There were four web sites that were listed for our lesson this week. The first was Google Pack that is located at http://pack.google.com/intl/en/pack_installer.html?hl=en&gl=us&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-google&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=free%20software. This site looked really interesting although I was not able to view all of it as Google Pack requires Windows XP or Vista and I don’t have either of those on my Mac. However, I was able to view a little of the site and was impressed by how many options there were to use. I really liked the Google Earth. The Picasa for pictures was amazing as I love to fiddle with my pictures. The Spyware Doctor was interesting and the RealPlayer looked like fun as I love to watch videos online. If I was not required to get Windows XP or Vista in order to use it, I would absolutely consider utilizing it.
The next site was the Free Software Foundation located at http://www.fsf.org/. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all free software users. This company argues that Free software is about allowing user to be able to have control over the technology that we use in our everyday life at home and at work. The goal is to help prevent software companies and governments from limiting and observing user. This site had easy navigation, excellent visuals and a lot of affordable options and I would consider using it if I was looking for new software.
Another site was Freeware Files located at http://www.freewarefiles.com/. This site was pretty good although the links were a little overwhelming. I liked the top 100 downloads and how they listed the software categories. The Desktop categories and games were fun. I particularly liked the Software security/privacy page as it was really helpful and I thought it was a great idea to show the most popular software security/privacy sites.
The last site was Free-Soft.org located at http://www.free-soft.org/. On this site, Free Software refers to software that is circulated in source form that can be freely customized and reallocated. I did not like this site as much as the others. The graphics were non-existent and the site was bland. I did like how it had links to articles relating to the topic, but otherwise, I would not recommend it.