Freeware or Paidware? 'You decide'

[ASRockIQ]

Far back as i can remember i had always been disgusted on programs you'd have to pay for 'Rather it being just getting Extra Features, paying a year too two year subscription to keep that App Active' just bothered me a whole lot

here's a list of Apps i use that are Freeware: Avast!, Ccleaner, S&D, Defraggler, OpenOffice 'Alliterative to MS Office' and there's more i would add but it's too much

i see no use in paying for a Yearly subscription or just to have much little extra Features that i would find useless to have like Live Support or whatever

the only Programs i would know that i would actually pay for is DVDfab and Mediamomkey but i don't

so, what do you prefer?

 

[bbmarley]

for almost everything there is a free alternitive just as good,that being said i dont mind paying for some stuff but some times prices are just out of this earth i really dont know how they come up with the numbers they want

 

[wiak]

http://nwgat.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/my-favorite-applications/
there are the apps i love
cant forget foobar2000, libreoffice, geekbench, eraser

 

[A Cheese Danish]

Usually I prefer 'freeware'. However, if the program is made by someone and is a great program, I normally donate so they
can continue to update and upgrade the program.

The only paid software I use is anything I get for free XD But then it's "freeware".

 

[wiak]

for almost everything there is a free alternitive just as good,that being said i dont mind paying for some stuff but some times prices are just out of this earth i really dont know how they come up with the numbers they want

+1
if you dont want to waste $10,000 on Adobe Photoshop you can allways use Paint.NET even in a commercial environment
http://www.getpaint.net/

 

[bbmarley]

Gimp is another good picture software
http://www.gimp.org/

 

[ASRockIQ]

Gimp is another good picture software
http://www.gimp.org/

True that

http://nwgat.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/my-favorite-applications/
there are the apps i love
cant forget foobar2000, libreoffice, geekbench, eraser

libreoffice is OpenOffice but the developers had recreate it by changing the name just to let others know

 

[MilkyWay]

Well if i was doing professional video editing for a company id need Sony Vegas or something (that's just practicalities and theoretical though).
I don't really pay for anything because ive never needed to buy a program the free alternatives to office and stuff are just as good, when i need to pay i would. Thought about paying for NOD32 antivirus but since the trial ran out ive been running with no anti virus.

There was a list of software thread but i dunno if its stickied or just buried away in the forums.

 

[Mussels]

apart from paying for my antivirus, i stick with freeware for almost everything.

 

[ASRockIQ]

apart from paying for my antivirus, i stick with freeware for almost everything.

which one you use?

 

[Mussels]

which one you use?

kaspersky.


while some people go on about how their free ones are good enough, i have some observations.

I have to disinfect LOTS of computers from virus infections, and some common trends appear.

#1. none of them use kaspersky.

#2. almost all of them have a free antivirus (AVG is the most common)

#3. they're still infected, so the free AV aint working

if i disconnect their hard drive, slap it in my machine and kaspersky can clear everything away including MBR viruses, infected flash drives, the whole lot.

I am yet to run into a virus/infected machine kaspersky could NOT clear off. sometimes a damaged OS was left behind thanks to the viruses, but system restore or SFC / scannow was usually all that was needed to fix them up afterwards.

 

[MilkyWay]

AVG is terrible its a resource hog. Some of the free ones or free version of other AV just let things slip through, generally the paid ones are better supported.
Generally considered some of the best anti virus are NOD32 and Kaspersky and those are paid.

EDIT: Unless i can remember the name of the thread i cant find the thread with all the programs in it, it was something like essential programs or something; damn.

 

[ASRockIQ]

actually AVAST! and Avira have come along way and those are the ONLY two i can recommend that's Freeware. demand scan i'd second Calmwin

 

[Mussels]

actually AVAST! and Avira have come along way and those are the ONLY two i can recommend that's Freeware. demand scan i'd second Calmwin

i havent had to fix any with avira, so it could either be good, or just not popular around here.

 

[ASRockIQ]

i havent had to fix any with avira, so it could either be good, or just not popular around here.

Avira is actually one i used for a long while till AVAST! had completely got their Act together. you should try Avira atleast once. it's low on Resource usage

 

[hat]

I prefer freeware. I don't have to pay anything for it, and as it turns out they're generally better developed, and with more frequent updates.

The only pay-for software I have is games, and my OS. If it weren't for MS's monopoly on the PC gaming market, I'd be using Linux.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Unless its Windows, im not paying for software. (excluding games of course) Ill find free alternatives that are usually better than what you pay for.

 

[ASRockIQ]

Unless its Windows, im not paying for software. (excluding games of course) Ill find free alternatives that are usually better than what you pay for.

BINGO Reply right HERE

 

[Drone]

Freeware rules. Open/Libre Office, MSE, Avast, VirtualBox, Wise Disk / Registry Cleaner etc. Especially today more and more freeware programs start to get more features from their paid brothers. Saving money is always good, especially not giving a damn about buying an antivirus.

 

[yogurt_21]

freeware for most stuff, I'll pay for windows, games, and office. The rest is freeware. Kaspersky certainly is a better AV but unless you're doing something dumb it's pretty hard to get a virus these days. I make anyone I know who is dumb enough to get virused these days buy kaspersky though because it isn't worth the headache to try and explain why what they did was dumb. It's simply "you're paying 60$ a year now because you seem to like trojans" and that's the end of it.

but anything else I need I'll get freeware.

 

[MLG The Canadian]

I pay for Windows (of course). I only buy games that I have previously played, or are worth hundreds of hours of game play which is very few now a days. I stopped buying a lot of games when developers started making games with 4-5 hours of game play and no re-playability or online service. Every now and then I buy a Valve game, but that's about it.

I also use Open Office, Avast!, etc. I too find that freeware is more than often better than purchased software. I normally go by the rule that if I can't physically hold it, I won't pay for it. I'm a cheap student though, it happens.

 

[cheesy999]

AVG is terrible its a resource hog

not just that, the only computers i've ever seen viruses on ran either AVG or mcafee, i can therefore conclude these are the rubbish ones, i use norton, as i picked it up dirt cheap, and i've never had a problem

 

[ASRockIQ]

not just that, the only computers i've ever seen viruses on ran either AVG or mcafee, i can therefore conclude these are the rubbish ones, i use norton, as i picked it up dirt cheap, and i've never had a problem

Norton? that has to be the worst.

 

[cheesy999]

Norton? that has to be the worst.

seems to work well and has little system overhead

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

You talk about AVG being terrible and then say you use Norton and continue to say that it works well. No offense, but thats pure shit. AVG before it got all resource hungry and bloated was a great free anti-virus and ive used it on multiple computers for years if I had a virus it found it. Norton hardly ever finds a virus and is the worst AV ive ever seen other than Mcafee. MSE is 20 times better and is free. If you want to pay for an anti-virus, get NOD32. It will block websites that will try and infect your computer. Cant say the same for Norton or any other anti-virus that I know of. (others could but i just dont know about it)