Proprietary software can be pretty pricey. Heck, just running MS Word on your MacBook will set you back $130. Fortunately, you can find a lot of free, open-source software. They will meet practical needs such as transferring files to your website, editing images, and modifying HTML code. As follows are some of our favorite free software programs.
FIleZilla: The Free FTP solution
Every now and then, you need to upload new content to your website. Your web hosting company will usually offer you a web interface, but these are unpractical for large file transfers. The best way to quickly send your greatness to the web would be by FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
FileZilla is an easy and completely free way to transfer files to your website via FTP. Since its first official release with version 3.0.0 in September 2007 (development actually started in October 2006 with many beta versions), FileZilla has regularly updated its product, making it a very secure program to transfer files.
In addition to FTP transfers, FileZilla also supports FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS) and SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) transfers. It runs on Windows, Linux, *BSD, and Mac OS X.
GIMP: The GNU Image Manipulation Program
Do you need to edit a picture, but don’t want to pay for professional image editing software like Photoshop or Print Shop? GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is there for you.
This freely distributed image editing software has most of the features you’d expect from any professional image editing software, including layers, automatic photo enhancement, digital retouching, and more. GIMP is great for photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring. It runs on any operating system.
In addition to all of its default features, this open-source software part of a large online community, where you can find free plugins that allow you to do just about any type of image editing you can imagine.
NotePad++
For advanced webmasters who create and maintain their own website(s), Notepad++ is a terrific program for doing just that. Users who like to get their hands dirty and fiddle with the code behind the page will love this text editor and source code editor. It’s like your regular Notepad with a bunch of useful add-ons, ranging from syntax highlighting to auto-completion.
Notepad++ also has a customizable GUI and supports multiple languages. It runs in the MS Windows environment.
All of these software programs are open-source and distributed free of charge under the terms of the GNU General Public License. This means that not only do you get the software, but you can access the actual code behind the software, allowing you to make your own modifications and implement modifications made by other users.
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