Top Eight Free Business Applications |
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Written by Rick Winkler
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Monday, 10 March 2008 |
Finding quality software for use in a business can be difficult and expensive. Many applications that are free are only free for home or personal use. There are, however, many quality applications that are both free and able to be used in a business. Here is my list of the top eight free applications that can be used in a business:
| 8. SpiceWorks - SpiceWorks has many features that are appealing to a business. One of my favorite features is its ability to track a monitor software licensing usage. This information can be used to make sure that your business is properly licensing software which can be a huge challenge for any company. |
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7. Notepad++ - There are many instances where a simple text editor is needed. Notepad++ is simply the best one available. Once you start using it, regular old Notepad will feel like a dinosaur.
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| 6. KeePass Password Safe - It can be difficult to keep track of all the passwords you need just to do your job on a daily basis. KeePass Password Safe is a password vault that allows you to securely manage your passwords. |
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5. FileZilla - FileZilla is a free FTP client. If you still need to transfer file the old fashioned way, FileZilla is one of the best clients you can use. It even supports secure connections via SFTP and FTPS.
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| 4. Spybot - Search & Destroy - Spybot - Search & Destroy is a great malware protection program. Many free programs in this category restrict their use for home or for personal use only. SpyBot S&D doesn't have this restriction so you can keep all the machines in the office protected. |
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3. FireFox - FireFox is an award-winning web browser. It has great set of features and can be customized and can be extend through the use of plugins.
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2. 7zip - One of the most common programs that I find are improperly licensed in businesses is WinZip. Most of my customers don't realize it is against the licesnsing agreement to continue to use the program after the trial period. You can completely forget about this issue with 7zip. Not only is it free, but it also supports many more file types than WinZip.
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1. OpenOffice.org - OpenOffice is an great alernative to Microsoft Office. It can even read and write Microsoft Office files. While Microsoft Office still has its place in the business, OpenOffice.org can accomplish most of the same goals for free. With Microsoft Office being the most expensive package average employees need, this free alternative can save your business a lot of money.
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Did you notice the trend? Most of these products are not only free, but are also Open Source. Look for a new set of articles in the coming weeks that explore what this means to the small businesses.
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