Free+and+Portable+Software

=Free and Portable Software=

This list originated from a discussion about student laptops, [|outlined here.]

Most of the software listed here is free and portable - meaning it will run on Windows, Mac and Linux. It has all been used and tested in my high school Computer Technology and Computer Science classes. Using free, portable software allows my students to use the same applications at home as in school. Free software also tends to be more standard and easier to learn than commercial applications.

I use exclusively free software for all my work (except on rare occasions). I find it provides a lot of freedom beyond the pure monetary issues. I don't need to worry about updates and patches, I have fewer compatibility problems, and if I want to change to a different application it's easy.

Dave_Mulkey@fis.edu, 25 May 2011

**Download Links**
The links below will take you to a web-site where the software can be downloaded. Take care that you download the correct application for your operating system (platform). You might also want to look for a different language than English. If you want PORTABLE versions, to run from a USB stick without installation, see the information below about PortableApps.

[|Scribus] || Open Office is free, popular, 95% MS compatible Scribus is a desktop publishing program, with excellent page-layout tools || [|Seamonkey] || Free, popular, supports all web standards Seamonkey is similar, plus a web-page editor . || [|Hotmail], [|web.de] || No installation required There are many, many free web-based email services available. . || [|Noodle Tools] [|Evernote] || Noodle Tools for citations Evernote is a free service that stores research notes online (using their server) so they are always available It has a local Windows App, but works online in any OS. . || [|FoxIt reader]
 * **//Task//** || **//Software//** || **//Further Information//** ||
 * **Office**
 * - Word-processing**
 * - Spreadsheets**
 * - Presentations** || [|Open Office]
 * **Web Browser** || [|Firefox]
 * **Email** || [|Mailbox.fis.edu]
 * **Research** || Web Browser
 * **Reading Documents** || [|Adobe Reader]

MS Readers for: [|Word docs] [|PowerPoint files] [|Excel tables] || These are all free downloads Adobe is a standard tool used by virtually everyone Foxit reader is a freeware alternative to Adobe - it loads faster but is not 100% compatible

MS Readers are free downloads from Microsoft, and allow anyone to READ MS Office documents This ensures compatibility in case students need to read a Microsoft Office document from some web-site . || [|Picassa] [|Google Photos] || xnView is simple and does good photo-retouching Picassa is connected to Google photo-hosting service There are many other free applications available. . || [|Apple iMovie] [|Videospin] (Win) || MovieMaker is free and very easy to use, but the results are not as nice as iMovie. iMovie is cheap, but not free. There are very few free video editing programs, and those few don't really work very well. Videospin is free and good, but only runs in Windows. . || . || Google docs Wikis (wikispaces) || Primary Pad does not require an account or registrations. You will need to make a Google account or a Wikispaces account to use them. . || MyMaths Atomic Learning || We have site-licenses for these, and it's possible to arrange for other site-licenses. That's not free, but the site-licenses tend to be inexpensive per-user, and easy to distribute to the students. . || Inkscape Gimp Paint.net(Windows) PaintBrush (Mac) Open Office Draw || Pinta is a straightforward and capable bit-mapped graphics program for drawing and photo touch-ups Inkscape is a vector-graphics drawing program, good for drawing cartoons and advertisements. Gimp is very powerful - a Photshop clone Open Office draw is a good solution for technical diagrams, like those required in math and science . || Eigenmath (CAS) Geogebra || Calc is a spreadsheet that is Excel compatible Eignmath does math calculations and formulas Geogebra does geometry simulations and draws graphs . || Blogs (blogspot) Wikis (wikispaces) [|Weebly] || We have a site license for Studywiz Blogs and wikis are free and teachers can set them up to suit their special needs Weebly is free and easy to use. You can make web-pages AND blogs. ||
 * **Photo Editing** || [|xnView]
 * **Video Editing** || [|MS MovieMaker]
 * **Sound editing** || Audacity || Audacity is a very popular freeware program, that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It's simple, does a good job, has plenty of features and creates good results.
 * **Collaborative writing** || PrimaryPad
 * **Online learning**
 * and practice** || Rosetta Stone
 * **Drawing** || Pinta
 * **Calculations**
 * Math Graphs** || Open Office Calc
 * **Distributing class assignments** || Studywiz

Going PORTABLE
There are two different meanings for "portable":
 * 1) works on many different platforms (operating systems)
 * 2) works on many different computers without reinstalling - runs from a USB stick

We are interested in the second meaning. If we use PORTABLE Apps, we can copy them onto a USB stick, then run the programs on any computer that's available - well, any computer with the same OS. So if you put a Windows copy of Open Office onto a USB stick, then it should run at school, at home, at a friend's house, etc.

PORTABLE Apps are slightly different than normal applications, because they don't actually get "installed" on the computer. That means there is no information stored inside the computer (e.g. Windows Registry) - it's all on the USB stick. That sounds good. Unfortunately, the PORTABLE Apps don't run as well as the normal ones. Still, if you need the freedom to move around from computer to computer, it's a good thing.

You can find PORTABLE versions of your programs as follows:

> [] (Mac OSX) - if you're lucky, you'll find what you need..
 * 1) Google search for [Portable Open Office] or [Portable XNview], etc.
 * 2) Have a look at [|PortableApps.com](Windows) or [] (Linux) or
 * 1) Ask a nice teacher (or IT support person) whether they have a CD with the apps you need.
 * 2) If the teacher or IT support person is REALLY nice, they might do the installation for you.