Other free stuff

When most people mention "free software," the first thing that will come to mind is either "Warez" (hacked/cracked, illegal software) or Linux. Linux is a much better example, but - well, I'm not going into it, as there are so many versions and opinions on linux by people who are far more qualified to talk about it than I am that my input would not help. (Long sentince.) But aside from that, there is... free software.

I've put links to some on the Links page, including links to WordPerfect for the Mac, the MacOS (older versions,) and BeOS. Until you look around, you might not realize just what all is actually out there. In some cases (such as WordPerfect,) it's released freely - essentially legal Abandonware. In other cases, it's developed free of charge, or has ads in it.

Why?

So why is it free? First thought is that it's junk. Well, some is. But so is some paid software, so that's not the distinction. In some cases, it's just an older version the company has decided to release (again, like WordPerfect, or the first two Zork games.) In others, its software that was developed from the outset to be free (under OpenSource or the GNU licenses.) Some is harder to use, some is quite polished. Personal favourites in this category include the Mozilla browser (and its relatives, like Beonex,) OpenOffice, StarOffice... yes, that's right, office suites, and Eudora (in Light - limited, ad-free, or Sponsored - full, ad-based mode.)

All I can say is... check it out. Go to sites like download.com or Tucows and look around for Shareware or Freeware. Look at our Links page as well to get started.