I can remember since I'm used to using tools from companies like Adobe, Microsoft, Symantec, and so on. The fact is that these tools are very good but also are owners, as a first glance might think that the advantage of the tools of free code is its price almost zero, which is only a minimum of the big advantages that we have to use free software.

In contrast to the experience that comes with proprietary software that limits the user experience remains restricted.

If you think your tool with which it currently works only where there is fifty proprietary programs below as de facto on the market are displayed along with its open-source alternatives.

The case is that you evaluate the pros and cons of their usual tool and see that the world's floss offers free alternatives with which you can do the same task in the usual way or even better.

    Software Basics

  1. OS Windows Vista vs Ubuntu OS: This is the new operating system (OS) from Microsoft, with which even the most fanatical of Microsoft have been disappointed with this product. The alternative operating systems open source OS have matured, but the OS are often difficult to learn, install and operate for the common user. Ubuntu on the scene, is a free operating system based on the Debian distribution which has become so easy to use for most users with a small learning curve. In fact, users can buy a Dell machine with Ubuntu already installed.
  2. Internet Explorer vs Firefox: Of course, Internet Explorer (IE) is free, but that's because it comes packaged with Windows operating systems. Free is very different from open source software, where users have more control over how the software works. You might feel more comfortable with a proprietary operating system, in this case you can still use an open source browser like Mozilla Firefox, an exceptional product that expands its functionality with the use 'add-ons created by users themselves.

    3. Office Suites

  3. Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice: If the price of Office makes you feel that Microsoft has been seeing this face, because it does not change? If you want to compare the suite with other Microsoft products, then you're looking for something that includes an email client, a word processor, spreadsheet, tools, and an application for multimedia presentations.
    The only product that provides a competitive edge against Microsoft is Google (which includes Gmail, Google Docs, Google Presentation and more). However, some argue that Google is not truly open source. Therefore, the next best alternative would be OpenOffice, an open source project that includes everything you find in Microsoft Office except the email client.
  4. Mactopia vs NeoOffice: Another suite of Microsoft office, but this time for Macintosh computers. Alternatively we NeoOffice, which is a suite fully equipped with a set of office applications for word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database programs for Mac OS X. This suite is based on the OpenOffice.org office suite, but it has integrated dozens of native Mac options with which you can import, edit and share files with other popular office programs such as Microsoft Office.

    5. Software Tools

  5. Scilab vs MathWorks MATLAB: MATLAB is a widely used application for numerical computation. It provides a programming language that allows users to work with numbers in any way possible to imagine through visualization. Scilab is the open source alternative to MATLAB, and also provides visualization of numeric data as it does MATLAB. Scilab is partly compatible with Matlab, and both are suitable tools for Windows, Linux and UNIX.
  6. Microsoft Access vs Kexi: Microsoft Access is a versatile tool for the creation of databases and office applications. Accesss contains a database engine built, also connects to other databases through ODBC. On the other hand, Kexi allows users to design ways to create and access data, like the access. Kexi also contains a database engine built and can import data from Microsoft Access databases. Kexi is open source, while access belongs to Microsoft.
  7. OpenOffice Writer vs. Microsoft Word: If you want to break this suite of office and begin to replace the suite item by item, then you can start with this product. Writer is the word processing component of OpenOffice.org, which is similar to Microsoft Word, and with an equivalent in its range of features. Writer can be used across a variety of platforms, including Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris. The software also includes the ability to export to PDF (Portable Document Format) without any additional software, and can also function as a WYSIWYG editor to create and edit Web pages.
  8. Microsoft Excel vs OpenOffice Calc: Another Microsoft product, Excel still carries its advantage in productivity as a spreadsheet, but no longer carries an air of absolute necessity. Google Docs can provide the application online, sharing spreadsheets. As a true open source product that can replace Excel, try OpenOffice.org Calc. This tool provides the full functionality of a spreadsheet. It includes a large number of statistical and scientific functions, tables and graphs.
  9. Microsoft Visio vs Dia: Visio really is a great application that allows users to move from complicated text and tables that are difficult to understand diagrams that communicate information at a glance. All but Visio is the fact that this software is not open source. Instead use Dia, based on GTK + is a diagram creation program for Linux, Unix and Windows released under the GPL. Day was' roughly 'inspired by Visio, which should make this tool for easy transition. Let's say that Day was inspired by Visio, which should make this easy for the transition.

    10. Productivity

  10. Moodle vs Blackboard: Blackboard has been the CMS (Course Management System) industry standard for educational purposes for many years. This program enables instructors to create courses, manage the student's work, and much more. However, Moodle has gained significant ground as an open source alternative to Blackboard, as it helps educators to create effective online learning communities in a scalable package that costs nothing to use.
  11. Box vs Cabos: If you use file sharing, you probably have heard of Box.net, if not already so this utilizando.No you can only share files, Box lets you store your files securely online, allowing you to access them from any computer, phone or mobile device for a small price. Cabos is another file-sharing program open source, this provides simple sidebar to the user interface, security for transfers via firewalls, proxy transfers, Universal Plug and Play, integration of iTunes + iPod.Todo you need is Windows 2000 or later, Mac OS 8.6, Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later. Clearly Cabos does not have the storage capacity of files Box, but at least you can share files with Cabos, without the extra storage capacity.
  12. Microsoft Project vs Open Workbench: Microsoft allows users to control the work of the project, timetable, and finance, and effectively communicate project data to other users. However, it will cost to do with Microsoft. Instead, use open source software Open Workbench to perform exactly the same details of the proposed form gratuita.Cuando users need to go beyond the desktop programming to a workgroup, division or a solution for the entire company, Clarity can upgrade to the system, a project and portfolio management system that offers bidirectional integration with Open Workbench.
  13. Mindjet vs FreeMind: Mindmapping is a way of sharing ideas between individuals and groups of productivity. This kind of activity takes time but saves time. So why should you pay for a product when you can save money by using FreeMind? This latest product Mindjet done all that and more. That "more" is the fact that FreeMind is open source.

    14. Graphics programs

  14. Adobe Illustrator vs Inkscape: The system of vector drawing from Adobe is one of the best in the industry. However, like Photoshop, the price can be prohibitive for some designers and artists.
    Instead of the previous try Inkscape, a vector graphics editor open source similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X. Inkscape uses the W3C standard file format for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) and supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.). Finally, the interface is easy to use to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps and much more ..
  15. Adobe PhotoShop vs GIMP: Even if you're paying for upgrades instead of the original package, the price of Adobe Photoshop can be prohibitive for some photographers and graphic designers. Try the GIMP to see if this tool, open source can not provide all the power it needs for its needs for photography and graphic design. GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program, and is the solution that comes closest to emulating the environment of Photoshop.
  16. Adobe Premiere vs Avidemux: Premier is the best tool for editing video in real time, non-linear, in any format including High Definition (HD). Supports resolution of 16-bit color, rendering GPU accelerated to the fastest and even DVD authoring avanzada.Por other hand, Avidemux provides users of Windows, Mac and Linux with an easy-to use open source reproduction, conversion and editing of DVD / DivX. Avidemux also has support for scripts or scripts to automate tasks and even offers DVD authoring with the addition of open source software, dvdauthor.
  17. Archimedes vs AutoCAD: AutoCAD is an automated tool used for any designer who creates design projects - mostly of architects. Archimedes is a herremienta open source for computer-aided design (CAD), an alternative which focuses mainly on the architectural design. AutoCAD definitely wins the best score so far, but Archimedes shows prometedor.Este last program contains all the features that a designer needs, but its interoperability is weak. Designers can still export scalable vector graphics, so there is a real market for this open-source tool (this view is not based on latest version of Archimedes).
  18. Microsoft PowerPoint vs OpenOffice Impress: You can forget about this tool from Microsoft with the use of the Presentation of Google or OpenOffice Impress. Both will represent all the functions of submission of applications that allow users to create and modify diagrams and photographs within the application.
  19. Microsoft Paint vs Tux Paint: While not a serious graphics program, is widely used by many computer users, mostly children, who plays with Tux Paint instead of Paint. This product of open source is designed very different from the typical image editing software (like Photoshop or GIMP), in the sense that it was designed to be used by children as young as 16 months old. The user interface is designed to be intuitive, and uses icons, audio and text suggestions to help explain how the software.
  20. TruSpace vs Blender: Caligari offers a range of products that enable designers and graphic artists to produce 3D images - at a high price. Blender, on the other hand, provides a tool that provides carve into multiresolution capabilities with 2D bitmap/3D (painting, Lisa, a pinch, Inflate, Grab) enduring symmetry. And that's just the beginning of the capabilities of Blender. This open-source software is free to download and use.

    21. Web Publishers

  21. Adobe GoLive vs Mozilla SeaMonkey: GoLive is an integral part of the Adobe Creative Suite, so it works with your documents and allows InDesign documents are converted to Web pages. However, you may want to try Mozilla SeaMonkey before committing to the suite of Adobe. The Mozilla SeaMonkey project includes a Web browser, e-mail and newsgroup client, HTML authoring program and IRC chat client. The composer is simple, but it handles tables, CSS, and positioned layers. Add-ons now include Scribefire, the publisher of blogs that are integrated with the browser and allows you to easily publish on the blog.
  22. Adobe Dreamweaver vs Nvu: While this tool is a powerful WYSIWYG HTML editor, there are other options that can save money. Nvu system is a complete Web Authoring System for Linux users deescritorios, as well as users of Microsoft Windows comparable with programs like Dreamweaver and FrontPage. Use Nvu to create Web pages and manage a Web site without technical expertise or HTML.
  23. Macromedia Flash Professional vs OpenLaszlo: Developers use Flash to create multimedia events on the Web. Since the program uses vector-based graphics, provides a place that goes beyond the Web. As an open source product, OpenLaszlo provides developers with a platform for creating zero-install Web applications with user interface capabilities of client software escritorio.En other words, OpenLaszlo applications developed on one machine will run on all major web browsers on the main desktop OS. These applications, such as Flash, providing animation, design, data link, communication server and much more.
  24. Microsoft FrontPage vs Bluefish: While not as powerful as Dreamweaver, FrontPage is a tool widely used to create Web pages. Take a look at this list to understand many open source options for HTML editors. Bluefish like to see an option that can save you money and possibly time.
  25. Windows Notepad vs CONTEXT: Yes, you can get the most versatile tool for editing HTML absolutely free when you purchase Windows version 2.0 and higher. But why would you like hacereso that when you can work with Context? This application is a small, fast and powerful freeware to edit text, developed to serve as a secondary tool for software developers.
  26. Altova XMLSPY vs XML Copy Editor: XMLSPY is one of the most popular XML editors on the market today. Its editing features and support for both schema and DTD development, along with XSLT, XQuery and XPath development make this an XML tool of last generation. As an alternative open source, XML Copy Editor is a versatile XML editor focused primarily on the editing of text files with XML. However, XML Copy Editor offers many other features, including validation of schemas and XML DTD and XSLT. Both tools are Windows applications.

    27. Editorial

  27. Adobe Acrobat vs PDFCreator: There is a free trial to create a PDF through Adobe. However, the PDFCreator easily creates PDFs from any Windows program. Use it as a printer in Word, StarCalc or any other Windows application.
  28. Adobe Framemaker vs DocBook: The Adobe FrameMaker software represents a powerful solution for authoring and publishing technical communicators who want to publish technical documentation in multiple languages. While this software is reliable, as well as DocBook, an open source publishing tool. In addition, you have access to all the free wikis and documentation that shows how to install, customize and use the tools and style sheets.
  29. Microsoft Publisher vs Scribus: When it comes to Desktop Publishing (DTP) on Microsoft Publisher provides more control over the elements to Microsoft Word through a DTP-oriented approach. However, professional users still consider the program's entry level. Because it is part of the package of Microsoft Office, many users will find their cost insignificante.Con That said, Scribus DTP offers an alternative code-free. Scribus brings award-winning professional design of page designs for Linux / Unix, MacOS X, OS / 2 and Windows desktops with a combination of "ready for the press" and new approaches to page layout. Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.

    Communications

  30. AIM vs Pidgin: AOL Instant Messenger is no longer the preferred tool of instant messaging. The alternative is open source Pidgin, a multi-client instant messaging protocol that lets you use all your IM accounts at once. It does not matter if you use Windows, Linux, BSD and other Unix systems, you can talk to your friends using AIM, ICQ, Jabber / XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime , SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr. AIM can do that?
  31. FeedDemon vs RSS Bandit: FeedDemon for Windows is constantly looking for through search engines feed generated by keywords, as well as generalized searches. It also allows offline reading, downloading and subscriptions. Also synchronizes with NewsGator FeedDemon so you can access the news without your computer. Except for the fact that FeedDemon is not open source, is a strong reader. However, for fans of open source, RSS Bandit provides a solid alternative to RSS, and Atom reader that allows you to keep track of all the news. In addition, RSS Bandit lets you synchronize everything with NewsGator Online. Finally, RSS Bandit also provides access to news on news servers (similar to Google Groups) - and uses NNTP to read and comment on the newsgroups anywhere on the network.
  32. Microsoft MSN Messenger vs aMSN: Microsoft offers MSN Messenger to the masses as freeware on Windows, and has gone from a simple instant messaging application to a trend in a highly competitive market. Features include voice and video chat, games, remote support - also allows the connection through mobile devices when they are not near a computer. Amsn, the open source alternative to Windows MSN, aspires to imitate its competitor owner as far as possible. You can add to your discretion; POP3 e-mail and translation, voice clips, webcam support, chat logs, support for conferences and more.
  33. Thunderbird vs. Microsoft Outlook: Let's say you decided to switch to OpenOffice, but needs an email client to replace Microsoft Outlook. Try Mozilla Thunderbird, an application with a similar interface and is easy to use. In addition, you can use Lightning to integrate Mozilla's calendar application Sunbird with Thunderbird.
  34. WengoPhone vs Skype: Skype is a freeware application of VoIP (Voice over IP) on internet very strong in the telecommunications industry. It began as a simple application from PC to PC telephony, but it now offers full integration with telephone systems. Today Skype offers voice mail, video and send SMSs.Su open source alternative, WengoPhone, also offers free calls from PC to PC, as well as chat and videoconferencing. Created by Wengo, this phone also can provide SMS and call features that allow users to communicate with any phone at reasonable prices.

    Multimedia

  35. iTunes vs Songbird: If you're accustomed to the equation where "Apple iPod + iTunes +" equals a ton of money, then you might consider switching to Songbird. Songbird is an open source player and a platform committed to "playing the music you want + to + the sites you want on the devices you want." Songbird challenge and the conventions of discovery, purchase, consumption and organization of music on the Internet.
  36. Nero Burning Rom vs K3b: Nero Burning ROM is a popular tool for burning CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. The software includes backup copies of CDs, audio features and more, and it is easy to use. However, it is not open source as K3b (Windows).
    K3b create and burn CDs and DVDs, ripping with codificacin DivX / XviD, DVD copy, burning ISOs, creating Video CD (VCD), creating audio CDs from almost any audio file, support for audio CDs via CD -TEXT, also supports DVD-RW and DVD + RW and much more. and also that it is easy to use.
  37. Quicktime vs Darwin Streaming Server: Apple QuickTime 7 Pro is good for everything from creating podcasts to transcoding to medis in more than a dozen formats. And the software is not as expensive compared with other products. But why not use an open source application that shares the same code base of QuickTime Streaming Server? Darwin Streaming Server is an open source project that is perfect for developers who need to stream media QuickTime and MPEG-4 platforms such as Windows, Linux and Solaris.
  38. TiVo Desktop vs Galleon.tv: Users of Tivo-to-Go were disappointed to discover that their Tivo software does not work with Windows Vista. Some answers to this problem includes spending more time and money on various solutions that could work to restore functionality of software.Una solutions include the use of free software, such as Galleon, instead of trying to "fix" Tivo or Windows Vista . Galleon is a media server for the open source TiVo ® DVR that allows you to enjoy many types of content and interactive applications on TV. The server runs on your home computer and organizes the collection of media so that they can be viewed on the home network. Galleon also brings Internet content and applications to your TV.
  39. Windows Media Player vs Miro: This application seems ubiquitous ... no matter what you try to open, Windows Media Player always shows up, right? Well, change it by Miro, an open source program that turns your computer into an Internet TV. Miro has 2500 channels without restrictions with a wide selection of HD content. In addition, you have access to any publication of video with RSS feeds, including YouTube, Revver, blip, and many many more.

    Utilities

  40. CuteFTP vs FileZilla: Sure, CuteFTO is nice, but it is not free. Sure, it's reliable, but so are many other applications for File Transfer Protocol. Try FileZilla, an FTP client fast and SFTP for Windows with tons of features - easy to install, easy to use, highly reliable, secure, and open source.
  41. iBackup vs ZManda: Who can you trust your backup files? It is difficult to decide because the price alone means nothing. Do we want reliable and secure servers or tools that can keep the backups available and intact. iBackup has proven to be worthy of that task, but you might want to try ZManda. This open-source solution protects more than half a million servers and PCs running various versions of Linux, UNIX, BSD, Mac OS-X and Microsoft Windows operating systems worldwide. Not only copy the information, also recovered.
  42. Norton Ghost vs Partition Image: Norton Ghost is a very complete backup tool. If you have a complete record of failure, Norton Ghost can reconnect to life in a new hard drive (though it does not need to do a full backup every time). You can take this backup to external drives, CD or DVD. However, if you are an advocate of open source, Norton Ghost is not what we want.
    What you need is something like Partition Image (for Linux) or Ghost for Unix (G4U), Windows or Unix users. Both are tools of cloning disk as solid as Norton Ghost, but they operate differently. Read more on their respective Web sites before making the change. (For a complete rescue including Partition Image see SystemRescueCd).
  43. Rational Purify vs valgrind: Purify IBM is a highly respected software and used as a tool for debugging. It uses detection of corruption and memory leaks to keep the errors more difficult to find in any aplicación.Como an open source alternative, valgrind also detects memory leaks and other related programming errors. However, it also detects errors wires and includes detection of bottlenecks in the code. A user could say that valgrind is better than Purify, even if it is open source.
  44. WinZip vs 7-Zip: Some of us grew up with WinZip, so it's sad to say goodbye. With full-featured 7-Zip and improvements in compression, it will be easy to make the change.

    Security Security

  45. Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal Winpooch vs: Kaspersky Anti-Virus is probably one of the leading anti-virus products on the market for Windows, mainly because it is well known for their detection rates. Commits to multiple tasks, as it protects against viruses, virus script files (such as zip files) and removes viruses from e-mail. It also provides protection against spyware, as well as the adware.Como an open source alternative, Winpooch also scans the files on your computer, detects malware, and prevents all viruses, trojans and other problems such as Kaspersky. Winpooch, adds a real-time scanning, which ClamWin lacks capacity.
  46. McAfee VirusScan vs ClamWin: McAfee is well known as one of the oldest companies in anti-virus market. The highlight is that McAfee is reliable and who offers support 24 / 7. The drawback is that it is not open source. ClamWin, on the other hand, is a free anti-virus for Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003. It has high detection rates, scheduler, automatic download of updates to the database of viruses and a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook. As noted above, ClamWin does not provide real-time access on the exploration, but when combined with Winpooch, this capacity is added.
  47. Norton Personal Firewall vs WIPFW: Norton Personal Firewall for Windows supervises and monitors all Internet traffic and will reject any attack or intrusion attempt. The pop-ups and permits are part of the game, since it seems that every new website has its own set of warnings norton.com an alternative, WIPFW is a firewall (firewall) for Windows-based ipfw for FreeBSD UNIX . It offers almost the same features, functionality and user interface as Norton Personal Firewall. The big difference? WIPFW is open source.

    Financial

  48. Authorize.net vs OpenSSL: Of course, Authorize.Net 's payment gateway is the preferred Advanced Integration Menthod (AIM), offers the highest level of customization and security to the traders for their transactions in línea.Pero, why what to pay for a secure SSL when you can get an open source product for free? The OpenSSL Project is a collaborative effort to develop a set of tools for application protocols Secure Sockets Layer (SSL v2/v3) and Transport Layer Security ( TLS v1) protocols, robust, commercial-grade, full-featured, and Open Source, as well as an extensive library of cryptographic purpose general.Una worldwide community of volunteers who used the Internet to communicate, plan and develop the OpenSSL Toolkit and its documentation runs the project.
  49. Microsoft Money (Plus) vs TurboCASH: While Microsoft Money is much more than a personal accounting software, TurboCASH can be most useful. TurboCASH is open source and free for use. In fact, you can compare to Quickbooks TurboCASH more than Microsoft Money.Sin embargo as a tool of personal finance, TurboCASH is much easier to use for the average user that Compiere.
  50. Quickbooks vs Compiere: Few people are unfamiliar with Quickbooks, as this software is used in many small empresas.Si you believe that there are few opportunities to change, think again. Compiere, produced by Global Era, provides a solution for open source ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and CRM solutions (Customer Relationship Management) for any company either small or grande.Compiere 3.0 marks the introduction of Compiere Professional Edition, a new bid made to large organizations that need more advanced services and commercial licensing of Compiere.

Via | whdb.com

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