| Free Software |
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Free Software Ok, you are buying a computer, you are happy with the price (you shouldn't be buying an extended warranty). Now the salesperson is trying to tell you you need to spend hundreds on software! Of course you will want to type letters, so does that mean you need to buy Microsoft Office? You don't want to get viruses, so do you have to buy Norton Antivirus? No, and No. There are plenty of cheap/free options out there. And the one thing to remember is you don't always have to get what you pay for Microsoft Office: Instead, download Open Office. This is free software, and for 99.9% of the population, every bit as good as the Microsft offering. In fact, I would wager there is a good chance that the shop you are buying your computer in, actually used Open Office on their own machines! It may not be quite as shiny as the MS package, but I am a huge fan, and I cannot recommend it enough. Norton Antivirus/McAffee Antivirus: Plenty of studies have shown that these products that cost you an initial fee, and a yearly subscription fee don't pull their weight, and in fact are regularly out performed by their free counterparts. Grisoft have a free AntiVir called AVG Free (available here: http://free.grisoft.com/). This is just as good as the above at scanning for viruses, and again I have no problems recommending it to anyone |