Two of my favorite (and oft-used) pieces of software on my wonderful computer are The GIMP image editor and Firefox web browser. And the best part? They keep me productive, and they’re available for free.

Yes, “free” generally equates to “not so good” in the minds of consumer-savvy Americans. However, that argument doesn’t really hold up in this case, as both pieces of downloadable software are easy to use and meet the needs of most average users. Actually, Firefox has won quite a few awards, including PC Magazine’s product of the year.

If it does what you need it to do, why should you pay $400 for a image editing program? You shouldn’t, unless you’re an art major or an uber-web designer.

I use The GIMP to edit all of the images on all of my blogs, and I haven’t found any limitations yet, considering that I’m not trying to do anything extremely advanced with it. It also uses this nifty tool called “Script-Fu” that can manipulate particular layers of images to make some nifty effects, like the fuzzy border around the Firefox image above. It does everything you’d expect an image editor to do.

Now, Firefox is an interesting browser. Although, right out of the virtual package, it seems pretty standard: tabs (although, at the time I downloaded it, IE didn’t feature tabs yet) and the ability for you to search through Google. But the beauty of Firefox comes from plugins that various developers and independent programmers code in order for your browsing experience to be even better. The plugins include scripts that allow you to do a myriad of things, including downloading videos off of Youtube (which, you know, is not something you should do), blog, and even ban scripts on websites that you don’t like.

Along with scripts, Firefox allows you to download themes so your browser is in your own, unique style. Well, at least, a style that you like when you browse through their theme finder. We do, of course, live in a generation that wants everything custom-made.

The GIMP and Firefox are two open source software downloads that don’t cost you a penny. And you don’t lose anything in quality, either.

Posted on January 28th, 2007 by Joy
Filed under: Software, Free