Posted 12 May 2008 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl
Over the years, I have brought all kinds of free software and open source software to your attention. There are many software options that can make your life a lot easier AND you don’t have to pay for them!
The Geek Girl’s Software Pack includes what I consider to be a solid set of free software that every computer user should have installed on their system – whether they are computer beginners or experts!
OpenOffice provides excellent Word, Excel and PowerPoint equivalents that are fully compatible with the Microsoft file formats. It is easy to use and has extensive support, including free templates. It also comes in a portable version for your flash drive.
Posted 05 May 2008 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl
I upgraded my computer system in January – and initially, I was upset because the laptop I wanted only came with Vista. I heard the horror stories and was not looking forward to using Vista, but I did it, anyway!
After playing around with it for a couple of months, I have found some tweaks that make it a lot better operating system, even if it means I lose some of those pretty visualizations Vista is known for.
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Posted 10 Dec 2007 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl
Here’s a listing of this fall’s Geek Girl posts! I hope you find something that is helpful or at least educational! 
Posted 08 Oct 2007 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl
I’ve been a Pidgin fan since it was called “Gaim”. This multi-protocol chat client is not as feature heavy as some of the others out there, like Trillian, but gets the job done efficiently and wrapped in a pretty package!
Pidgin is an instant messaging program for Windows, Linux, BSD, and other Unixes. You can talk to your friends using AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr.
Posted 25 Jun 2007 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl
If you are working on a budget or just like tinkering, these programs are great replacements for Windows software. I’ve used quite a few of them (look for a * next to the ones I’ve used) and starting late July, I’ll be doing reviews of some of them.
photo credit: afsilva
Anti-Virus:
* AVG Free – http://free.avg.com/ww.download
* Avast! Antivirus – http://www.avast.com/
PDF Reader:
* Foxit Reader – http://www.foxitsoftware.com/
Media Players:
* VLC – http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Media Player Classic – http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/
Web Browsers:
* Firefox- http://www.getfirefox.com
* Opera – http://www.opera.com
This is a preview of
Great Open Source and/or Free Replacements for Windows Software
.
Read the full post (128 words, 3 images, estimated 31 seconds reading time).
Posted 09 May 2007 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl
Each of the individual instant message clients have their pros and cons, but if you are just an IM purist (like me) or just don’t want to be bothered with juggling 2-3-4-5 or more IM clients at a time, then Pidgin 2.0 might be a great option for you.
What is Pidgin 2.0?
Pidgin (formally known as Gaim) is an instant messaging program for Windows, Linux, BSD, and other Unixes. You can talk to your friends using AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, and Zephyr.
