FREE SOFTWARE FOR EVERY COMPUTER USER

Web Site Tools

Graphical (WYSIWYG) Webpage creators

MS FrontPage Express  Lite, but useful, version of FrontPage
 
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, a complete browser, email, IRC chat & web editor suite
 
Trellian WebPage  This WYSIWYG web page editor is as easy to use as your favorite word processor

Collaboration Tools

PBWiki   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 PBwiki 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

Office Suites

Fully 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.

 PDF Creation

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

Digital Photography

Organize & 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.
Pixenate Online 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".

Video/Audio Tools

AVS Media:  Free DVD player. Play movie DVDs, video & audio files on your computer.
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.
Freeplaymusic  Large library of royalty free music.
 

Online File Storage

Windows Live Skydrive  Up to 5GB of file storage.
 
G.Space  Turn your GMail account into online file storage.  Requires Firefox browser.
 
GMail Drive  GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem 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.
 
Yahoo! Briefcase  Store up to 30MB files online and then access them from anywhere.
 

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