Theres no need for piracy

If your a user of pirate software you should be aware that there are now plenty of decent, free alternatives available. In todays age it is quickly becoming unsafe to download and even just to possess pirate software. I’m going to keep updating this blog entry with the latest free and opensource alternative solutions.

The format is that the title will be the application you “might” be “trialing” at the moment, the content after that describes its free counterpart.


Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft themselves have provided a series of free alternatives called the express editions.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express


Microsoft Office
Well this alternative is already well established but its worth pointing out for those who dont know about it. Its called “Open Office” and its produced by Sun Microsystems, that’s right the people who dish out Java.

http://www.openoffice.org


Microsoft .net Framework
Ok so you got me with this one, its always been free! You’d be surprised how many people think you have to pay to develop with it though.

http://www.asp.net


Adobe Photoshop
I’ve been using a package called GIMP. Its just a full featured graphics package, its not really a clone of Photoshop. Out of the free ones I’ve played with it seems to have the most support though. I’d be happy if anyone had any others they think are better though as I’m not 100% happy with this one.

http://www.gimp.org


Discreet 3D Studio Max
So this is the trickiest in my opinion. I loved using Max since v3. Now I dont work at any companies that have it I’ve had to search long and hard for a decent alternative. Nothing really compares to it. There are two that kind of stand out from the rest though, the first is GMax which was a free product from Discreet for game developers. Its almost a complete 3DS v4 but you cant render with it and it uses its own file format. “So whats the point of that then?” I hear you ask. Well it still lets you make complex geometry that you can capture with print screen and alter in GIMP ;

Share Article

Comments: None so far...be the first!

Leave a reply

Please fill in the form fields and improve Skynet by completing the captcha!

Thank you! All comments are moderated so yours will appear shortly.

Mars, I can’t believe I’m back on Mars, I gotta be outta my mind!

— Michael Garibaldi