Calligra Suite is a free open source alternative to commercial office applications. Created by KDE, the suite includes a word processor (Words), a spreadsheet (Sheets), presentation software (Stage), raster graphics editor (Krita), and a vector graphics editor (Karbon). The suite also has a database application (Kexi), and a diagramming tool (Flow).
Ardour is a free audio workstation for Linux and the Mac. Primarily the creation of Paul Davis, it is quite simply one of the most powerful audio software around. It has a whole bunch of features such as unlimited buses and audio racks, MDI CC control, precision algorithms for EQ and more. In fact its recording capability is only limited by your hardware.
Meshlab is a special type of program that helps process unstructured 3D models and meshes that come from 3D scanning. 3D models tend to get very large, but the Meshlab Development Team has built a complete set of tools in the software that will help with editing, converting, rendering, inspecting and otherwise do some touching up. If you've ever used a 3D program before and had problems with mesh editing, this can really help.
Maxima is an open source CAS (computer algebra system) inspired by the Macsyma system from MIT. It allows you to perform powerful algebraic functions, including numerical and symbolic expressions as well as differential equations and other complex equations. The program was created by William Schelter. Since he passed away in 2001, it has been maintained by the Maxima Development Team
Non linear video editors are hard to come by in Linux, but PiTiVi by Edward Hervey remedies that situation. Not only is it one of the few non linear video editors on Linux but it is very easy to use and feature packed, comparable to those on other systems.
Personal finance programs today have a lot of features, but they can be quite expensive. Buddi is an open source and easy to use personal finance software. Developed by Wyatt Olson, there are versions for Windows, the Mac and Linux. Note that it only runs on Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
Buddi provides enough budgeting and finance functions without complicated menus and options. The tabbed interface is intuitive. You can make new accounts for savings, investments, checking and cash. You can also add a prepaid account, loan, line of credit liability and credit card.
For students and writers, a thesaurus is indispensible. Fortunately, Artha is a free open source thesaurus that can meet those demands. Aside from having chock-full of features, this cross-platform software can be used offline. You don’t need an Internet connection to use it. So even if your connection goes down, you still have access to the program.
If you?re interested in desktop publishing but balking at the cost of commercial software, try Scribus, a free open source desktop alternative. Developed by the... Read More
Fotobounce is a photo management software that lets users upload images, even on a phone. Once on the web, these images can be shared. What makes the software different is its security. You decide who gets to see your photos. The software from Applied Recognition Inc also makes it easy to upload pictures to AirSet, Flickr and Facebook.
