Note: in
order to make use of many of these free programs, you will need a
utility
to uncompress the downloaded files prior to installing them onto your
hard-drive.
PC/Windows
files with a name ending in .exe can be run as is, but those ending in
.zip need to be 'unzipped'. Free alternatives include: 7- Zip or Iceows. Another
excellent free tool for opening or
creating Zip and other
compressed files you find on the Net is PowerArchiver.
Windows ME and XP can unzip
zip-files without additional
software (but may want to try one of the free programs for additional
features). B1 Free Archiver works
on various platforms - Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. Supports most
popular formats - rar, zip, 7z, b1, etc. It's very handy - most actions
are performed with not more than 2-3 clicks.
Note
as well: except where
indicated, programs
on these pages are for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP etc. Mac, DOS,
Windows
3.1 (and other minority platform) software is labelled as such.
Life isn't fair.
Worth
checking out: Alan's
favourite
Links-- part of his Free
Software
for Education presentation. Other free stuff
compilations-PC Magazine's The Best Free
Software: 2012 and
MakeUseOf's 117 Best Free Windows
Software (Nov 2011)
For Mac-users, see
PC Magazine's (yes, PC Magazine!) Best Free Mac
Software 2012
Worth
reading: TechLearning's 50 Free Tools to Make Computing
Easier. (Free registration required). Or Extreme Tech's
April 2010: 35 Best Free Apps for
Any OS
Linux users: check this list of Linux
Must-have Programs
For
BC Teachers: The
Provincial Ministry
of Education has negotiated several province-wide software licenses.
Some can be installed throughout your school either for free, or in
other cases for a very modest fee. Examples include the All the Right
Type keyboarding tutorial and the ACDSee picture management program.
AppleWorks is a very good word processor/spreadsheet/graphics
combination with both Mac and Windows versions available for an
affordable $3.50 per computer.
Or
take a look at my
presentation on free
software for teachers...
