ENTREPRENEUR/STARTUP SPECIAL....Free Useful Alternatives To Overpriced Software

Free Useful Alternatives To Overpriced Software

Buying software can really pinch a small startup or entrepreneur.

Some free alternatives to paid software that can save money without sacrificing functionality are:

Office Suites
Apache OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org)
Available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, OpenOffice is one of the most widely used alternatives to Microsoft Office. You can use it for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations & database management on any number of computers. There is no license of any kind involved in the installation.
ThinkFree Office (www.thinkfree.com)
This office suite works completely within a web browser — you don't need to download & install any software. The free account gives you 1GB of online storage per user to save documents. It keeps backing up files as you work, so even if the browser crashes, or is accidentally closed, the document is not lost.
Kingsoft Office Free (http://goo.gl/WKYSc)
Available only for Windows, this complete office suite is a surprisingly small download (37MB). It includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation creator with a built-in PDF converter. It also has built in email functionality and a tabbed interface that makes it easy to work with multiple documents.
Zoho Suite
www.zoho.com
Zoho is a great place to start — they offer a free online suite of collaboration, productivity and business applications. Apart from a complete office suite, Zoho offers email, web conferencing, chat, calendar, planner, remote assistance, bookkeeping, customer relationship management & invoicing programs — all for free and everything works within a web browser.
Operating System
www.ubuntu.com
Ubuntu has some unquestionable advantages, even over other free versions of Linux. for starters, it has modest hardware requirements and therefore, runs quite well on older PCs. Second, you can simply download and write the OS to a Live CD - which enables you to run Ubuntu from your CD drive. This way, you can try out Ubuntu without making any changes to your system for as long as you want. Thirdly, it's compatible with most popular software that you already use and some great free software (like OpenOffice) is bundled with it. Finally, Ubuntu has a vibrant user community and very helpful forums where you can head to for any issues.
Productivity
Money Management Gnu Cash (www.gnucash.org; Windows, OS X & Linux) is a really great free program that helps you manage your finances. It has a checkbook-style interface and supports multiple currencies, scheduled transactions, multiple accounts and can even generate customised reports of spending with detailed graphs.
Free Cloud Backup
There are multiple services that offer free cloud storage — Microsoft's Skydrive, Dropbox, Google Drive & Box.net. Without spending a single Rupee, you can get up to 50GB of free space. Some even offer advanced functionality like collaboration, selective file sharing, in-browser editing & mobile apps to access files on the go.
Portable Apps
www.portableapps.com
Portable Apps are a great way to carry your favourite programs, bookmarks & settings wherever you go. There is a vast selection of programs available on the website — all the usual ones (browsers, games, office suites, chat clients, security tools) are there. Everything is free, no catch, no adware, no spyware & no time limits.
Collaboration
www.scribblar.com
If you have people working from home or from different locations, try Scribblar. It’s a free interactive online whiteboard that a group of people can use to collaborate on a project. It takes just 30 seconds to sign up and get started after which you can invite participants. Participants can also associate their Skype IDs with the account. After a room is created, all users can text or speak to each other, upload documents and work on the same project in real-time.
Email Clients
Mozilla ThunderBird
This free cross-platform (Windows/ MAC/Linux) Email program supports multiple accounts and comes with a built-in RSS reader. It also includes enterprise-grade security, powerful search features and spam filter with whitelist. But the biggest advantage is that you can install numerous extensions for added functionality.
Windows Live Mail
This free desktop Email client from Microsoft is the successor to Outlook Express. It supports multiple mail accounts, has a built in RSS reader, syncs with Windows Live contacts and has a built-in calendar. Apart from the usual spam filters, it also includes a phishing filter to protect against malicious links. 

Hitesh Raj Bhagat & Karan Bajaj ET120711