Resources

Not interested in using the built-in Windows Antivirus? There are many options (free and paid) to stay protected. Looking for business level protection? Reach out for a quote on a fully managed solution with insights into what's happening on your computers - even when they're being used remotely. Here is a link for a free antivirus we recommend to try on your home computer. Remember to only use ONE antivirus at a time.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is a great lightweight solution from one of the top players. It also doesn't have annyoying advertisements. Click here to download Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition.

LibreOffice.org provides all of the major functionality of Microsoft Office. It's easy to use and easy to install. You can create slide presentation, work on spreadsheets, and type in a word processor. It also opens all of the new Microsoft Office file formats. Click here to download OpenOffice.org.

VLC Media Player is by far my favourite alternative media player. It's codecs are many and kept up to date. From VLC's website: "VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVD, Audio CD, VCD, and various streaming protocols." Click here to download VLC Media Player.

Adobe Reader is my recommendation to view PDF files. These files are very common and have become a standard file type for any digital communication. If the reader is kept up to date, PDF files are very safe. Click here to get Adobe Reader. (uncheck any optional software to download).

Want to make PDF files yourself? Very easy. PDF Creator installs a "printer" to your computer that can be accessed by any piece of software that has the functionality to print. Instead of coming out on paper, it "prints" (saves) your document to your computer as a PDF file. This can be very effective to share documents when the recipient doesn't have the same program it was created in. Click here to download PDF Creator.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipluation Program) is a free Adobe Photoshop replacement. Why spend $700 when you can get the functionality for free? Click here to download GIMP.

Inkscape is a free Adobe Illustrator / CorelDRAW replacement. Inkscape supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) and great care is taken in designing a streamlined interface. It is very easy to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps and much more. Click here to download Inkscape.