Maximedia Recommends

Free programs

For word processing

Try LibreOffice, formerly OpenOffice.org. It reads Microsoft word formats (usually very faithfully) and really is integrated. You don't even have to pay extra for something that does Access-type databases. You can create presentations and edit HTML documents as well. It works on Macs and Linux as well as Windows platforms, and its document format is xml.

For text editing/HTML

I like NoteTab. It comes in a free version (Lite), but the Standard or Pro is worth paying for, just to support its development. It has lots of great facilities (including a tiny freeform database system: title plus separate text). From Switzerland.

Downloads

I'm a fan of Download Accelerator Plus, which comes in free and paid-for versions.

Exchanging large files

I have Pando, which enables you to send and exchange 1GB files. It as free and paid-for (faster download) versions.

For Website design and e-browsing

I used to recommend the World Wide Web Consortium's own browser, Amaya. You can view sites and edit pages within the same browser.

Be warned, though. It flags a lot of pages as containing errors. This can be confidence-building measure when you are wondering whether you can ever make your own pages meet professional standards.

< p>Unfortunately, Amaya is not as WYSIWYG as it should be, and doesn't read PHP, apparently. So it can't be your only web editor.

For beginners, try Kompozer. This is what most reviewers say is best for newbies.

If you are feeling courageous try Mozilla's SeaMonkey, a web browser and editor like Amaya.

Anti-spamming

The Website 0Spam.com gives you the chance to block spam more effectively than anything else. It used to be free for one address but now has to be paid for. You can still try it for free.

Other free software

Giveawayoftheday is a site I visit almost daily. It gives away a screensaver at the weekend. But the rest of the time it offers commercial software for free. The users are tough: the majority give a thumbs-down to lots of products, but someone usually adds a link to a freeware and better alternative -- so it is worth checking out the comments as well. Here's their link with the latest offer:

Blogs

Google runs the free Blogger service. Easy to use and flexible and integrated more and more into Google's other services such as GoogleDocs, Google Mail and the like. Most of the time I use the free version of wordpress./a>, which has lots of automatic free themes to choose from, in addition to paid ones.

Twitter

Tweetdeck and Twhirl offer desktop facilities to manage your twitter accounts. Tweetdeck links with FaceBook, MySpace and Linked-In. Twhirl has a built-in address shortener and ability to share videos on Twitter immediately.

TweetBubbles

TweetBubbles live feeds Twitter during events or seminars. Opinions and questions posted by participants are over-layed on top of the presentation as tweets in bubbles.