Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Moving away from Microsoft

  1. #1
    ^-- I'm with stupid --^
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Under Your Bed
    Posts
    1,354
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    Moving away from Microsoft

    Ok, having quite a few problems with IE and viruses in the like...i quite fancy moving as far away from Microsoft as i can. What i am looking for then, is some decent free programs i can use for the following:

    • A new Media Player, i already have Winamp, but i am now looking for something that is more powerful for video files
    • An email client. I currently use Outlook Express and would like something more with a Lotus Notes feel to it...any ideas?
    • I now have Mozilla as my Internet browser having replaced IE cos of the issues i had


    Also, what are the benefits of that software package 'Star Office' or something? Is it free, and more importantly, is it good? I think its the one developed by Sun Microsystems...
    tom@meangasoline.co.uk | RIP Zoltan

    Canon 350d | 50 F/1.8 Mk II | 70-200 F/4 L | 1Gb Sandisk Ultra III

  2. #2
    Real Ultimate Power! Grey M@a's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Newcastle
    Posts
    4,625
    Thanks
    52
    Thanked
    156 times in 139 posts
    • Grey M@a's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 7
      • CPU:
      • i7 4790K (With H100i cooling)
      • Memory:
      • Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
      • Storage:
      • Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD, 1TB Cavier Black WD HD, 4TB Cavier Black WD HD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI R9 390X Gaming Edition 8GB
      • PSU:
      • SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular
      • Case:
      • Corsair 650D
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 8.1 Pro x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • 24" LG 24GM77-B 144Hz
      • Internet:
      • 100MB Virgin Media Cable
    well for a start your media player can be replaced by divX player www.divx.com it will play anything under the sun aslong as you have codecs installed.

    Your Browser try Mozilla FireFox as you say you are using mozilla so i presume you are already using it.

    Now on the front of your email client, mozilla offer thunderbird. I have been using it for a while and it has to be the best free decent one out there, most virus checkers will plug straight into it.

    Star Office is ok but try OpenOffice www.openoffice.org, this does everything that MS office does and its a good set of applications. Hope this helps

  3. #3
    ^-- I'm with stupid --^
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Under Your Bed
    Posts
    1,354
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Cracking stuff, cheers I have StarOffice on the download now, apparently i can get a free version because i am a UNI student.

    I have heard about the Divx player, i am a little worried about using it though because it seemed to have spy-ware on it when i was installing. Am i completely wrong here?

    I might give Mozilla Thuderbird a try to, i quite like the cool names of these programs, so if the name is anything to go by, the app should be spot on.

    Keep the suggestions rolling in tho please, i have 65GB space on this laptop, and only about 10 is used so far!!
    tom@meangasoline.co.uk | RIP Zoltan

    Canon 350d | 50 F/1.8 Mk II | 70-200 F/4 L | 1Gb Sandisk Ultra III

  4. #4
    Real Ultimate Power! Grey M@a's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Newcastle
    Posts
    4,625
    Thanks
    52
    Thanked
    156 times in 139 posts
    • Grey M@a's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 7
      • CPU:
      • i7 4790K (With H100i cooling)
      • Memory:
      • Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
      • Storage:
      • Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD, 1TB Cavier Black WD HD, 4TB Cavier Black WD HD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI R9 390X Gaming Edition 8GB
      • PSU:
      • SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular
      • Case:
      • Corsair 650D
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 8.1 Pro x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • 24" LG 24GM77-B 144Hz
      • Internet:
      • 100MB Virgin Media Cable
    divx does have spyware on the free version which is gain (that advertising crap) use search and destroy to get rid of gain and you will notice dicx still works but if you are willing to pay for the pro only £18 i think and its yours for however long you use it, no upgrade fee's etc.

    your best bet is to go to www.download.com ran by cnet and search media players. you will get list upon list of available players. Choose which ever one you fancy and is of course free

  5. #5
    ^-- I'm with stupid --^
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Under Your Bed
    Posts
    1,354
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    I have now installed StarOffice...first impressions are that it is very similar to Word (Only used the Text Processor so far) I like the ability to save your files as a .doc extension - seeing as people only ever have documents by MS.

    Will be using it for the occasional bit of work, any ideas on where it is more powerful than Word, if at all??
    tom@meangasoline.co.uk | RIP Zoltan

    Canon 350d | 50 F/1.8 Mk II | 70-200 F/4 L | 1Gb Sandisk Ultra III

  6. #6
    Big Ginge
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Durham/Brum
    Posts
    233
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    For your video player try Zoomplayer (google it, can't remember the site) there is a free version which will play anything as long as you have the appropriate codecs.
    If you are looking to replace winamp for music aswell I reccomed Foobar2000 I have been using this for ages now and wouldnt switch back to winamp.
    As have been said the mozilla firefox browser and thunderbird mail clients are great, however I can't help you with an office suite.

    Col

  7. #7
    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    /dev/urandom
    Posts
    17,074
    Thanks
    228
    Thanked
    1,027 times in 678 posts
    • directhex's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5900x
      • Memory:
      • 64GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Seagate Firecuda 520
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra
      • PSU:
      • EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G3
      • Case:
      • NZXT H210i
      • Operating System:
      • Ubuntu 20.04, Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • LG 34GN850
      • Internet:
      • FIOS
    don't touch the divx player.

    try media player classic. it's a meg big, it'll play most things without any codecs, and will play anything (quicktime, realmedia, etc) with codecs.

  8. #8
    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    /dev/urandom
    Posts
    17,074
    Thanks
    228
    Thanked
    1,027 times in 678 posts
    • directhex's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5900x
      • Memory:
      • 64GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Seagate Firecuda 520
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra
      • PSU:
      • EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G3
      • Case:
      • NZXT H210i
      • Operating System:
      • Ubuntu 20.04, Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • LG 34GN850
      • Internet:
      • FIOS
    sun microsystems developed staroffice as a paid office suite. openoffice.org is the free, open-source version based on staroffice (e.g. its native file format is staroffice's)

    not sure how much of an office suite you actually need though - i've been using abiword as it's very nice & fast, and a windows version exists (but not too sure how uch else of the gnome office suite exists for windows).

    i've been working on an article which may be of interest to you, on open source stuff, but it'll be a couple of weeks before part 1 is ready to go up

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Microsoft Paint woooosh
    By XTR in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 07-04-2004, 11:07 PM
  2. Microsoft Scousers!
    By XTR in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 19-01-2004, 10:37 AM
  3. microsoft wireless leather mouse
    By wilsonian in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 22-11-2003, 12:30 AM
  4. New RPC hotfix from Microsoft
    By Paul Adams in forum Software
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 14-09-2003, 08:44 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •