Best Freeware for 2012 (Windows, Mac)

Back in 2009, I compiled a list that I keep updating. With 2012 upon us, now is the time for an updated list of the best freeware for both Windows and Mac. If you have suggestions, please respond in the comment section.  I've tried ten or more programs for each software type and this is my "Best of" list. If you have your own favorites that you think are better, let me know. But at least try the ones here before you say yours is better! (I may have "been there, done that" already!).

Without further ado, here is my list for 2012 (both Word and PDF):

https://tinyurl.com/yc3rpzkk

Frankly, it is difficult to think of commercial alternatives that are better than these freeware programs (Microsoft Office is a notable exception but the educational price is only $10 for five licenses!). I do pay for some programs, particularly those with lifetime licenses if I think the program is really helpful to me and those I routinely assist. Examples include: Clipcache Pro, Copernic Desktop Search, Winpatrol.

That's about it. Everything else I use is free.

Virus Proof Windows: Online Armor Free

If you own a PC, you know that  your operating system (OS) is a target for all the malware makers of the world. With a worldwide market share of over 90%, it simply makes sense for those who create malware to target the largest number of computers. Fortunately, there is an easy way to virtually "virus proof" Windows: combine a good anti-virus program with something special--Online Armor Free. 

My favorite antivirus program is Avast 6 (free version). This Czech software protects from all types of malware. Auto update every two hours makes this something you never think about (click “Silent Mode” to turn off the voice and pop-ups announcing updates). Avast is very light on your system – it only consumes 6MB RAM (the cheapest PCs have 4,000MB of RAM!). Get it here: www.filehippo.com Another good choice (with annoying pop-up "buy me" screen): Avira Free http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus

Now on to the tool I find especially useful, Online Armor Free. First, go to http://www.online-armor.com/downloads.php and get OA Free. It has many features, including firewall, web shield, and a "Program Guard." Turn off all those settings except for Program Guard. This guard allows you to “Run Safer” any program you choose (you will see a green border around the browser or other program “Run Safer”). If a program appears that is not on the OA "whitelist" of safe programs, then it will be "Run in Safer" mode. 

What does this do? Even if the program becomes infected it cannot make changes to your Windows OS because the program is running as a Limited Account and does not have Administrative Privileges. [For Geeks: This is not a Sandbox with all the downsides of one; it uses the DropMyRights tweak to lower privileges].

If you need to run a "Limited" program as an administrator simply right-click the program icon and “Run as Administrator.” That's it! Next time it will be running in safe mode. Tip: If you need to install or modify a program, click the "Learning Mode" button to prevent pop-ups while you install. 

This combination of Avast and OA Free (as configured above) = about 20MB RAM. You will hardly notice the hit to your system's performance and you can configure both programs to never bother you unless there really is a problem.  

For screenshots of programs running without OA "Run Safer" (BEFORE) and with it (AFTER), see here:

BEFORE (click to enlarge):

As you can see the privileges don't even fit on the screen (you would need to drag the scroll bar down to see them all. A virus or malware program could hijack any of these to take over your computer. 

AFTER: 

Notice that there is only one privilege enabled and it is to notify you of an attempt to change from Limited to Administrative Privilege.

CONCLUSION: OA “Run Safer” is a simple-yet-genius way to bullet proof your PC because 99.9% of all malware cannot get around the Limited account restrictions. Brilliant! 

A recent test of Avast and OA Free showed that it batted away "zero-day attacks"--malware so new that antivirus companies haven’t had a chance to write an “antidote.” You aren't likely to encounter software created within the past few hours but that kind of testing ought to give you piece of mind. 

POSTSCRIPT: WHAT ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS?

But you probably have friends who infect their computers as they Limewire, torrent or surf porn sites (you don't have friends who did any of that stuff, right?). If a friend needs help cleaning up their computer, download a copy of Malwarebytes to a flash key (www.filehippo.com). Malwarebytes  targets “zero-day attacks”— If something goes wrong with a friend’s computer, run this free version manually as needed. If your friend’s infected computer won’t let Malwarebytes install, I highly recommend running Norton Power Eraser from a flash key (requires no installation but highly effective emergency tool): www.majorgeeks.com  Then tell your friends to get Avast 6 + OA Free!

Zotero: Standalone Version Works with Google Chrome, Safari

I am a big fan of Zotero, the uber-productive software tool that grabs, formats, and stores citations to items found in a multitude of locations: JSTOR, Amazon, Google Scholar or your online library catalog. This is a big time saver (never type complex citations again!). Zotero also takes a "snapshot" link to indicate where and when you retrieved a citation. This is helpful if you are scratching your head wondering "where did I find this book or article?" By clicking on the "snapshot" link attached to each citation, it takes you to where you originally found the item.You can also use a Zotero plug-in for Microsoft Word or Open Office. This plug-in enables you to insert citations either in the text or in footnotes. Simply click which sources you want added and it inserts them for you! For a screencast of the plug-in, click here.

Until now, Zotero only worked as a Firefox add-on. If you are like me, you may have gravitated away from Firefox to Google Chrome. Some of you also use Safari. Good news! Zotero is now available as a stable standalone. Open Zotero standalone and Google Chrome (or Safari) to grab citations from within Chrome.This is also ideal for those (like me) who use both Firefox and Chrome.

Go to http://www.zotero.org/download/  and download.

If you haven't used Zotero, check out this screencast (older version but still accurate description except now you can use other browsers). Double click to open full screen in Youtube.



Many students really love Zotero so encourage them to give it a try.

Blogging for Dummies: Create a Blog in 15 Minutes

The following tutorial shows you how to easily set up a Blog using Google's free Blogger service. It takes only 15 minutes to set up. If you have an email account, you can create a free blog with Blogger (the other main rival is WordPress but Blogger is a lot easier). This blog here was created with Blogger. I have two other Blogger sites:

http://freesiu.blogspot.com/

http://raceandliberty.blogspot.com (to promote my last book. Note that I was able to upload and insert audio files, links to reviews, etc.).

I also have a national blog site via my think tank but they use WordPress (another blog creation tool): http://blog.independent.org/author/jbean/

You can allow comments or not. There are many tutorials on Youtube (also owned by Google!) that teach you in a few minutes. The following tutorial gives you the basics. Ask me for help if you need it but please come to my office so I have a computer handy! Use your blog to post thoughts about classes, get started on writing a paper, keep a diary, whatever pleases you.

NOTE: Double click on the following video thumbnail to get it in full screen. Hit ESC when you are done. The source is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aze0a4Row58

Ninite: One-Click Batch Install and Update Your Programs!

The new school year is upon us and students will arrive on campus with new PCs. One of the pains of configuring a PC (or Mac, for that matter) is installing all the programs that are not bundled with the computer: Firefox, Google Chrome, Dropbox, and much more.

Ninite solves this problem. Go to http://ninite.com and click on all the programs you want. I selected about 20 programs that I would normally have to download one by one. Click the "Get Installer" green button and a small Ninite file will appear on your PC (a Ninite for Mac version is forthcoming). Click on that one file and it will batch download all 20 programs, eliminate junk toolbars--all without requesting any information from you.

[Click image to enlarge]

Here's the great added feature of Ninite: if you click on the Ninite file you downloaded, it will update to the latest versions. Moreover, Ninite knows whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system. If a program has both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, then Ninite will download the 64-bit program to your 64-bit PC.

This is all free. For $10 you can get it to auto-update or you can simply click that file once a month to update all your programs. NOTE: While many programs auto-update on their own, many do not so this is a great feature. Also, the programs that do update (like Google and Apple products) will install obnoxious update programs in your start-up, thus sucking your memory away until you actually use them. So Ninite can lighten your PC as well.

Ninite does not have all programs in the universe but it does an excellent job of keeping its inventory up-to-date. For a much more expansive alternative, check out http://allmyapps.com which contains about every software known to Windows or Linux (again, Mac version is forthcoming). Problem is Allmyapps store has many outdated programs and will actually "update" to older versions if you are not careful! It has great potential but hasn't been able to keep its thousands of programs up to date.

[Click image to enlarge]

For a short video tutorial, check out this video from Youtube. The one thing the tutorial fails to mention is the update feature of Ninite, either manual one-click (free) or auto-update ($10).