The Open Source movement continues strongly, and with it comes a greater number of more powerful free tools and applications. After a long week of scouring the web for the best free programs, I’ve compiles a list below where you will find a great selection of tools and applications for those in the IT/Development and Business.
Open Office is a free and open source with applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases. If your looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office products, OpenOffice is the way to go.
Skype is an extremely popular (and in my view the best) tool to communicate with anyone on the internet for free. You can also dial to phone and landlines for very cheap. A must have tool for any freelancers.
CC Publisher allows you to tag video and audio files with information and licenses, they also allow free file hosting for certain audio and video files. Why not your next meeting for those who missed it?
Nmap an open source (license) utility for network exploration or security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime.
Graph is a free tool made for graphing mathematical points that can be copied to most other programs. It can also handle many math equations. Great for copying into word to send to your boss.
The free and open source alternative to photoshop. Though not quite as powerful, the GIMP is quite capable of sprucing up your documents, images, presentations etc.
Inkscape is a free vector editing graphic program (a rival to the expensive Adobe Illustrator), great for touching up or making that company logo. Or drawing inappropriate cartoons of your boss.
Blender is a really cool free tool that lets you build and shape 3-d objects and animations. Great for when your supposed to be working and want to try something fun.
Free online tool that generates a full marketing report of a website, creating suggestions and also allowing you to compare your data to competitor websites.
Pingability is a free application that will monitor a website of your choice for as long as you like, ensuring you are aware of any down time that occurs.
Audacity is a free and open source program that allows you to create and edit sound files, this can be useful for setting up presentations or mock-ups.
TrueCrypt is a free open-source disk encryption software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux. And there you have it, tools to surely help any IT person or Developer.
