This article features information about Open Source software that can be downloaded for free, and can be used as an alternative to expensive commercial programs.

What Is Open Source

If you want to write a letter on your PC, play videos, create music files, or edit images, you need to use a piece of software to help you perform that task and that usually means shelling out cash.

However, there is an alternative - a huge range of software available on the Internet to carry out virtually any task you can think of. And it’s absolutely free.

Open source software is software whose code is made available to anyone who wants to copy or modify it. This way, the software can adapt, evolve and improve through input from its community of users.
Where To Download

SourceForge.net is the first place to look to find and download open source software. Categories include desktop applications, games, multimedia, and security.

Wikipedia features a large list of open source software in categories such as data storage, document editing, education, games, media, networking and security.

Ten Useful Programs

10 of the best open source software are listed below:

* OpenOffice.org - office suite, alternative to Microsoft Office
* Mozilla Firefox - web browser, alternative to Internet Explorer
* GIMP - image editing, alternative to Photoshop
* Notepad++ - text editor, alternative to Windows Notepad
* phpBB - build messageboards
* RazorLAME - encode audio to mp3s
* Audacity - audio file editing
* Media Player Classic - play music and video files
* FileZilla - transfer files
* 7-Zip - file compression