Why should we pay so much money to software packages like Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, or Norton Antivirus where there are already very good and free alternatives? Today I would like to share my top 5 free software with you:

• Avast! 4 Home Edition – Free Antivirus Software:

According to recent security and privacy researches almost 50% of the PC’s do not have an installed antivirus software. There are a lot of reasons to this. High costs of antivirus software, facing with a lot of problems when installing such a software. It is not a good idea to keep your PC vulnerable where there are thousands of PCs are attacked by viruses every single day.You can use Avast!4 Home Edition antivirus software and keep your PC secure against the latest virus attacks. The only weakness of a free antivirus software is that you download the latest updates a few hours later than the paid subscribers. A few hours delay is not a serious problem when your PC’s security is concerned.

• jZip – a Free WinZiP Alternative:

Are you get bored of using zip softwares like WinZip and WinRar due to being interrupted by a lot of registration notifications? Then you better start using jZip. It is only 2.7 MB long, and takes up little space in your hard drive. Yet still capable of doing every tasks that WinZip and WinRar can do. Why should you use them anymore? You can download it from here: Jzip

• Foxit Reader -an Adobe Reader Alternative:

I get sick of downloading Adobe Reader updates almost every now and then. Since long time I have been looking for a good quality alternative, and I found Foxit Reader. It is capable of doing what Adobe Reader does and takes little space in your hard drive. Why should you bother yourself with never-ending updates of Adobe Reader?

• Paint.Net -a Photoshop Alternative:

Paint.net was started as a .NET improvement project for Windows Paint. Then the project went so well that even Microsoft supported. The final version (v3.36) is a very good alternative of Adobe Photoshop with its filtering and layering capabilities. No need to pay so much money for Adobe Photoshop. This free software is more than enough for most of the PC users. Download PaintNet v3.36

• Open Office Writer – A Microsoft Word Alternative:

Open Office Writer looks very similar to Microsoft  Word. Yet writing an ebook, and converting it to PDF format is a lot easier with this software. Why should you pay for Microsoft Word where there is a free alternative? You may download Open Office by now.

Please share your past experiences with above listed softwares. What are your favorite free applications?