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Learn What is Available on the Net for Little or No Money

As students you might decide that if you have no money, you cannot get what you need! This is simply not true, particularly when it comes to software. In recent years there has been an explosion of open source, shareware and freeware software on the market. It’s important to know the differences in the terms so that you know what is expected when you download a product that appears to be free, but may not be. The following meanings should help:

Open Source Software: This are programs whose source code is available to the public for downloading, modification, or enhancements and can be re-distributed to anyone without it violating copyright laws. An open source program can be developed into a commercial paid product while having a free one available too. It’s important to understand, open source does not mean free. It means it was developed under a philosophy of open sharing of code.

Shareware: This software you must pay to use after an initial free trial period. Therefore, it is free, but only for a period of time.

Freeware: Copyrighted software that is made available to use for free.

The essential student toolkit for a bargain hunter should include freebies in all these categories.

In Open Source software, students should download and use:

Firefox: This is the best Internet browser ever made! If you are going to be researching multiple websites, the tabbed feature cannot be beat! It allows you to open up multiple tabbed pages instead of having to open a whole new browser to look at a different URL. This saves tons of time! You can download Firefox at www.mozilla.com

Firefox Add-ons: Firefox comes with a ton of add-ons. I would look to see what suits your browsing needs, but definitely try out the color-coding for the tabbed pages. You can get Firefox add-ons at http://www.mozilla.com/add-ons/.

TiddlyWiki: This is a little known java application that is very hot in developer circles. Basically, it is an entire website in one file. Why would a student want that? It becomes a portable notebook and can be put on a USB drive to make WikiOnAStik. You can get tiddlywiki at www.tiddlywiki.com. You can use it with the portable version of Firefox too, which can also be loaded on a USB drive and taken anywhere. You can download TiddlyWiki at http://www.tiddlywiki.com/. In Shareware, a student should download and use:

Ad-Aware: This application checks your hard drive for spyware. It’s important that students download this on any pc or laptop they have and weekly check for invasive programs and remove them. If not, they accumulate and slow down the machines and sometimes even crash them. Ad-Aware can be downloaded from www.lavasoft.com.

SpyBot: This application also searches for spyware, but it looks at different programs than Ad-Aware and should be used in conjunction with Ad-Aware. SpyBot can be downloaded from www.spybot.com.

In the Freeware category, students should download and use:

Adobe Acrobat Reader: The reader is used to view files in pdf format, and much of the content on the Internet used Adobe pdf format. You can download the reader at www.adobe.com.

Zone Alarm: This is a free firewall to stop hackers from getting into your pc. Maybe students don’t think they need this protection but in this day and age, it’s better to be safe than sorry. You can get Zone Alarm at www.zonelabs.com.

McAfee FreeScan: Detects thousands of viruses on your machine and cleans it. It is the free version of the heftier McAfee virus protection products. You can get it at http://us.mcafee.com/.

Now, students adore their music. Ever since Napster’s infamous court cases where the parents of some students got sued for illegal downloads, you’d think this type of service would be defunct. Actually, students are still aware of other websites, like LimeWire, that have peer-to-peer file sharing systems in place. So, parents and students: beware. You cannot download a copyrighted song legally. There are bands that post their songs on these as free music, but be careful if the song is from a big name artist. You may think you are getting something for free but in the end you or your parents may end up paying for it. So, download wisely and keep your pc safe.

Article source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/