Deals to Download
Software for you business that you can download—at no charge—and customize
| Product | What it does | Need to know | Open-source |
|---|---|---|---|
Desktop Applications |
|||
| GIMP | Image manipulation | Has many of the same features as Adobe Photoshop | Yes |
| Intuit's QuickBooks Simple Start 2008 | Accounting | For startups and home-based businesses | No |
| Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2008 | Accounting | For startups and home-based businesses | No |
| Mozilla Firefox | Web browser | Tabbed browsing makes it easy to juggle between multiple Web pages | Yes |
| Mozilla Thunderbird2 | May seem slower than Windows e-mail | Yes | |
| OpenOffice.org | Word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager | Some find that files are slow to open | Yes |
| Skype | Makes calls from your computer | Calls are free to other Skype members; cheap rates for other calls | No |
Server Applications |
|||
| Joomla | Web site content management | Comparatively easy installation | Yes |
| LedgerSMB | Accounting | Best for those familiar with accounting processes | Yes |
| MediaWiki | Creates a collaborative Web site | The same software that powers Wikipedia | Yes |
| Sugar Community Edition | Customer relationship management | Advanced features such as reporting, forecasting, and team management require an upgrade | Yes |
| Zen Cart | Creates a Web site with a shopping cart system | May want to hire a Web designer to customize | Yes |
Source: BusinessWeek research