Dollars Saved passes $1,000 barrier

With a single post, our Dollars Saved counter has crossed not only the $100 threshold, but also the $1,000 threshold, thanks to the ludicrous price of Adobe's Creative Suite, and the availability of some great free alternatives.

There's still lots of pricey software out there to replace (MS Office, anyone?), so watch for this number to make another jump soon.

Assemble your own Adobe Creative Suite, sans Adobe and $1200 price tag

Before I begin, a caveat: Adobe products are excellent, and open-source alternatives have not reached Adobe's level of capability or refinement, and may never do so.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's be real here: many users do not need all of the functionality available in Adobe's products. In fact, many users will never even know all of the functionality in Adobe's products, let alone need it. With that in mind, today we're going to assemble something at least recognizably similar to Adobe's Creative Suite Design Standard, which includes tools geared toward print design and creation, but is perfectly suitable for developing static documents, images and content for a variety of media, including the Web. Here's what's included in Adobe Creative Suite Design Standard:

• InDesign (desktop publishing)
• Photoshop (bitmap image creation/manipulation)
• Illustrator (vector image creation/manipulation)
• Acrobat (PDF creation/manipulation)
  

(Look for a future article where I tackle some of Adobe's other Creative Suite versions, which include Web development, animation, video and audio software.)

Here's my list of replacements:

Adobe Product	Free Alternative
InDesign	Scribus
Photoshop	GIMP
Illustrator	Inkscape
Acrobat	PDFCreator and PDFill PDF Tools

Let's take a quick look at how each of these free alternatives stacks up to its Adobe counterpart.

Scribus
Scribus (pronounced "scribe-us") is a desktop publishing application, and an alternative to Adobe's InDesign, which itself is an alternative to industry leader QuarkXpress. Scribus and other desktop publishing applications are used to create page page layouts mostly for print, but also for use on-line, especially when the output is saved as a PDF. Scribus is not compatible with the proprietary file formats used in either InDesign or QuarkXpress. You can see the Scribus team's explanation of this in their FAQ, which boils down to two things: the complexity of these file formats, and the potential legal ramifications. Scribus does support EPS, SVG, and PDF file formats, allowing import and export between the commercial products.

GIMP
The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an alternative to the ubiquitous Photoshop, and can be used to retouch/manipulate photos and compose raster images. Of all of the programs we're featuring today, GIMP is the most mature, and includes a feature you won't find in either Scribus or Inkscape: the ability to open and save Adobe's proprietary file format. That's right: the GIMP can not only import PSD files, it can also save PSD files that will open in Photoshop. Obviously, compatibility may not be perfect, but it's better than nothing. Because of it's impressive functionality and interoperability, the GIMP has earned a large and loyal fan base, and comes highly recommended. Note: if you're familiar with Photoshop, be prepared for a steep learning curve figuring out how to use the GIMP, since while the program is very powerful, it is also very different from Photoshop, and will take some getting used to.

Inkscape
Inkscape is a vector graphics program, comparable to Adobe Illustrator, the undisputed leader in this category. For those unfamiliar with the difference between vector and bitmap graphics (the kind produced via Photoshop and GIMP), vector images are made up of mathematical descriptions, therefore allowing an image to scale smoothly, while bitmap images are composed of a grid of pixels of varying colours. For more info, check out the nice explanation available on Wikipedia.

Inkscape does not support Illustrator's proprietary AI files, but it does open and save a whack of vector file formats, including Web-standard SVG files, which it actually handles better than Illustrator. Inkscape also saves PDF files, so your creations can be easily shared.

PDFCreator and PDFill PDF Tools
The three other applications we've looked at all have their own "Save As PDF" functions, but what about for programs that don't offer that feature? Here's where PDFCreator comes in. PDFCreator allows you to create PDFs from any application that has Print functionality. Once PDFCreator is installed, a new entry is added to your list of installed printers. When you print, simply select this "PDFCreator" printer to create a PDF of whatever would have printed to paper.

Say you want to merge PDFs, split PDFs into multiple pages, reorder pages within a PDF, or reformat PDFs to different page dimensions. PDFill PDF Tools allow you to do all that, and a lot more. It even creates PDFs the via a PDF printer the same way PDFCreator does. I personally prefer PDFCreator, but if you prefer, you can get away with just the one install. One potential nag with this program is that when you install it, a trial version of the company's $20 PDF Editor is also installed, but you don't have to buy anything to use the free program.

A Final Word
These applications will give the average user most of the functionality they'd require from Adobe Creative Suite Design Standard. However, there are some drawbacks:

• Less polish when compared with Adobe's products
• Lack of all features found in the Adobe Suite
• Lack of the "integration" found in the Adobe Suite
• Incompatibility or imperfect compatibility with Adobe's proprietary file formats*
• No warranty and no professional support.
  

However, at the end of the day, the $1200 price tag difference should be more than enough to convince many people to check out this free "suite".

*Some would argue that this is more a drawback of Adobe products, the way they would argue that Microsoft's proprietary Office formats are a drawback. Most of the products we are going to examine use "open" file formats, meaning the file format is available to be incorporated into any application, commercial or otherwise, including Adobe's products, if they chose to do so.

Assemble your own System Utilities Suite

If you followed my series on assembling your own Internet security suite, you can feel confident that your computer is now protected about as well as it would be if you had installed one of the $40 Internet security suites available on the market.

With that done, what about Windows performance and maintainance? There are literally hundreds of little tweaks you can make to speed up Windows XP (I'm sure the same is true for Vista as well, but I am not a believer). Here are some guides to get you started:

• 99 Performance Tips for Windows XP
• Optimize XP
• 10 Simple Ways To Speed Up Windows XP
• Ten Ways To Make Windows XP Run Better
• Top 10 Windows XP Tips Of All Time

On top of the plethora of one-off config boosts you can try, there are some regular steps you can take to ensure your computer is in top shape. Enter the "system utilities" suites, which make these maintenance steps as simple as possible.

A "system utilities" suite can mean different things to different people, and the various commercial packages out there contain a wide range of integrated tools for optimizing and maintaining your computer. While the actual list of included tools will differ from vendor to vendor, these suites typically contain:

• A registry cleaner/cleaner
• A startup optimizer
• A disk cleaner
• A disk defragmenter
  
• A registry defragmenter
• A memory optimizer

There are several choices out there for this type of application, and most of them will set you back about $50. If you're willing to pay, I'd recommend either Tune-Up Utilities or System Mechanic (yes, both $50). However, I think you can get most of the benefit of these packages without paying anything.

Shall we begin?

Software to Install

1. CCleaner: CCleaner is a disk cleanup, registry cleanup, and startup optimization utility, so if used regularly, it can go a long way to maintain your computer all by itself.
2. NTRegopt: this program optimizes your NT-based registry (e.g. Windows NT, XP, and even Vista). It works by defragmenting your registry to minimize registry size and therefore improve registry access speed.
3. PageDefrag: Standard defragmentation programs (including JkDefrag, see below) cannot defragment Windows paging files. PageDefrag is able to defragment your paging file, and works nicely in tandem with NTRegopt and JkDefrag to ensure all of your files are defragmented. PageDefrag does not need to be installed. Just download it, unzip it where you'll remember (how about C:\Program Files\PageDefrag ?) and run it from there.
4. JkDefrag: JkDefrag is a disk defragmenter that does a better job than the built-in defragmentation utility that comes bundled with Windows. Once you have downloaded the program, there is no installation. Just unzip it to a folder where you'll remember where it is, like C:\Program Files\JkDefrag. From there, you can just double-click JkDefrag.exe, and the process from that point is totally automatic.
   

These programs give a good platform for optimizing your computer. You'll notice that I haven't included a memory optimizer on the list, and here's why: there's very little proof that memory optimizers actually do anything to improve performance. If you absolutely must have a memory optimizer, why not try out Microsoft's ClearMem, which is available as part of a free download in this package, which includes an additional 125+ utilities that I have no idea what they do. Once it is installed, ClearMem runs from the Windows Command Prompt.

In my next post, I'll outline a simple maintenance routine to follow to keep your computer firing on all cylinders.

Using your free System Utilities Suite

Once you've downloaded and installed everything to assemble our free System Utilities suite, it's time to put it to work. I recommend following these steps about once a week. There are benefits for performing the defragment actions on an even more frequent basis, so if you can do it more often, go for it!

Step 1: CCleaner


We're going to use CCleaner for 3 things:

1. Deleting "junk" files from the hard drive
2. Removing invalid entries from the Registry
3. Disabling unwanted startup items.

So fire up CCleaner, and let' get started...

1. From CCleaner's Cleaner view, click on "Analyze".
   
2. Once the analysis is complete, you're presented with a list of the files CCleaner has identified to delete. Chances are, these can all go, so hit the "Run Cleaner" button. This will clean out all of temporary and otherwise unnecessary files from your computer (cookies, anything in your Recycle Bin, etc.)
   
3. For good measure, go ahead and perform steps 1 and 2 again. You never know: CCleaner might actually find a few extra files that can be deleted.
   
4. In CCleaner's Registry view, click "Scan for Issues".
5. Once the scan is complete, you'll see a list of Registry entries that can be deleted. Click on "Fix selected issues..."
6. CCleaner will volunteer to back up your Registry, and you might as well do it, so click "Yes".
7. Once the Fix Issue dialogue appears, click on "Fix All Selected Issues"
8. You might as well repeat steps 4-7, since the first registry purge will often make new entries unnecessary as well, and if you run a new scan, CCleaner will find these new issues.
   
9. In CCleaner's Tools view, click on the Startup button. For any item listed you don't want to load automatically when your computer starts(qttask.exe, ituneshelper.exe, etc.), highlight the entry and click "Delete Entry".

Step 2: NTRegopt


NTRegopt will do one thing: defragment and shrink your Registry. This is a two-step process:

1. Start NTRegopt.
2. Once the program has completed optimizing the Registry, say "yes" at the prompt to restart your computer.

Step 3: PageDefrag


PageDefrag defrags another very specialized file that most defragmenting utilities will not fix: your paging file. Here's what to do:

1. Launch PageDefrag.
2. Browse down the list of files, and look for any one that has more than one fragment.
3. If some of the files have more than one fragment, click on the "Defrag at next boot" radio button. Otherwise, just click the "Cancel" button.
   

The next time your computer restarts, PageDefrag will take a few seconds to defragment those files.

Step 4: JkDefrag


JkDefrag is a general defragmentation utility that I think does a better job at defragmenting hard drives than Microsoft's built-in utility. Using JkDefrag is a one-click process:

1. Launch JkDefrag.exe.

The program will automatically defragment all hard drives. Warning: the first time you run JkDefrag, it's going to take a long time to do its work. We're talking like 2 hours. If, however, you keep in the habit of defragmenting at least once a week, you'll find that the process will take much less than half an hour. To help ensure you keep the defragmenting habit, you can easily use the Windows Scheduled Tasks utility to schedule regular maintenance. You can also use JkDefrag's screensaver mode, to get some defragmenting in every time you step away from the computer for a few minutes.

Assemble your own Internet Security Suite

If your computer runs Windows and spends any amount of time online, it is essential to protect your computer from malicious software such as viruses, trojans, and spyware. There are several excellent Internet Security suites available that address a wide range of security threats. These suites typically include:

• A software firewall;
• Antivirus protection;
• Anti-spyware; and
• Anti-spam filters.

If you're in the market to purchase any of these Internet Security suites, expect to pay $40+ for the software, and $20+ every following year to renew your subscription to program updates and virus definitions. If that sounds like fun, check out:

• ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite
• Norton Internet Security
• McAffee Internet Security Suite
• Panda Internet Security

If you'd rather save that $40 + $20 per year, let me show you some free solutions, when combined, that can protect your computer at no cost.

• Internet Security Suite Step 1: Comodo Personal Firewall
• Internet Security Suite Step 2: AVG Anti-virus Free Edition
  
• Internet Security Suite Step 3: Windows Defender (anti-spyware)
  
• Internet Security Suite Step 4: Mozilla Thunderbird (anti-spam)

Dollars saved = $40

Internet Security Suite Step 1: Comod Personal Firewall

The first step I recommend to protect your computer from outside threats is to install a software firewall. A software firewall is an application that monitors communication to and from your computer, and allows or denies that communication depending on rules that are automatically generated and or created by you. My choice for a firewall is Comodo Personal Firewall (which also seems to be known as Comodo Firewall Pro). Here's why I like it:

• Provides solid security;
• Does a good job of autogenerating rules;
• Is pretty straightforward for defining your own rules;
• I can get it to work with applications such as Shareaza.
  

About that last point: previously, I used the firewall that came with the commercial ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, and no matter what I tried, I couldn't configure it to allow Shareaza to function properly. I thought it might be my router, or the program itself, but when I switched to Comodo, I was able to configure it correctly right away. The latest version of Comodo Personal Firewall has a new component called Defense+. This monitors how the components, programs and files on your computer interact with each other, and provides another level of protection. For example, Defense+ might notice an program trying to modify files in a specific directory, which, if you're not familiar with the program, could be an indicator of some unauthorized activity.

One warning: once you have installed Comodo Personal Firewall, and you begin using your computer, expect to get a lot of allow/deny warning messages every time you open a new program. By allowing or denying the activity, you're helping the firewall develop rules for your computer. It should be pretty straightforward about when to allow or deny. If you're starting a program, you'll want to allow, etc. In time, these warnings will tail off dramatically, once the firewall has learned about the other programs on your computer.

Internet Security Suite Step 2: AVG Anti-virus Free Edition

Once you have installed your firewall to prevent any unauthorized access to your computer, it's time to install anti-virus protection. My top pick for free anti-virus protection is AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. Here's why:

• Frequently updated virus definitions;
• Automatic downloads of said definitions;
• Doesn't eat up a ton of system resources;
  
• Regularly scheduled full system scans; plus
• Real-time scanning.

Real-time scanning is a rarity in free virus products, and this is one of the main reasons I recommend AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition over other free virus programs out there. Just so you know, this free edition differs from the pay edition in a few ways:

• No customer support is available;
• Download speeds for virus definitions are capped; and
• You have less control over the scheduling of scans.

In my opinion, none of these features is worth the upgrade price.

Internet Security Suite Step 3: Windows Defender (anti-spyware)

Our third step in assembling our free Internet Security Suite is installing an anti-spyware program. There are fewer free anti-spyware choices available, compared with free firewalls and free antivirus, but there are a few good choices, including my recommended pick, which comes to us from a company you might not have expected: Microsoft. Microsoft's Windows Defender has a lot going for it:

• Scheduled automatic scans;
• Real-time protection
  
• Automatic spyware definition updates;
• A software explorer for enabling/disabling programs; and
• 2 free "support incidents".
  

About that last point: support incidents can include any issues you have with installation, configuration, updates, detection, or removal of spyware. I found Windows Defender to be very easy to set up and use, but if you need some help, it's good to know that it's available. One thing to note: to download Windows Defender, you'll have to go through Microsoft's Genuine Advantage validation process. So, if you're not comfortable with that, you'll have to find another solution (Grisoft's Ad-Aware 2007 Free is a good choice, but without the real-time protection found in Windows Defender).

Internet Security Suite Step 4: Mozilla Thunderbird (anti-spam)

The final component in our free Internet Security Suite is anti-spam protection. I think the value of all anti-spam solutions out there is debatable, since the spammers are constantly evolving their craft, making it difficult for any program to identify spam from legitimate e-mail. Instead of paying for software that still won't eliminate 100% if all spam, I have a better idea: let's use some free software to at least reduce the volume of spam we have to sift through on a daily basis. This is a two-step process:

1. Get a Gmail account. Along with a lot of other nice features, Google's free e-mail solution has a pretty good spam filter built right in. This will reduce a lot of spam right away.
2. Install Mozilla Thunderbird. Thunderbird is the Mozilla Foundation's answer to Outlook Express, and it is a snap to set it up to check your Gmail account. It also includes an easy-to-use anti-spam feature that can be configured to automatically remove a lot of the junk out of your inbox. Thunderbird also identifies e-mail messages that appear to be phishing scams, helping prevent you from falling for any of those fake PayPal alerts.

Once you have set up Thunderbird to check your Gmail account, just identify the junk messages by clicking on the big flaming "junk" button to move that message to the Junk folder. From that point on, messages from that sender will automatically divert to that folder. Don't forget to check your Junk folder from time to time, since it's likely that a legit message could wind up in there by mistake. If a real e-mail does find its way to your junk folder, you can always mark it as not junk to prevent messages from that sender from getting incorrectly filed.

Dollars Saved

If you are reading Cashless Computing from Google Reader or a similar feed reader, thank you for enjoying this blog enough to subscribe to it!

If, however, you are reading from my home on Blogger.com, you'll notice the Dollars Saved counter over on the right. This shows the dollar amount you can save by using the free programs highlighted here, instead of their commercial alternatives.

If I was clever, I'd find a way to calculate the total dollars saved for all readers combined, maybe dollars per page times unique visitors, to get something like the McDonald's "Over 99 Billion Served" thing. But guess what? I'm not that clever. number over there on the right. What is it, you ask? Well, it's a running tally of the total bucks you can keep in your jeans if you install and use the software featured on this site, instead of the for-pay alternatives.

Master Software List

Assemble your own Adobe Creative Suite, sans Adobe and price tag = $1,200

• Scribus
• GIMP
• Inkscape
• PDFCreator
• PDFill PDF Tools
  

Assemble your own System Utilities Suite =$50

• CCleaner
• NTRegopt
• PageDefrag
• JkDefrag
  

Assemble your own Internet Security Suite = $40

• Comodo Personal Firewall
  
• AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
  
• Windows Defender
  
• Mozilla Thunderbird
  

Total = $1,290

Welcome!

Welcome to Cashless Computing, where we discuss how to get more out of your computer without spending a dime. We examine free alternatives to popular and expensive programs, free enhancements to bundled Windows applications, free games, and a lot more. The key theme: it's all free!