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Freeware A Realistic Alternative to Branded Software
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New business owners are almost always strapped for cash. Office equipment, paying the staff, licenses to trade, certification of products, patents on innovatory products, advertising, and lead generation - plus more - are just a few of the start-up expenses that a new business must face.
Certain expenses are not negotiable and simply must be paid up front, leaving the new business owner to decide what to do with the money that is left. Often the businessman when it comes to buying software tools simply cannot afford to pay for expensive applications. Nowadays, many of these are priced in the hundreds of dollars, especially if multiple user licenses will be needed.
Yet, for the good of the business, in choosing alternative packages output quality must not suffer. Documents must give a good first impression and any that were to appear unprofessional would send a message that the company is small, short of liquidity, and even probably untrustworthy. No business could afford that, so it is critical for the new business owner, who does not yet have a solid set of clients or buyers, to exude professionalism in every aspect of his business.
At this point we would like to bring in a white night in the form of freeware.
Increasingly freeware is providing a viable business althernative to branded products from the main software suppliers such as Microsoft, and Adobe.
The concept of freeware has its history in the early days of the personal computer. At that time, computers were hulking machines, much more impressive for their sheer size and mass than for what they could actually do. The self-taught engineers of Silicon Valley were much more interested in perfecting the hardware than in ensuring practical usability for the home market. This opened up a niche for self-taught engineers in other parts of the country who, having invested in the machines, were eager to see what they could make them do.
So they wrote programs and released them to their friends and acquaintances. As they acquired modems and began logging into BBS's (the precursor to modern internet forums), they began to distribute their programming more widely. Shareware began to develop, in which a program was released for free with certain features disabled, and by sending a small amount of money (usually $5-$10) to the programmer, the user would receive a code to unlock those features.
A reasonable alternative to costly software applications is freeware. Freeware has its roots in the earliest days of personal computers. Back then, computers were impressive to look at, but not so impressive to use. Computer designers in those days were largely self-taught, experimenting in their home garages in Silicon Valley. Their interest was in building a machine that would work. As the early computers reached other areas of the country, others took on the task of developing programs, giving the computer a new level of functionality.
The early programmers wrote software just for themselves and their friends. Gradually the programs were released to a wider audience through the use of BBS's (the early forerunner of today's forums). They were often released with a few key features disabled. For five or ten dollars sent to directly to the programmer, the user received a code that unlocked the full functionality of the program. The disabled versions of programs were known as shareware.
An underground revolution had begun, with a new market created within those weary of spending ever-more money on software of ever decreasing value. It is the Freeware designers that have stepped up and are meeting the new demand. Today in many instances their work is admirable, in fact sometimes it is even superior to the paid alternatives.
Most freeware is now released as "open source" meaning that the code is available to anyone who cares to use it. This allows any programmer to infinitely customize the standard/original sofware experience, and even to release his own adaptations for public use.
Freeware programs that are useful for home-based businesses are numerous.
Open Office (www.openoffice.org) packages a word processor, spreadsheet and database program with a multimedia presentation program and even a truly stunning graphics package. Mozilla's offerings (www.mozilla.com), notably the Firefox web browser and Thunderbird e-mail, are superior in innumerable ways, particularly in stability and safety.
Gimp photo editing (gimp-win.sourceforge.net), Paint.Net, and Free Accounting Software rounds off the list of what the average home-based business owner should need.
Freeware offers a reasonable alternative to costly software options. The programs are more and more comparable (and compatible) with the branded software, and freeware allows the user almost unlimited flexibility to customize his experience. For the new business owner, who is struggling to appropriately allocate limited resources, freeware is often the best choice.
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