Free Software For Dummies [Paperback]

Mary Leete (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 2005

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

"on-the-mark descriptions of how to get started using the basic features in much of this [free] software." (Chicago Tribune, July 24, 2005)

From the Back Cover

Find great programs for Windows®, Mac OS® X, or Linux®

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (July 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764595792
• ISBN-13: 978-0764595790
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,380,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book pays for itself over and over..., July 31, 2005

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Free Software For Dummies (Paperback)

Are you looking for computer software to write letters, create spreadsheets, manipulate images, or surf the web, and you don't have hundreds (or more realistically thousands) of dollars to send off to a certain computer company in the Pacific Northwest? There are very good alternatives out there, and best of all, it's FREE! Check out Free Software For Dummies by Mary Leete.

Contents:
Part 1 - Plunging Into Free Software: How to Use Tons of Powerful, Free Software - Fast!; The Best Places to Get Free Software
Part 2 - Using Powerful, Free Office Software: Word Processing with OpenOffice.org Writer; Formatting Your Writer Documents; Creating Spreadsheets with OpenOffice.org Calc; Juggling Numbers in Calc; Building Databases with OpenOffice.org Base; Creating Reports from Your Database
Part 3 - Exploring the Internet - More Easily, More Securely, and More Featurefully: Surfing and Searching the Web Securely with Mozilla Firefox; Reading E-mail with Mozilla Thunderbird; Publishing Your Own Web Pages with OpenOffice.org Writer; Enjoying Podcasts with iPodder; Making Free Phone Calls with Skype
Part 4 - Using Powerful, Free Multimedia Software: Creating Graphics with OpenOffice.org Draw; Making Presentations with OpenOffice.org Impress; Digital Imaging with the GIMP; Drawing and Filtering Images in the GIMP; Drawing Diagrams with Dia; Creating 3D Animations with Blender; Recording Sound with Audacity
Part 5 - More Powerful, Free Software: Learning with Free Educational Software; Fun with Arcade, Simulation, Puzzle, Strategy, and 3D Games; A Friendly, Free, and Powerful Alternative to Windows XP
Part 6 - The Parts of Tens: Ten Lists of More Great Free Software and Stuff: A Directory; Ten Unreasonable Advantages of Free Software
Appendix: Installing Programs Using KPackage and Installation Wizards; Index

There's a pretty good chance you've heard of some of these packages even before you read the book. Firefox for web browsing has been all the rage, and GIMP is pretty well-known in the graphics area. But maybe you didn't know (if you're not an IT geek already) that OpenOffice.org has a office productivity software suite that comes very close to all the functionality you'd get in Microsoft Office. It even creates output files compatible with Office! Why spend hundreds if it's not necessary? Do you need diagramming software like Visio but can't afford a copy for home? Check out Dia. In the entertainment section, you can even avoid buying Microsoft's Flight Simulator and Flight Gear instead. Worried about not having enough scenery for your flying adventures? Does three DVDs worth of scenery make you feel better? :-) Tired of running three different instant messaging clients? Run just one, Gaim, that interfaces with all three services.

While you could write complete books to teach you how to run any one of these major software packages (OpenOffice.org, GIMP, Firefox), Free Software For Dummies gives you just enough information to allow you to become productive in short order. If you want to wring every last ounce of functionality from the software, you'll have to explore on your own (or buy another book). But it's nice that you're not left with "here's a package, here's where you download it, next!". There's a nice balance between letting you know the software exists and giving you some education on how to use it.

Going through this book, I was once again surprised to see how much of the free software competes with packages from Microsoft. A book like this must make them a little uneasy should everyone figure out that there are alternatives. While I know about many of these software alternatives (and use a number of them myself), this book motivated me to check out a few more. Very good stuff, and very well written. The book will pay for itself the first time you download a software system and save the cost of the "other" choice... Recommended read.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to freeware, July 24, 2005

By 

J. Karpen (Fairfield, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Free Software For Dummies (Paperback)

Free Software for Dummies is a perfect introduction to the universe of free software. It not only points readers to the best software available but also includes a short guide to using each application. I was pleased that it covers the Macintosh platform as well as Windows and Linux.

Reading this book, you begin to appreciate how you can do most things without needing the standard commercial software. These are powerful programs. And often they have advantages. For one thing, the programs that are the focus of the book are open source, meaning that you're free to tweak the software and add features you'd like.

Some of the programs covered are already quickly becoming mainstream, such Skype and Firefox. Others, such as the office and graphics applications, deserve a much wider audience.

This book serves an important role in bringing these valuable resources to a wider audience.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Free is Nice, Virus Free is Really, Really Nice, August 21, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Free Software For Dummies (Paperback)

It's Sunday evening. Beginning Friday night I started fighting with a windows machine that somehow got totally screwed up with I don't know how many pieces of bad stuff.

The background screen - which used to be green grass, clouds and such - now is all black with a sign that reads 'WARNING - Your Computer is Infected, Click here to order our program to fix it.' Like I'm really going to buy software from someone who deliberately messed up my machine. Yes, they somehow hid the tabs on the Display Properties screen that allow me to reset the background. The other problems, let me just say CoolWebSearch. If you know what that means, well....

This afternoon I took time off to go to a movie. I walked into a book store and found this book. Just about every other page says 'more secure,' 'no viruses,' etc. I've got to say that I don't much care about the free aspects, but it was a really lousy weekend. I'm having to start over from scratch, reload Windows, reload the aps, etc.

While it was reloading, I turned to Chapter 23 in this book, 'A Friendly, Free and Powerful Alternatives to Windows XP. The last paragraph on that page starts out - ' No worries about viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, or anything else that may infest a Windoes Computer. The sick machine will have finished reloading Windows XP in approximately 31 minutes. While it sits there, I'm going get the Friendly, Free and Powferful etc. system and give it a try.

I don't need more weekends like this. This is what I needed out of this book. You may be more interested in the free applications, games, graphics or other packages. It's all here.