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Of The Villages

 

News & Notes

Microsoft Outlook (Save $110)E-mail is one of the most important programs you can have. Microsoft Outlook handles that and more. Sure, it’s your inbox. But it also stores your contacts, calendar and to-do list.

Going with an alternative doesn’t mean giving up that functionality. Just try Spicebird. It handles e-mail like Outlook. And it organizes your contacts, calendar and to-do list. It also throws in instant messaging. So, you can easily collaborate with others.

Microsoft Office is the standard for productivity software. Almost everyone use it. It does word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and more. But so does OpenOffice.org. And it’s free.

On top of that, OpenOffice.org is compatible with Microsoft Office. So, you can send documents to friends, family and co-workers. And you’ll know they’ll be able to open them.

Staying on top of your personal finances is important. It’s also a lot of work. Having a good personal finance program is essential. Many people use Quicken. But GnuCash is just as powerful.

Use it to record financial transactions. Track bank accounts, investments and more. And tie it all together into handy and detailed reports.

Professional quality graphic design takes a skillful artist. And that artist needs really good graphics software. These people often use programs like Illustrator or CorelDRAW. They are great, but expensive.

Inkscape is an open source program for creating scalable vector graphics. That means graphics that can be enlarged without losing quality. It can be used to create logos, icons, Web sites and much more.

Photographers and artists know the importance of a good image editor. Many of them turn to Photoshop. It can work wonders in the right hands. And it’s the most expensive program on the list.

GIMP can handle nearly any image-editing task. It has an impressive set of tools that easily compares to Photoshop. Edit photos, create original art and lot more.

Wait a second. ITunes is already free. Why would you need a free alternative? Well, iTunes is a great program. I use it every day. If you have an iPod or iPhone, it’s the one for you.

But there are other phones and MP3 players out there. And iTunes supports none of them. That’s where Songbird comes in. It works with almost any MP3 player. It also handles smartphones like the Palm Pre and Motorola Droid. And it looks and feels like iTunes. So, you’re already used to it.

Using all of these alternatives could save you $1,600 or more. Not bad.

Cost: Free