Microsoft, currently hyping its new operating system Windows XP, dominates home and small business software. Like Mrs Thatcher in her prime, it might appear that There Is No Alternative.
Well, there is. Like the Labour party, rivals have taken radical steps to fight Microsoft's hegemony. Unlike Labour, such firms have moved away from capitalism, offering software that can legally be used for no charge.
It is not as silly as it sounds. Adobe gives away its Acrobat document-viewer, but without the resulting millions of users, it could not sell the software that produces Acrobat documents. Other free packages show advertising, which vanishes if you buy a full licence.
The following four programs are all free alternatives to Microsoft products although, to be fair, the US giant only charges for its Office software among its equivalents.
So why dump Microsoft? First, these rivals are better in many ways - and they have had to work harder to convince people to move. Second, computer viruses usually exploit weaknesses in Microsoft code, because compromising the world's dominant programs gives viruses the best chance to spread quickly. Using alternatives makes the user, and others, less vulnerable.
Third, one can argue that allowing a single corporation to dominate the way hundreds of millions of people do business is unhealthy. If you agree, here is a chance to become part of the solution. And finally, these are free. If you don't like them, you have lost nothing.
We are looking at software that runs on Microsoft's Windows operating system. All the following run on Windows, although three also work on Macs. All are available online, but several regularly appear on computer magazines' cover disks.
As for replacing Windows XP, the open source operating system Linux has a Windows-style interface known as X Windows (see www.x.org) for personal computers. However, installing this is not a task for the novice.
Office productivity: Star Office 6.0
From: www.sun.com/staroffice
Size: about 80MB
Operating systems: Windows 95, 98, 2000 and NT 4; several Solaris flavours; Linux. Sun has provided source code for developers to produce a Macintosh version, but this isn't finished. Microsoft rival: Office (the suite including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint)
Pros: It is free, unlike Microsoft Office. The sub-programs within StarOffice (word-processing, spreadsheet, presentations and drawing) are similar to those within Microsoft's suite and it can save in Microsoft file formats. Users should have little difficulty moving. And StarOffice has just been improved. The previous version, 5.2, created a second desktop on top of Windows: this was unpopular, and has been dropped. You now open different functions from the Start menu or by right-clicking on a butterfly logo by the clock - a neat solution.
Star cleverly foregrounds functions that also exist in Microsoft, but are buried. Password protection is offered as you save; control-shift-J fills the screen with your document (or reverses this); floating menu bars are provided; and the spreadsheet allows you to toggle between different number formats (such as percentages or currency) from the toolbar. Unlike much free software, StarOffice is also free of advertising.
Cons: It is vast. Downloading took about six hours on a 56k modem, with each of the 10 10 MB chunks taking 30 to 40 minutes.
Version 6.0 is only available in beta (draft) version. The final program will be available online just before Christmas, and in the shops on CD (for a modest price) just after. Don't do vital work in version 6.0 - stick to 5.2, which is still available online and in shops. In a couple of hours' testing, version 6.0 crashed once, but successfully recovered the document.
Conclusion: On the strength of this beta version, StarOffice 6.0 looks set to give Microsoft a run for its money. If you are thinking of paying for Microsoft Office - especially if you are a business threatened with higher licence charges - look at this first. And even if you are not, 6.0 looks worth trying, although maybe after the finalised version comes out in December.
Browser: Opera 5.12
From: www.opera.com
Size: 2.1MB, although download Java too, making the size 10MB
Operating systems: Windows (3.1, 95, 98, 2000, Me, NT3.5 or 4); Macintosh; Solaris; OS/2; Linux (x86, Sparc, PowerPC); Epoc (3, 5, as used by Psion); BeOS; QNX.
Microsoft rival: Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6
Alternatives: Netscape 6
Pros: Opera claims to be fast, but the speed difference with Internet Explorer (IE) on a standard 56k modem was minimal on this reviewer's machine. Where it beats IE is on features.
Opera gives you more information than IE when you open a page. A bar displays the download speed, its progress, and where the data is coming from, meaning you can tell if a page has stalled. And you can open pages behind the one you are view ing (using Shift-Ctrl-left mouse click together), which is useful if you are opening several pages from the index of a news site.
On the tool-bar, you can speed browse by clicking on the screen logo left of the web address: this toggles graphic downloads on and off. (Pressing G does the same.) To the right of the address line, you can query the excellent Google search engine without having to go to its home-page. And, right again, there is a magnification tool allowing you to zoom out or zoom in by between 10% and 900%. Everything is magnified, unlike a similar facility in IE that just increases some text sizes.
Cons: A few sites don't work properly with Opera, particularly those that require logging in. This is the fault of the designers, who should write sites to work with any browser, but don't, not that this helps. The free version of Opera shows adverts at the top right. You can get rid of them by hitting the F11 key, which, as in IE, expands the web page to the whole screen. You can get rid of the ads by paying $39 (about £27) for a licence.
Conclusion: Opera has many superior features, but some sites insist on Internet Explorer. Why not use both: Opera for better browsing, with IE in reserve for sites that won't work otherwise.
Media player: RealPlayer 8 Basic
From: www.real.com. Click on the RealPlayer link at the top, then scroll down the resulting page and click on "RealPlayer Basic - is our free player".
Size: 9.8MB
Operating systems: Windows; Macintosh; Unix.
Microsoft rival: Windows Media Player
Alternatives: QuickTime (by Apple, from www.quicktime.com
Pros RealPlayer Basic, the free version, has a three-band graphic equaliser. In its compact mode, it takes up less screen space than Microsoft's Media Player. And it looks better (although in design terms, Apple's QuickTime player is probably best, and is also probably better for video).
When online, RealPlayer can search and log on to 2,500 global online radio stations, as well as a range of TV stations. The latter is heavily US-biased, but there are international broadcasters. Real has other online facilities, including a message service.
Cons: It relabels MP3s already on your system with the Real logo, a minor annoyance. And you may well want to remove the bookmarks chosen for you when you download Real: even as a UK/European user, these are mainly US stations (right click on the channel, then choose Remove).
Conclusion:
Many websites force you to use a certain media viewer to see material on their sites, but for files on your computer such as MP3s it is up to you. Real is a decent choice: it is a good music player with lots of extras online.
Email: Eudora 5.1
From: www.eudora.com
Size: 6.1MB
Operating systems: Windows, Macintosh, Palm
Microsoft rival: Outlook Express (part of Internet Explorer)
Alternatives: Web browsers including Opera 5.12 have email software built in, which may serve your needs. StarOffice also contains email software.
Pros: Eudora looks and sounds better than Outlook Express. It is in little touches - the ying-yang circle that spins as email is sent and received, the tasteful colours, the funky xylophone fanfare for new mail. And you can reconfigure the screen layout extensively.
Eudora can graph your usage and produce daily averages - an interesting extra for home users, and potentially useful for businesses wanting to monitor email activity.
Then there's the swearing check, known as Mood Watch. It displays an ice-cube if you stay polite, then shows one to three red chillies depending on the strength of your invective. It can bar receiving or sending emails above a certain strength. For families, this has a practical application: for adults, there is the fun of working out which words set off what chillies.
Cons: The full free version displays advertising in either a box or a side-bar. You can choose a cut-down, ad-free version, or pay about $40 (£28) to buy a full ad-free version.
Conclusion: Eudora is superior on several fronts to Outlook Express. If you want to try it without losing emails from Express, select Options from the Tools menu, click the Incoming Mail icon, then tick Leave mail on server. Your email will still be available for collection by Outlook Express.
If you do move, import your address book and emails from Outlook Express (or Outlook or Netscape Messenger) through the Import option on the File menu.
