In the current climate what better way to save money to make money than to employ open source free software as your creative tools.

Your alternative are as follows

For web design > NVU, a simple straightforward WYSIWYG editor for you web needs.

For animation > Synfig, 2D time-line animation creation tool.

For vector graphics creation > Inkscape, a vector graphics application similar to Illustrator and CorelDraw.

For page layout > Scribus, open source professional page layout design application.

For multimedia design > Libavg, create media rich interactive presentations akin to Director.

For video editing > Avidmux, video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding supporting many file types.

For adding video effects > Jahshaka, edit and add visual effects like After Effects.

I have been using Mozilla Thunderbird for some time and found it quite sufficient in what it does never needing to or wanting to take it beyond it's construct.

Recently I started to use a calendar application but discovered Lightning, a Thunderbird add-on bringing the features of Mozilla Sunbird calendar application into the same application as your email.

A couple of other add-on discoveries in ThunderBrowse and the Sender Verification Anti-Phishing Extension installed and behold the new found usefulness, well at least all the usefulness I need for now.

And for one last thing I added some aesthetics in the Azerty 'mail 3.0 theme, and I'm now quite a bit more happy with new look Thunderbird application.

Ho hum, carry on. :)

Ok, so i don't usually do business stuff but this article got my attention (see below) and is a good note to businesses to be wary of a few issues with microsoft. Personally, with there being so much variety of good open source and freeware/shareware software around, if I was running or starting up a business that's definitely the way i would go especially with application software that is.

Anyway, to the point, here is the article;

Rockin' on without Microsoft

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Jahshaka - open source, hardware accelerate editing and effects system. dowloads

Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks.

OpenLaszlo is an open source platform for creating zero-install web applications with the user interface capabilities of desktop client software.

Ardour is a digital audio workstation. You can use it to record, edit and mix multi-track audio. You can produce your own CDs, mix video soundtracks, or just experiment with new ideas about music and sound.

Just thought I'd share with y'all :)

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To all you mac users out there I (as a mac user myself), though I'd post for you a few great sites for getting your hands on the best freeware and opensource software - the best resources I have come across all in one post, so here you go.

The Best Sites for OSX Freeware and OpenSource

Cool OSX Apps - One of (if not THE) best mac blogs for freeware and shareware along with some commercial stuff now and again

FreeMacWare - Another great source for all things free software, also has other good sections to the site like FreeMacPhoto

I Use This - A comprehensive software listing of what's new in all areas of software - site depends on entries from users also, create an account add apps that aren't there and keep track of all the apps you use on your mac.

Best Mac Software - A good selection of the essential software you would want for your mac - freeware and opensource of course

The Free Mac Classroom - An extensive list of freeware and opensource software for your mac, aimed at (as the title suggests) students who need software on the cheap, it is also a greatly valuable source for all the rest of us mac users too as it lists software most would not think available. The list isn't exhaustive at all, so if you know of some freeware that could be usefull in the workplace, classroom or other you can let the author know of them so they can be made available to other users.

Also worthy of a mention are;

Mohawke's Best Of The Best - another comprehensive site with not only mac freeware and opensoure but a windows list too along with a couple others, worth checking out - some software may be obsolete or changed name but this is a good resource.

Downloadpedia specifically sections Best Mac Software and Open Source Mac. This also has Linux and Windows section along with Firefox and Thhunderbird add-on sections.

Other Resources - These are mixed resources, mac, windows and online

Open Source God | Mashable - 480+ Opensource applications and resources.

Free and Open Source Software Directory - Webi - Categorized opensource software applications and games.

45 Best Freeware Design Programs

Well, there you go, enjoy!

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OpenLaszlo is an open-source platform for the development of rich internet applications

OpenLaszlo is an open source platform for creating zero-install web applications with the user interface capabilities of desktop client software.

OpenLaszlo programs are written in XML and JavaScript and transparently compiled to Flash and, with OpenLaszlo 4, DHTML. The OpenLaszlo APIs provide animation, layout, data binding, server communication, and declarative UI. An OpenLaszlo application can be as short as a single source file, or factored into multiple files that define reusable classes and libraries.

OpenLaszlo is "write once, run everywhere." An OpenLaszlo application developed on one machine will run on all leading Web browsers on all leading desktop operating systems.

Platform Demos