Comments on: Free Software for Windows http://archgfx.net/blog/2006/geek/free-software-for-windows Austin web designer - Adam Freetly Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:54:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: adam http://archgfx.net/blog/2006/geek/free-software-for-windows#comment-266 adam Thu, 19 Jan 2006 16:07:35 +0000 http://www.archgfx.net/blog/?p=290#comment-266 glad to hear it! <a href="http://www.openswitch.org" rel="nofollow">Ben</a> alerted me that although development has been disconinued on Sygate personal firewall, it is still available <a href="http://100-downloads.com/" rel="nofollow">here</a>. glad to hear it!
Ben alerted me that although development has been disconinued on Sygate personal firewall, it is still available here.

]]> By: Brian G http://archgfx.net/blog/2006/geek/free-software-for-windows#comment-265 Brian G Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:52:28 +0000 http://www.archgfx.net/blog/?p=290#comment-265 hi. after reading your post I installed Picasa2 on my grandfathers computer. He just got his first and was having an awful time locating his photos and printing them. Picasa2 worked out being a life saver. hi.
after reading your post I installed Picasa2 on my grandfathers computer. He just got his first and was having an awful time locating his photos and printing them. Picasa2 worked out being a life saver.

]]> By: adam http://archgfx.net/blog/2006/geek/free-software-for-windows#comment-263 adam Tue, 17 Jan 2006 19:58:21 +0000 http://www.archgfx.net/blog/?p=290#comment-263 i do have an old student version of dreamweaver/flash/fireworks, and dreamweaver's site management is far superior to either Nvu or Filezilla. that said, i only have one site, so it doesn't matter much to me. and if you have more than one site, odds are you don't need this list. flash is old tech, and i don't see it being relavent for much longer. yes, i know, google video would seek to dispute that. fireworks, from my perspective, isn't worth it at all. when i need something gimp doesn't have, i fall back to an old copy of corel photopaint, but i hear photoshop elements is just as good. and yes, wordpress all the way. i think <a href="http://www.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow">wordpress.com</a>is a much better blogging platform for the uninitiated than blogger/blogspot. and i'm sticking to my guns on realplayer. when aol turns the corner, and open-sources winamp, maybe i'll change my mind. AFAIK, aceFTP and infranview, while useful, are closed source. i do have an old student version of dreamweaver/flash/fireworks, and dreamweaver’s site management is far superior to either Nvu or Filezilla. that said, i only have one site, so it doesn’t matter much to me. and if you have more than one site, odds are you don’t need this list.
flash is old tech, and i don’t see it being relavent for much longer. yes, i know, google video would seek to dispute that.
fireworks, from my perspective, isn’t worth it at all. when i need something gimp doesn’t have, i fall back to an old copy of corel photopaint, but i hear photoshop elements is just as good.

and yes, wordpress all the way. i think wordpress.comis a much better blogging platform for the uninitiated than blogger/blogspot.

and i’m sticking to my guns on realplayer. when aol turns the corner, and open-sources winamp, maybe i’ll change my mind.

AFAIK, aceFTP and infranview, while useful, are closed source.

]]> By: frank http://archgfx.net/blog/2006/geek/free-software-for-windows#comment-262 frank Tue, 17 Jan 2006 19:25:49 +0000 http://www.archgfx.net/blog/?p=290#comment-262 Adam, Over all I am on board with your picks, I am completely with Joel on the Real Player thing though. Personally, I use Firefox exclusively, and actively use open office, and pdf 995. I even teach a web maintenance class for non profits using Nvu, so I am a big supporter of Nvu as well. I would also add too the list - AceFTP for FTP needs, and Irfanview is not bad for photo resizing and such. With all of that said I still use Dreamweaver for my HTML development and Fireworks / Flash for most of my graphic work. Though I have to pay for them I find the added benefits and functions worth it for me. Most of that is due to the fact I routinely mess with / maintain / adjust / fix about 20 different web sites. Like Ben I am a big Wordpress fan and use it exclusive to blog. Stay strong, and be courageous Adam,

Over all I am on board with your picks, I am completely with Joel on the Real Player thing though.

Personally, I use Firefox exclusively, and actively use open office, and pdf 995. I even teach a web maintenance class for non profits using Nvu, so I am a big supporter of Nvu as well. I would also add too the list - AceFTP for FTP needs, and Irfanview is not bad for photo resizing and such.

With all of that said I still use Dreamweaver for my HTML development and Fireworks / Flash for most of my graphic work. Though I have to pay for them I find the added benefits and functions worth it for me. Most of that is due to the fact I routinely mess with / maintain / adjust / fix about 20 different web sites.

Like Ben I am a big Wordpress fan and use it exclusive to blog.

Stay strong, and be courageous

]]> By: adam http://archgfx.net/blog/2006/geek/free-software-for-windows#comment-261 adam Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:42:42 +0000 http://www.archgfx.net/blog/?p=290#comment-261 there's a lingering hatred out there for realnetworks from the dialup era that's no longer justified. all of the advertising can be opted out of, but most of those options are buried. real has done a lot to try to reverse that bad image, and the things they've given the community are tangible, not just window dressing. check out <a href="http://helixcommunity.org" rel="nofollow">helix community</a>. the content production, encoding, and serving tools they've made available FREELY (all senses of the word) are not available, even cheaply, from anyone else. yes, most windows based tools are geared towards windows media. that's called vendor lock in, and it's the very thing this list is meant to supplant. Real's codecs are the only high-compression codecs that are cross platform. (yeah, just try running windows media player on a mac, <a href="http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/13/075230" rel="nofollow">and it gets worse</a>. or any of them on a Legal linux install.) Real's streaming media server is the only one that's available without buying a server operating system. (OS X or Windows). not to mention, their player interface acknowledges that it's a 2D image that you click on, not a star trek phazer with metal buttons (but that's an interface rant for another time) there’s a lingering hatred out there for realnetworks from the dialup era that’s no longer justified. all of the advertising can be opted out of, but most of those options are buried.
real has done a lot to try to reverse that bad image, and the things they’ve given the community are tangible, not just window dressing. check out helix community. the content production, encoding, and serving tools they’ve made available FREELY (all senses of the word) are not available, even cheaply, from anyone else.
yes, most windows based tools are geared towards windows media. that’s called vendor lock in, and it’s the very thing this list is meant to supplant.
Real’s codecs are the only high-compression codecs that are cross platform. (yeah, just try running windows media player on a mac, and it gets worse. or any of them on a Legal linux install.)
Real’s streaming media server is the only one that’s available without buying a server operating system. (OS X or Windows).
not to mention, their player interface acknowledges that it’s a 2D image that you click on, not a star trek phazer with metal buttons (but that’s an interface rant for another time)

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