popular software to prove it.)

Here are a few must-have free programs to tackle your class work, whether you use a Mac or a PC. Freely.
Word processor office suite

Instead of: Microsoft OfficeHome and Student 2010 ($149.99, Windows) and Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition ($149.99)

Use: AbiWord (abiword.com), OpenOffice.org (openoffice.org), Google Docs (docs.google.com), Zoho Writer (writer.zoho.com), Zoho Sheet (sheet.zoho.com), Zoho Show (show.zoho.com)

"For a basic word processor — something you can write complex and multipage reports with - AbiWord is a fairly strong option," says Seth Rosenblatt, senior associate editor for the tech-resource site CNET. This downloadable program is super simple to use and saves documents in myriad formats, including Microsoft Word (.doc) and Office Open XML (.docx).

If you'd rather keep your essays in the cloud, you can't beat the online word processors Google Docs and Zoho Writer. Both let you access documents anywhere you have a Web connection (computer or smartphone), import and export documents, and share documents online with real-time collaboration just like a study group within a screen.
Need more than word processing? Rosenblatt recommends you download the productivity suiteopenoffice.org. "We're talking about something that is designed to completely replicate or replicate as closely as possible, the toolset that comes in Microsoft Office," he says, "but you don't have to pay for it."
OpenOffice.org lets you write with Writer, design spreadsheets with Calc, craft presentations with Impress, play with graphics with Draw and make a database with Base. OpenOffice.org reads and writes most file formats, including those common to Microsoft Office. For similar office elements online, try Google Docs and Zoho productivity apps Zoho Sheet for spreadsheets and Zoho Show for presentations.
Image editing

Instead of:Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 ($99.99) or Adobe Photoshop CS5 12 ($699.99)

Use:Photoscape (photoscape.org), Windows), Paint.NET (getpaint.net), Windows), Phoenix (aviary.com, choose Image Editor), Picnik (picnik.com), GIMP (gimp.org)

Whether you need to add visual aids to your book report or just zap the red eye from your study-buddy snapshots, you can't beat the image editor Paint.NET. The Web info blogMakeUsOf.com highlights this free Windows-only download, and it's easy to see why. Paint.NET sports a very intuitive user interface and strong features including layers, unlimited undo history and special effects such as blurring and color control. Rosenblatt also recommends the Windows-only Photoscape.

And don't forget Web-based photo editors such as Picnik and Aviary's Phoenix. Rosenblatt notes sites including Facebook and Flickr also offer basic image-editing options. Just upload your image and tweak away.

The best free defense against spyware and other online evils? Smarter Web surfing. "Surfing from site to site, blindly clicking on links without being cautious is really stupid," Rosenblatt says. "You might as well go out and play in traffic, Web-wise."

That said, there are free security options to help you look both ways before clicking. Malwarebytes and avast! offer free trial versions of their respective antivirus software for Windows users, and AVG LinkScanner for Mac checks websites before they open.

Rosenblatt also recommends you update your Web browser to its latest version and run it with WOT,or Web of Trust. This community-based add-on uses a stoplight color scale to rate sites for safety. (Green means trusted, yellow means caution, and red means steer clear.) WOT works with various browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari.