FREE SOFTWARE FOR EVERY COMPUTER USER

Site Tools

Tools

(WYSIWYG) Webpage creators

 

MS FrontPage Express  Downloadable version.  Lite, but useful, version of FrontPage.  Very basic.

 

SeaMonkey: all-in-one Internet application suite, containing a web browser, a mail and newsgroups client, an HTML editor, web development tools, and an IRC chat client in a single software package. 

 

Nvu   Graphical Web Page authoring system.   For a tutorial on using Nvu to create web pages, go to thesitewizard.com.
Nvu is based on Mozilla's Composer, which is bundled with the Mozilla Suite (no longer available), a complete browser, email, IRC chat & web editor suite now known as SeaMonkey.
 

Trellian WebPage  This WYSIWYG web page editor is as easy to use as your favorite word processor

Suites

 

PBWorks:   Create a secure password protected Wiki.  Wikis are collaborative web pages designed for an easy and simple    method so users (students) can  work together.  Use a PBWorks to collaborate in the classroom or the research lab.  Great for sharing class notes, essays, journals or anything when you want students to work together.

 

Wetpaint   Easy tools for creating wiki web sites where the readers are also the writers.  Similar to PBWiki, but even easier to use.
Currently available in beta edition

 

Blogger  Setup blogs, Google account required.

 

Edublogs  Blogging for Teachers & Students

 

Zoho.com:  Productivity & collaboration tools.  Business apps as well.

 

Google Apps for Education: Online website and document creation tools offering real-time sharing and editing and compatibility. Google Apps Education Edition is free for academic institutions and includes a variety of tools to facilitate collaboration on campus.

 

Functional and File Compatible Office Suites

OpenOffice.org   A complete multiplatform productivity suite that is fully compatible with all major office suites including Microsoft Office.  Contains word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing and data base programs.

 

StarOffice Office Suite  While not free for individuals or businesses, the cost is minimal ($69.95) compared to other commercially available office suites.  However, there is  no licensing fee (free) for schools to use StarOffice Suite for Educational Institutions.  As an added bonus for schools, animated, project based tutorials are available for various grade levels for use in the classroom or for individual instruction. Now no teacher should be without a powerful, MS Office compatible, suite of productivity applications.

 

Thinkfree Online Office Suite  Create MS Office compatible documents using your browser.  Thinkfree Online allows you to type in your browser, and create or edit documents anywhere, anytime.  You can also convert existing documents to PDF format.

 

Google  Docs  Create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations from any web browser.  Allows access for multiple users. Must have a Google account.

PDF Creation & Editors


Photography

Portable Document Format Files (.pdf)

All PDF files are documents that can be viewed on any computer with a viewer such as Adobe Reader

 

PDF Online  Quickly and easily convert your documents into PDF files online from anywhere in the world.

 

Cometdocs  Free online file converter.  Upload file and retrieve through your email.

 

PDF Escape  Upload (from PC or web) and edit PDF files online.  Fill PDF form fields, add text or shapes, include links and even create new form fields.  Invite and collaborate on PDF files with others.  It’s like a simpler alternative for Google Docs except for PDF files.

 

PDF Creator  Use this print driver to create PDF files within any Windows applications.

 

PrimoPDF Creating 100% industry-standard PDF files. Simple to use and free of annoying ads.

 

PDF Hammer Edit PDF files online. Upload your PDF files to PDF Hammer from your Web browser, perform your edits, and then download back to your computer.

 

Pdf 995

  Create .pdf documents, however, a sponsor page in your web browser will appear each time you run the software.

The complete pdf995 suite offers more functionality since it is a combination of three applications, Pdf995, PdfEdit995 and Signature995.                  
 

Win2PDF  Win2PDF creates PDF files from any Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows x64, Windows XP, or Windows Vista application.  Free version prints an additional sheet.  Does not support Win95/98/ME.

 

PDFUnlock  Remove restrictions from PDF files online - it's easy and free.  Fill in "locked" forms.

 

PDFcalendarPRO: Free fillable Calendar, 2009 Printable PDF template.  Very useful!

Tools 
 
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Edit & Present Your Digital Photos

Picasa from Google: Instantly find, organize, edit and share all the pictures on your PC.

 

Paint.net:  Image and photo editing software.  Intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.

 

MS Photo Story: Intuitive (easy) way to create compelling slide shows from digital still images.

 

Picnick: Upload photos and edit online.

 

Windows Live Photo Gallery:  Adjust color and exposure.  Fix redeye.  Create panoramic views by stitching photos together.  Requires XP or higher.

 

PhotoResizer 1.06: Resize any photo for uploading to your web site.
 

VCW VicMan's Photo Editor 7.8: Resize any photo for uploading to your website.

 

PixenateOnline photo editor.  Fix red eye, enhance, lighten, enlarge/reduce, whiten, etc.  Highly recommended if editing a few pictures. 

 

Image Crush: Reduce image file size for the web.

Fotki:   Free, unlimited photo/video storage, no ads and control over image downloading.  Great for sharing  photos

DietJPEG: Reduce the file size of photos.  Make them "web ready".

 

 
PODCASTING
 
PodCasting with Gcast: Create your own audio broadcast,  easily record voice messages, mix in your favorite music, and share it all for the world to hear. 

 
Podbean: Easy, only three steps, non-technical way to create and publish a podcast.  Just signup and upload files.
 

Podomatic:  Create, find and share podcasts!

 

Phonecasting: Record and publish podcasts by uploading your podcast from your computer or calling and recording a podcast from your phone.

 
 Video & Audio

AVS Media:  Free DVD player. Play movie DVDs, video & audio files on your computer.

 

VideoLAN: VLC media player, is a portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, etc.) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
 

 

GOM Player: All features are easily accessible through a context menu, everything is a right-click away.  Support for most video and audio formats included.  Will play broken files and skip frames that are missing or damaged. Most common features built in such as media streaming from the internet and the ability to show subtitles when available.

 

Cinemaforge: Download online videos and convert to or from the most popular formats (mov, flv, avi, mpeg, wmv, etc.)

 

Video Spin: Create your own movie clips in minutes using your own videos and pictures for free. Similar to Movie Maker, but more features.

 

Audacity: Free audio editor. Record sounds, play sounds, import and export WAV, AIFF, MP3 files, and more.  Edit sounds using Cut, Copy and Paste (with unlimited Undo), mix tracks together, or apply effects to recordings.

File Storage

 
Expstudio Audio Editor:  Audio files editor that allows displaying a waveform image of an audio file, filtering, applying various audio effects, format conversion and more. Supports all major audio formats.

 

Freeplaymusic  Large library of royalty free music.

 

VideoDownlaodX: Download flash videos (Youtube, Teachertube, etc.) or convert to a useable video format (.avi,.mpeg, etc.)

 

Zamzar or KeepVid: Convert video files online.  No software to download.

 

aTube Catcher:  Download videos from over 100 video sharing sites and export to many formats (MPG,AVI,MP4,3GP,3G2,WMV,PSP,MOV,FLV) with the quality that you choose, also has templates, so you can encode your videos to standard formats as DVD,VCD,IPOD,PSP, etc. .

 
DVD Flick:  Burn video files onto a DVD that will play back on your DVD player, Media Center or Home Cinema Set.  Additional custom audio tracks, subtitles & a menu for easier navigation.  Excellent!
 
SUPER:  Multimedia Encoder and Player.  Encode full-length movies to any other format, including SWF and FLV.  Build 2009.35 is free.
 

ANY Video Converter Freeware: Video converter software that converts video files into the formats you need to watch on TV, load to a cell phone, put on a website, create a presentation, watch on your portable device and much more.

 

 
ONLINE FILE STORAGE
Live Skydrive  Up to 5GB of file storage. 

 

G.Space  Turn your GMail account into online file storage.  Requires Firefox browser.

 

Back

GMail Drive  GMail Drive creates a virtual file system on top of your Google GMail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your GMail account directly from inside Windows Explorer.

 
Dropbox2GB free.  Creates a folder on your computers to "share" files.  Can create public and shared folder for others to access if needed.
 

fileQube: No sign-up and no software to install. Just upload, organize and share.  Up to 150MB storage

 
Desktop Sharing
ShowMyPC:  ShowMyPC provides free and premium tools for Instant Collaboration to all users.  Software includes Desktop Sharing, Screen Recording, Remote PC access. The tools are community alternatives to WebEx and GotoMyPc among others.