Three Free Software Applications You Can't Live Without

I've just arrived for my semimonthly visit to the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo, a small nonprofit organization that provides free legal assistance to people who can't afford an attorney. Over the past few visits, someone invariably asks me if there's something I can do about the amount of spam piling up in their inbox. "Sure," I answer. "I have just what you need."

The Legal Aid Society has its own mail server, an aging tower from HP running Windows NT Server 4.0 and Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5. If it weren't so old, and if there were adequate disk space, the group might be able to use a server-based anti-spam solution. But it is old, and until the funding for a new mail server is available, Legal Aid Society will just have to make do with what it has. That means finding free software that will stop spam on desktop computers.

So I've set up Legal Aid Society with SpamBayes , a free anti-spam plug in for Microsoft Outlook. It's a small download that works with Outlook 2000 or later. "I like it a lot. Once I've identified something as spam, it catches similar messages very well," Stacey Hawver, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society said. "I can't compare SpamBayes to anything that you pay for, of course. Because of SpamBayes, I haven't had to pay for anything."

Even though SpamBayes is excellent software, Stacey didn't have to pay for it because the people who created it are volunteers who donate their time to help make the world a better place. A place without spam. SpamBayes isn't the only free software out there, though. There are dozens of easy-to-use free programs for all types of uses. Some of the best ones appear in TechSoup's Free Downloads section.

Read on to learn more about the three free software packages you won't be able to live without.

Mozilla Firefox

Surfing the Web has become risky at worst and annoying at best, with pop-up ads and spyware that can install themselves on your computer without your knowledge or assent. Mozilla's Firefox to the rescue! This free Web browser provides security and privacy features, in addition to a number of delightful offerings such as tabbed browsing.

Chief among Firefox's benefits is its resistance to spyware infection and hijacking. The built-in pop-up blocker eliminates those ad windows Web surfers have learned to endure. By placing a Google search box in one corner of every window, Firefox makes searching the Web easy.

Then there is tabbed browsing . This is the feature you never knew you needed until you've tried it. Use it once and you've opened your eyes to a desktop without clutter, where many browser windows are tied neatly together as a bundle of tabbed dividers.

To use tabbed browsing, simply middle-click (using your scroll-wheel button or right-click and select "Open in New Tab from the menu) on any link of interest and it loads behind the page you are viewing without opening a new window. This feature is particularly handy for users with a dial-up Internet connection.

If all that isn't enough for you, a community of volunteers has created unique features that can be installed with the ease of a single mouse click. Add-ons such as Adblock can block virtually all advertisements, even if they don't appear in pop-up windows. BugMeNot allows you to borrow another user's password in order to sign in to Web sites that require registration. For those of us who need to e-mail long Web site addresses, TinyURL Creator simplifies the task.

How much would you pay for this Web-browsing powerhouse? $50? $20? Nope. This software is free. It's not a feature-limited trail version. Not a time-limited demo. It doesn't require you to look at ads. It's the full version, there for the taking.

Before you install, take a gander at the system requirements to make sure it will work on your computer.

SpamBaye

Microsoft Outlook 2003 has a decent spam filter built-in. Outlook XP (2002) has a spam filter, too, but it's not that great. Outlook 2000, on the other hand, has no spam filter whatsoever. Unless you add SpamBayes, a free plug-in for Outlook. Then you have the best spam-filtering technology available, and it doesn't cost a thing.

SpamBayes takes its name from the technology it uses to determine which messages you want to read, and which are spam: Bayesian  filters. The science behind the technology might as well be magic, but all you need to know is that the filters learn over time as you rate messages as "spam" or "not spam". The filters quickly become so accurate that they catch almost all spam, and almost never miscategorize a legitimate message.

"There's a very low instance of false positives," Hawver at the Legal Aid Society said, "I get four messages a day it's not sure about, and most of them are spam. I get about a hundred a day that are spam, and it catches them all. It doesn't have a significant performance hit that I can notice. Not like the other one I got from TechSoup [Stock] last year, what was it called, Spamcatcher? I noticed right away with Spamcatcher that Outlook ran way slower, and I uninstalled it right away."

Requirements:

Outlook 2000 or later on Windows. (Doesn't work with Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, in my experience.)

Gaim

If you use an instant messenging client, chances are good that you know people who use incompatible networks. Maybe your old college roommate uses Yahoo Messenger, while your coworker uses AOL Instant Messenger. In order for you to chat with both of them, you have to install separate chat programs. That's where Gaim comes in.

This IM program supports multiple protocols, so you can chat with contacts regardless of what IM network they're on. Unlike other IM clients, Gaim doesn't display advertising. For organizations or individuals that are concerned about privacy, an encryption plug . This add-in (also free, by the way) allows users anywhere in the world to discuss sensitive subjects without worrying about others listening in.

Other plug-ins add some nice touches. One option inserts the final lines of the last conversation I had with a contact when I begin a new chat session. This allows me to pick up the conversation where it left off. Another feature tells me when the person at the other end has closed the chat window.

I consider Gaim to be a required download for anyone who is serious about getting the most out of instant messaging.

Requirements:

Windows 98 or later. Linux with GNOME or KDE desktop environment.

These three packages aren't the only free ones. There is plenty of other great software that's free for the taking. Start discovering it on your own in TechSoup's Free Downloads section. Let us know what you think of our listings. If you think we should add a free package, drop us a line at downloads@techsoup.org .