Something for nothing.

Since my original ‘Tao of Doc‘ post has been riding high in the Knitware top ten … I thought it was high time I did a follow up.

The subject is … something for nothing. What software would you have if money was no object … and how would that compare to software that was totally free? In my list the free stuff comes top, of course!

Not possible? Prepare to be amazed … this is the Tao of Doc (2) …

OK, let’s get the list making out the way first (you won’t be bothered to create your own), so we’ll have to work with mine. What’s surprising are the results …

Most impressive for me, are the brands that cross categories … not only are they multi platform (mac & pc), the free options also appear in the ‘pay’ list. Does that prove that you don’t have to pay big bucks to get good software?

Special mention has to go to Apple and Google, who clearly understand this arena … they’re top brands but they’re giving it away!

In the early days of the Internet this was probably considered business insanity. But A&G have not only broken the mould, they’ve gone on to set the benchmark in most software categories.

Even their ‘pay’ software like Final Cut is massively cheaper than it’s rivals (Avid). I just wish they would bring out a Photoshop alternative.

Try making your own list and see what comes up … in the meantime some links to my favourite free software …

For Mac

Burn - cd/dvd burning software

GIMPshop - the closet thing to free Photoshop

OpenOffice - MS alternative

For PC

CDBurnerXP - cd/dvd burning software

Paint.Net - alternative to Photoshop

Picasa - iPhoto for the PC crowd

Tags: Burn, CDBurnerXP, GIMPshop, Picasa