Open Source

As some of you know, I stayed up all night on the Eve of Black Friday to try to get a laptop. Luckily, I got #8 out of 9 laptops at Office Depot on Wilshire Blvd. (this was in my opinion, the best deal of Black Friday this year)

Needless to say, it's not a top of the line laptop, but for $350, I decided on an impulse to just wait it out.

So now, I'm setting it up with software and such, and have been looking at Open Source Software (which is typically free) For one, the price is VERY NICE! But also, open source software usually doesn't take up as much resources from your computer as other private software. This usually comes at the expense of some features, but it is usually those features of the software that I rarely use. Therefore, since my new laptop doesn't have the horsepower, I will try to keep it light and thin.

Here are some sites that might help:

• Open Source Windows: This one has a list of a bunch of great Open Source Software. I might list some others within this site individually because I have either used them or I'm interested in them.
• Mozilla Firefox: I mean, C'mon who doesn't know this one. Though lately, I've been trying Chrome from Google and I'm very happy with it. (still in beta version)
• Open Office: This seems to be the best open source (free) replacement for Microsoft Office. As far as I know. I've actually installed this one and have used it briefly. I have to say, so far I like it.
• Celtx: Here is one for us film makers. I'm not writing any scripts now, but I've installed it on my desktop. I like it. Its a pre-production tool. Lets  you write scripts, storyboard, collaborate with others, and even schedule shoots. The Celtx Project Central, lets you collaborate and share your project. If you make films, definitely give this one a looksy.
• Evolution: I've been trying to see what else is out there besides Microsoft Outlook. So far, I think I'm staying with Outlook, but I'm using Google Calendar (which as per my previous post) now links to my iPhone. But this solution seems like it might work just as good.
• Paint.Net: I tried this one on my laptop, but it just didn't seem to be as powerful as Photoshop. Actually I was trying to do something simple with it and it very quickly showed it's lack of capabilities. It might work for some, but it didn't for me. Maybe GIMP might be better.

That's it for now. I'll see what else I can find.

Thanks for reading,

Luis Sinibaldi