Computer Tips From A Computer Guy

Best Free Open Source Software Programs for Windows

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 04:51 AM PDT

The best quality commercial software can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars. If you can’t afford this expensive software, you can often find free open source software with the same features for free.

OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org is a suite of open source software programs that include a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a mathematics program, a database creator and a presentation creator. It has multiple language support and saves files in an international open standard format.

OpenOffice also supports a wide range traditional document and image file formats and can export files to other formats. OpenOffice.org will run under Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista and 7.

Inkscape

Inkscape is a free open source graphics program that uses Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a graphics standard developed by W3C. It has many graphics editing features similar to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw.

This intuitive software program is very easy for even the amateur graphic artist to use. You can use Inkscape to create logos, artwork, icons, graphics for websites and more. Inkscape is officially supported under Windows 2000, 2003 and XP, but will usually also run under Windows Vista and 7.

GIMP

GIMP is a powerful free open source image processing program that has tools for photo editing, drawing and other image creation tasks. It’s comparable to Photoshop in its features, which include a clone, brush, pencil, airbrush, fill, crop and shape tools. It supports a wide range of image file formats, including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, ICO, BMP and more.

It supports advanced image editing through layers and channels, and can be used to create animations. It also supports plugins. The latest version of GIMP is compatible with Windows XP SP2 and Vista. It’s not stated whether Windows 7 is supported, although GIMP may run on the operating system in some cases. Older versions of GIMP are available for older versions of Windows.

FileZilla

FileZilla is a free open source FTP file management software program. The FileZilla client is very effective both for uploading and downloading files. There is also a FileZilla server application.

FileZilla features a tabbed user interface, resume and large file transfer support, keep alive and remote file editing and search. It supports FTP, FTP over SSL/TLS and SFTP. It is also available in multiple languages. FileZilla is supported under Windows XP, Vista and 7.

7-Zip

7-Zip is free open source software that supports packing and unpacking of compressed file formats. It can both pack and unpack 7z, ZIP, GZIP, TAR, BZIP2, WIM and YZ file formats. It can unpack file formats such as RAR, ISO, CAB, DEB, FAT, NTFS and many more.

7-Zip supports AES-256 encryption in ZIP and 7z formats. The software is free for both personal and commercial use. 7-Zip will run under Windows 98, ME, NT, XP, 2000, 2003, 2008, Vista and 7.

Find even more free software programs by reading 10 Essential Windows Freeware Programs.

Copyright © 2007
Online Tech Tips.
Aseem Kishore (digitalfingerprint: a59a56dce36427d83e23b501579944fcakmk1980 (209.85.224.88) )

Post from:

Best Free Open Source Software Programs for Windows

Add Effects in Windows Live Movie Maker

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 05:10 AM PDT

Adding effects in Windows Live Movie Maker is a great way to enhance your videos. Windows Live Movie Maker has many features not available in the regular Windows Movie Maker, including a simpler interface and support for more file types.

Windows Live Movie Maker requires Windows Vista or 7 to run. Your computer must also have a 2.4 GHz processor, 1 GB of memory, and a graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0c or later and Pixel Shader 2.0 or later.

Installing Windows Live Movie Maker

To install Windows Live Movie Maker, you must install Windows Live Essentials. Download and run the Windows Live Essentials installation file, then click Choose the programs you want to install. Select Photo Gallery and Movie Maker, then select Install.

Adding Effects

Start Windows Live Movie Maker, click the Home tab, then click Add videos and photos. Find the picture or video you’d like to add an effect to, then click Open.

Photo and video files will appear as film strips in the primary pane on the right. Click the Visual Effects tab, then mouse over the effects to see them in the preview window on the left.

Click on the scroll bar on the right side of the effects ribbon to see additional effects. Each time you hover the mouse cursor over a new effect, the video will start playing from the beginning in the preview window with that effect in place. Keep in mind that certain effects, such as Fade in From Black and Fade Out to Black, are only applied to the beginning or end of your video clip.

If you don’t want to add the effect to your entire video clip, you’ll need to cut it. Click the play button in the preview window. Continue playing your video until you reach the point where you want to make a cut. When you’ve found the right point, click the pause button in the preview window. Then right click on the film strip and click Split. Do this in each place on your video that you’d like to cut to create additional separate video clips.

Click on the video clip you’d like to add an effect to. Then click the effect in the ribbon toolbar above the preview. Preview the video clip to ensure that the effect has been applied. Each effect will be applied only to one video clip when you click it. That way, you can apply a separate effect to each separate video clip in your video.