Search the Community

Free and Open-source Alternatives to Common Programs Revision History 1.0 - Thread created 1.1 - Thread revamped with new info and added links. 1.2 - Added Index (placeholder) Introduction With the advent of SteamOS, a good portion of gamers will likely switch to using it for their gaming needs. It won't really be long before more games start supporting Linux natively; newer games will definitely be supporting it as early as 2014, older games are constantly being ported over. Gaming on Linux is gaining momentum, but what about other productivity tools? Windows is still the king of OS's due to the wide range of applications natively supported, from Office to Graphics tools to 3D modelling, CAD/CAM and many other areas. Most of these applications are proprietary and closed-source and won't run on Linux natively. The purpose of this topic is to highlight some of the many free and/or open-source alternatives to many proprietary Windows programs. Free doesn't necessarily mean open-source, and that difference will be highlighted where applicable. Open-source software isn't restricted to Linux only - many of them can be cross-platform. Many of them can also be cross-compiled from Linux source to run on Windows. Proprietary alternatives are only included for programs that are both low-cost and worth paying for. One caveat to be aware of: The programs listed are merely alternative options to proprietary tools. In some specific cases, they won't act as replacements for the paid programs, due to paid programs having a vastly superior feature set. However, for the average user, the free alternatives are more than adequate. I personally tend to look at what people have done using the free alternative and compare them to the paid option, comparing their capabilities and not their specific feature sets. Of course, this may change in the future, due to the open-source nature of most of these programs: the necessary functionality can be added in my anyone. So, let's begin! Index 1.0 - Microsoft Office 2.0 - Adobe Photoshop 3.0 - Adobe Illustrator 4.0 - Adobe Premiere/After Effects 5.0 - 3D Graphics (Modelling, Animation) 6.0 - Digital Painting 7.0 - Development Tools 8.0 - Desktop Recording/Streaming 9.0 - Media Player 10.0 - Gaming 11.0 - CAD/CAM/CAE 12.0 - Torrent Clients 13.0 - Instant Messaging/Chat Clients 14.0 - Email Clients 15.0 - Linux Terminal-based 16.0 - Antivirus 17.0 - PDF Tools 18.0 - Virtualization 19.0 - Miscellaneous Microsoft Office Perhaps the most widely used and adopted set of tools for productivity. There are, however, more than a fair share of free and open-source options that are on par with Office, with one key exception: the free alternatives aren't capable of saving to .docx or any of the newer Office formats, but they are capable of reading them. That's not a major problem though: it's recommended to use the older .doc format due to being easier to work with. PDF is also a far superior format for sharing documents. Open-source 1) OpenOffice.org - This is usually the first option to come to mind, and it's been around for a while. Contains all of the replacement tools for Office. However, as some of you already know, it's somewhat lacking in features. Cross-platform. 2) LibreOffice - a fork of OpenOffice, with a wider range of features, and is more updated. I personally use this instead of OpenOffice and it's amazing. Cross-platform. 3) KOffice/Calligra Suite - Built into KDE. It may be possible to install it as a standalone application with the necessary dependencies. Contains a wide range of tools for everything Office related. Some older versions of KOffice is available on Windows. 4) TexLive - Alternative for MS Word. Specifically useful for Scientific documents (LaTeX). 5) WPS - Formerly known as Kingsoft Office, WPS is a newly updated version. Runs on iOS, Android, Windows and Linux, and capable of working with .docx and .xlsx files (compatibility and formatting issues aside). Exports to PDF as well, much like LibreOffice. Freeware/Online 1) Google Drive - Can't say much more. Full range of Office tools online, seamlessly synced between devices. Google has also been promoting QuickOffice, which is a set of tools available on Mobile devices with Drive integration. 2) OneDrive - Microsoft's own set of online Office tools, similar to Google Drive. Adobe Photoshop High up on the list of productivity tools used by graphics designers and digital painters. Open-source 1) GIMP - widely seen as the best Photoshop alternative on Linux. It is also cross-platform. 2) GIMPshop - Similar to GIMP, both open-source and cross-platform. 3) Krita - part of Calligra Suite. It's primarily a digital painting program, which Photoshop is capable of. Linux only, with an experimental version available for Windows. 4) Scribus - Specialized tool for creating publications. Cross-platform. Freeware 1) Paint.NET - An advanced version of MS Paint, but contains many of the basic features found in Photoshop. Available on Windows only, as it depends on .NET Framework. Adobe Illustrator Perhaps the best Vector-based graphics tools. Photoshop has some vector capabilities, but Illustrator is far superior. Open-source 1) Inkscape - great replacement for Illustrator. Cross-platform as well. 2) LibreOffice Draw - part of the LibreOffice package. Cross-platform. 3) Karbon - integrated into KDE in the Calligra Suite, making it Linux only. However, there are ways of installing KDE packages on Windows. Should be able to install it without KDE with just the dependencies. 4) Xara Xtreme - Looks to be an excellent Vector-graphic editor. Available on Linux and Windows. Adobe Premiere/After Effects These two are generally combined as each performs a specific group of tasks. Premiere focuses on editing, while After Effects focuses on compositing and visual effects. Most open-source options combine these features into a single application - which is great. Open-source 1) Cinelerra - perhaps the best option available. There are two versions, a community maintained one as well as an official one. The community version is called cinelerra-cv and is available on most Linux distributions. Not cross-platform afaik. 2) Kdenlive - Similar feature set to cinelerra, but more along the lines of Premiere. Kdenlive is available on Windows through a VM image. 3) OpenShot - Another option instead of Cinelerra. Primarily on Linux, but can be cross-compiled on Windows with the right set of tools (Cygwin, etc). 4) Avidemux - Cross-platform and open-source. Very simple video editing, and encodes in multiple formats. 5) LiVES - Available on Linux and OS X. Similar feature set to Cinelerra. 6) Blender - primarily a 3D modelling program (will go into more detail below), but includes a non-linear video editor. Runs on python, which is cross-platform. Freeware 1) Lightworks - there's a free and premium version available. The free version is free forever. So far, Lightworks is Windows only. The Linux version is in beta. There are many other free video editors out there. A Google search will reveal at least 10 other options. Autodesk Maya/3ds Max, Cinema 4D 3D modellers have perhaps used these applications. In fact, Cinema 4D's R15 was just released (as of October 2nd, 2013). Open-source Blender. I'm not even going to bother mentioning other options for now, as I have yet to find an option that beats it. There are plenty of projects out there done using Blender (Sintel is a perfect example of a short movie made entirely in Blender). It does everything you could possibly expect from it, along the lines of Cinema 4D and all of the other paid applications. Best of all, it's free and fully open-source. Corel Painter Perhaps the best digital painting tool out there. Has the widest range of brushes, painting media, etc. Open-source 1) Krita - mentioned it already. One of the best free digital painting applications available. Has excellent support for Wacom tablets. 2) MyPaint - similar to Krita. Cross-platform. 3) Alchemy - more of a niche program. Great for random sketching, doesn't have an undo function. 4) Gimp Paint Studio - Set of tools integrated into Gimp to provide digital painting tools, brushes, etc. Development Tools (IDEs) Microsoft's Visual Studio is probably one of the most common proprietary options, with development environments for C, C++, C#, among many others. On the OS X side, there's Xcode for developing in Objective-C. This section will list some of the alternatives to using the paid programs. Open-source 1) Eclipse - In my humblest opinion, one of the best IDEs available. Free, completely open-source and extensible through plugins. I've personally set my installation of Eclipse to work with Python, C, C++, Java, Android, and PHP/MySQL, and that's barely scratching the surface of the amount of development environments that can be integrated into Eclipse through plugins. 2) Code::Blocks - Another open-source IDE primarily for C++, but has a plugin system to easily extend functionality. Cross-platform. 3) Netbeans - free and open-source, comes default with the Java Development Kit, as an optional addon. It does support development environments for multiple languages. Freeware 1) Programmer's Notepad - Supports syntax highlighting for multiple languages. Windows only. 2) Visual Studio Express - The free version of Visual Studio. It's perfect for people who want to get started developing on Windows. Naturally, Windows only. Proprietary 1) Sublime Text - Technically paid, but a free, unlimited trial is available. It is cross-platform, and widely regarded as one of the best Text-based development environments. 2) IntelliJ - Specifically for Java and Android development. Cloud This is a pretty unique category, as there are literally dozens of cloud-based IDEs for various languages. I'll try my best to highlight some of the best ones based on languages supported. Feel free to link me to any Cloud IDEs you know of and I will add it to the list. 1) Cloud9 - Code anywhere. Free and subscription available. Doesn't appear to have language restrictions. 2) Codenvy - Free and premium subscriptions available. There are free premium packages if you plan on developing open-source projects (the way I interpret it). FRAPS/Dxtory, Xsplit By far the best video recording and streaming tools available. However, there are more than a fair share of free and open-source options. Open-source 1) Open Broadcaster Software - capable of streaming to Justin.tv, Twitch.tv and other streaming sites. Optionally, it'll also record to the HDD using a range of compression settings. While it is open-source, a Linux version currently doesn't exist. There is plenty of interest in a Linux version. 2) GLC - The Linux FRAPS. GLC is a bit tricky to install, but is excellent on Linux. Needs to be built from source. 3) Yukon - Similar to GLC. Needs to be built from source. 4) SimpleScreenRecorder - Name is self-explanatory. Supports desktop and game recording, as well as streaming to Twitch.TV and other streaming services. 5) Twitch Streamer - A minimal shell script designed to stream directly to Twitch. Captures from the X server directly. Freeware 1) FFsplit - a free streaming software available primarily on Windows. 2) MSI Afterburner - one of the best free options for recording gameplay. Media Players Everyone needs a media player, whether it's combined or just for music. Open-source 1) VLC - easily the best media player available. Also capable of recording the desktop and there's also the possibility of a video editor being added later on. Supports Bluray with some workarounds. 2) MPlayer/SMPlayer - along the lines of VLC. Cross-platform. 3) aTunes - iTunes equivalent on Windows and Linux. 4) Amarok - feature-rich media player. 5) XBMC - great open-source media player, capable of all types of media. Particularly good for an HTPC setup. 6) Audacious - open-source and available on many Linux distributions. Also cross-platform. 7) Clementine - cross-platform and open-source music player. 8) Plex - media streaming option along the lines of XBMC, but designed to run as a server. Ideal for a centralized media server and streaming to multiple devices (Mobile, PC, HTPC, etc). 9) Windows Media Player classic - plays a wide range of formats, specifically rmvb (RealPlayer). Simple and easy to use interface. A great alternative to VLC media player, but is Windows only despite being open-source. 10) Banshee - Open-source and cross-platform media player. Great replacement for iTunes (supports iPod syncing). 11) Apollo - A music player for Android. One of many options on Android. 12) MPV - Fork of mplayer2 and MPlayer, lightweight and easy to use. Freeware 1) Foobar2000 - IMO, one of the best and most configurable music players. 2) Winamp - This is only included because it's one of the more popular options. I personally would not recommend it, as it is more bloated compared to other options. 3) KMPlayer - Free media player on Windows. 4) iTunes - self-explanatory. Windows and OS X only, with alternatives above for Linux. 5) MusicBee - Free Music player available on Windows. 6) PotPlayer - Free music player for Windows operating systems. Gaming This section is perhaps no longer needed due to SteamOS. However, for games that don't run natively on Linux (and ignoring Steam's in-house streaming option), here are the best ways to get games running on Linux: Open-source 1)WINE - The easiest way, supports a wide range of Windows applications and Games. Check the AppDB for specific issues with some applications. Generally, anything rated Gold and above in their database will run well. 2) PlayOnLinux - essentially WINE, but with a simple GUI to make managing Games easier. Also supports various Windows applications. A full list of supported software is on their website. Proprietary I know the topic says Free/Open-source, but I feel like this deserves an exception: 1) Crossover - basically a paid version of WINE with better support. CAD/CAM/CAE Stands for Computer Aided Design/Manufacturing/Engineering. Prime examples of proprietary software are: SolidWorks, Unigraphics NX, Catia, ANSYS, Pro Engineer, AutoCAD, among many more. The following is a list of free and open-source alternatives. Open-source 1) FreeCAD - the perfect AutoCAD and Solidworks replacement. 2) OpenFOAM - The best open-source alternative to ANSYS tools (primarily used for numerical simulation in Structural and Mechanical Engineering). 3) Scilab - excellent replacement for MATLAB (which is cross-platform, while still proprietary). Scilab is the free and open-source equivalent based on Python. 4) Octave - very similar to Scilab and MATLAB. 5) Scipy - a python extension specifically for scientific and simulation-based calculations. 6) CAElinux - Should really belong in a section of its own, as it's an entire distribution built around CAE. Torrent clients The most common ones are BitTorrent and uTorrent, among others. Most of these clients are free, but aren't open-source. Some of them are more bloated than others. The following is a list of free and open-source clients. 1) Deluge - Great torrent client. I used it briefly; supports extra features through plugins. Cross-platform. 2) Transmission - Same as Deluge, free and open-source. Runs on many Linux distributions. 3) rtorrent - Generally installed through the repositories of whichever distribution. Terminal based, very simple yet powerful. Optionally, rutorrent can be installed to give it a web-based interface. These two are a very popular choice for a dedicated server running as a Torrent box (frequently referred to as a seedbox). 4) qBittorent - Cross-platform and open-source. 5) Tixati - Heard about this one more recently. Runs on Windows and Linux. Instant Messaging/Chat programs Not really a category that needs to be included, as most are free. However, not all are open-source. The only proprietary paid program I know of is mIRC, which is a commonly used IRC program. Some alternatives to mIRC: 1) Hexchat - an improvement over xChat. Cross platform (Windows, Linux) and open-source. Lots of features. xChat Aqua is an option for OS X. 2) Irssi/Weechat - minimalist IRC program. Not suited for everyone, but has a clean interface, and fun to tinker around with. Weechat is similar to Irssi. 3) Pidgin - mutli-protocol chat program. Supports IRC as well as many other common ones: Windows Live, Facebook, Jabber, Google Talk, AIM and many more. 4) Jitsi - similar to Pidgin, has some nice security features. Email Clients This section contains tools that run from within the Linux terminal, and don't exist as a standalone application. Nevertheless, they are quite powerful when used correctly. 1) Mozilla Thunderbird - probably one of the most well-known email clients. Cross-platform. 2) Claws Mail - An open-source email client for Linux. Cross-platform. 3) Mutt - Terminal-based email client. 4) Squirrel Mail - Personally used it to set up an Email server on a dedicated server (Kimsufi 2G), works wonderfully. Simple web interface for checking email. Linux Terminal-based Tools This section contains tools that run from within the Linux terminal, and don't exist as a standalone application. Nevertheless, they are quite powerful when used correctly. 1) Vi/Vim - excellent text editor for Linux. Comes pre-packaged with many Linux installers. 2) Nano - also comes pre-packed with Linux installers. 3) Emacs 4) cmus - Terminal-based music player. 5) Mutt - Terminal-based email client. Antivirus Generally not a problem for Linux due to its security features; however, there are some open-source and free options available for Windows, OS X and Linux. I haven't used the open-source ones below, so I cannot comment on its effectiveness. Nevertheless, I'll list them for people to try out. Open-source 1) ClamAV - Available as source code for various Linux distributions. Freeware 1) Avast - free and pro versions available. One of the most recommended free options. 2) AVG - same as Avast. Personally find it to be a bit bloated. 3) Microsoft Security Essentials - comes built into Windows 8, available for Windows 7 as well as other Windows OS's. 4) Malwarebytes - Anti-malware software. PDF Tools The following section contains software used to view and manipulate PDF files (annotations, editing PDFs, combining, etc). 1) PDFCreator - print to PDF, among other features. 2) Bullzip PDF - A printer driver which can be installed to print any document type as a PDF. Particularly useful for obscure file formats that can't be converted directly to PDF. 3) SumatraPDF - A free PDF and ebook (.epub, .mobi) reader. 4) Evince - A replacement PDF viewer that supports other file formats. 5) Xournal - free and open-source software specifically replacing OneNote or other Journal applications. Supports tablet PCs, and is able to annotate PDFs. 6) Stylus Labs - So far, of the Journal applications I've tried, this works the best in terms of writing performance. Xournal had an input lag that I noticed on Windows, not sure how it runs on Linux. Saves as .html files, with optional PDF export. Quite the quirky website design too. 7) PDFLite - PDF Viewer and printer (converts multiple formats to PDF). Source code is freely available for compiling on Linux. Virtualization This section contains software used for virtualization, whether it be development environments (virtual servers), or virtual machines. It's a fairly broad category. Some of the software under development tools were moved to this section to be a bit more accurate. The list includes free and open-source options. 1) Oracle's Virtualbox - the go-to option for free virtual machines. Supports a wide range of guest and host operating systems. 2) VMWare Workstation Player - available in Free and Pro versions (for commercial use). 3) Xen - Open-source virtualization, supports many guest operating systems and also supports various cloud platforms (OpenStack, etc). 4) KVM - another popular open-source virtualization program for Linux. 5) XAMPP - Web development environment. 6) Vagrant - creates a Virtual Server and sets it up as a development environment. Easily create and re-create (in any desired configuration) development environments to suit your needs. 7) WPN-XM - Web development environment built around Nginx (alternative web server to Apache), PHP, and Mariadb (faster alternative to MySQL). Miscellaneous This section contains mostly things that don't fall into the above categories, generally free. Some of them are cross-platform. Some of the summaries below may not be very accurate, so correct me if I'm mistaken. I've only used a couple of them in the past. 1) 7-zip - Everyone should have this, everyone should love it. Much better features compared to winzip and works with many different compression formats. 2) KeePass2 - encrypts and stores all of your passwords. 3) Xming - view/run X (Unix/Linux) based programs on Windows. 4) Cygwin/MinGW - Linux environment on Windows, can be used to compile programs from source on Windows. More involved, so usually ideal only for the tech savvy. Nice to have though, for people who want to tinker. 5) PuTTY - Simple SSH Client. Good for managing servers via command line. 6) Filezilla FTP - One of the best free FTP clients. Believe it also has SSH built in, but never used it. 7) Ghostscript/Ghostview - viewer/interpreter for Postscript, a programming language for creating vector graphics. 8) TrueCrypt - one of the best free disk encryption. Has automatic and real-time encryption of data. ---------------------- I haven't personally used many of the above applications, but it's a starting point for people interested in making the jump to Linux or SteamOS. Some of these options are a bit more involved to get running, but don't be afraid to get your hands dirty! It's an immense learning experience, and well worth learning.

Hey all! My Fiance and I have recently opened our own small business, It is a Sole Proprietorship here in the states. I am the man behind the curtain per-say and I am looking to get some insight or suggestions on software I can use to help me be incredibly efficient at helping her behind the scenes. She is a Professional Cosmetologist, so she does the booking and the Labor basically, and I manage the finances, website, advertising, and in person contract style labor(the handyman shit).... So far I find myself in search of some of the following -Application to plug in our expenses and or inventory to keep track of what was sold, and how much we made on it vs the cost(something that could be connected to the internet to give an average consumer sale price so were not overcharging) -Mass Text communication/marketing application that is either free to use or is incredibly cheap or a program that can be purchased one time.(have found plenty of email marketing apps for low to no cost so were good in that department) -A decent free website builder, that doesn't look generic(wix) if I don't buy the domain. -Any Other influential or Helpful applications to help with a small business like this get off the ground. NOTE: I do want to point out that, I am looking for free or extremely inexpensive software. However I do intend on purchasing programs in the future that are much more "well rounded" or "have more features and appendages" once we get this baby off the ground. It is our first Legitimate Registered attempt at a small business so I would love to see what I can use to help us as much as possible with as little cost as possible, and if ANYONE would want to network and connect feel free!! We are located in Nashville, TN area. Anyone looking for any help or that would want to network with anything, pm email, or message me on twitter!! Thanks Lads and Lasses!

I'm looking for any creator (or anybody I guess) that's been sponsored by SmartDeploy recently where you can get a permanent free license, or even if they still do that. If anyone knows of anything like that and it's still valid, please let me know. Thanks!

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is free on Steam... Well kind of. For unknown reason they mixed Trial with Definitive Edition and came up with this... More details about how everything should work can be read here: New Free Trial Comes to AoE III: DE on Steam Also pick the free extra stuff from Steam: "Hero Cosmetic Pack – Lizzie"

Hi ! So. I just picked up no less than 40 Dell and HP servers from different companies in Copenhagen. Now what? It is a mix of M620, R710, R720 and some R730s. Along with a rack, a 10G 24 port Cisco swtich, a new UPS, and a upcoming 4G WAN connection. I'm running a PR agency along with a influencer agency with focus on content creation and YouTube. We operate from the following locations: - Inner City, Copenhagen, Denmark (4GBe WAN via fiber) - Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark (2GBe WAN via fiber) - Aalborg, Denmark (1GBe WAN via coax) - Aarhus, Denmark (1GBe WAN via coax) From Q1 2024, either CA, USA, FL, USA, or NY, USA, via a 4GBe fiber. (we are opening our first LLC) We use my old gaming PC as a server, running unRaid with 4 x 14TB and a 1TB NVME as cache. With 12 core Ryzen 3900X and 64G of RAM. We max that poor thing out. We have this weekly workload now and in the coming months: - 5 x live production in 1080p50 - 1 x event produciton in 2160p50 - 3 x YouTube production in 2160p50 - 10 x SVF production in 2160p50 - 5 x instagram / tiktok production in 1080p50 - 5 x "out of house" production in 1080p50 - 1 x big monthly production in 2160p50 - 5 x remote live production (via site-VPN) With this equipment: - Sony ZV-E10 - Sony FX30 - Sony FX3 - Sony FX6 - Sony FS7 In theese formats: - 2160p50 in XAVC-H and HS 4K in 422 in 200 MBit/s - 1080p50 in XAVC-L HD in 400 in 100 MBit/s - 1080p50 streaming Our workflow: - DIT to SSD SAN - Transcode - Setup in software - Rough cut - Edit - VFX - Mastering - Color grading - Rendering - Render upload to dropbox - Project files to HDD SAN Our SW needs: - 10 x VM for remote editing (LogMeIn software for smooth) - 4 x VM for DIT - 2 x VM for transcode - 1 x VM for Dropbox upload and management - 1 x VM for each YT creator with produciton agreement - 1 x VM for render - 1 x VM for management - 1 x VM for backup - 1 x VM for admin Our HW needs: - DIT server - RDP edit server - Premiere Pro render server - After Effects render server - Unreal render server - Cinema4D render server - Blender render server - Transcode server - VMIX server - SSD SAN - HDD SAN Our equipment (what we know of so far) - 1 x R720xd (Ivy) - 1 x R730xd (Broadwell) - 4 x R720 (Ivy) - 4 x R720 (Sandy) - 5 x R710 (Westmere) - 6 x R710 (Nehalem) - 1 x Dell VRTX - 4 x Dell M620 (Ivy) - 1 x Dell M1000e - 8 x Dell M620 (Sandy) - 1 x Dell PS4210 (25 x 10K SAS 1,2TB HDD) - 4 x HP DL380 Gen8 - 1 x HP DL360 Gen9 - 2 x HP DL380 Gen8 - 1 x Cisco 10GBe switch 48 ports with POE - 1 x Dream Machine Pro (rack) with 10GBe - 2 x Mac Studio M1 Max - 4 x MacBook Air 15" 16GB M2 - 2 x MacBook Pro 16,2 32GB M1 Max - 30+ SFP 10GBe (copper) cables - 10+ SFP dual link fibers (40GBe) - 1 Nestor GPU case 128GBit/s with 4 x PCIe x16 3.0 - 1 x HP UPS - 1 x 4GBe WAN Our setup: - 4 x editors on location - 4 x editors over site-VPN - 1 x live stream on location - 1 x live stream over site-VPN - 2 x studio for video - 2 x studio for audio - 4 x remote editors Everything will run 10GBe. We have CAT 5e in the on location building, they do 10GBe up to 30 meters. We will connect editors with CAT7 to a 2,5GBe switch, with 2,5GBe for each. Planning on getting that to 10GBe though. So! What now and how? We want everything to be well connected, and are tired of slow transfers and workflow. I do not even now if UnRaid is the way to go anymore? Or if a NAS is better than a SAN? And everything will need to be solid state, and yes, we can buy from both Canada and the US. As long as it ships to Copenhagen in Denmark. Give me all your thoughts and tell me what I have forgot to mention in my description above! All best, Thomas

Hi, So again I need help. Today I've been trying to get some windows 11 keys for free or quite cheap and haven't found anything except sketchy websites until I came over to vip scdkey that I saw Greg Salazar's video and thought is it worth it and is it alright. If you include links please make sure they're uk. Thanks!

Last year I dropped in to give out some LTT logo wallpapers and they have been a hit so here's a complete remaster with some colours being replaced for *classier* varieties.

I'm wondering if anyone around the Vancouver, Burnaby, New West, ect., area does video card repair. My graphics card died (980ti, from NCIX days) and I'm going to buy a new one. It definitely died - a capacitor is visibly browned and there was the smell of burning. I'm not looking to make anything off it just wondering if someone local (I'm not shipping) wanted to tinker with it (and hopefully give it life after death).

Ok, so I downloaded FXSound a week ago, and oh my goodness, it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in videos. There is just, one caviat. (also haven't done a review in a while) THE PROS SO much. The beat in songs and vocals just sound so much better from before and after. It's mindblowing that this happens in REAL TIME. Its not like a full remaster of the audio, but it's like enhanced. A remaster is like concert level. All live instruments and vocals. But an enhancement is like what a YouTuber can do with a little bit of Audition. It just sounds, better. I don't know how to explain it. You need to try it for yourself. Yes, I know it's only EQ and not the full HQ that music-critics LOVE, (me too as well lol) but even EQ is ok. At least it's not LQ. But, with all of this goodness, there is one thing that bugs me so much. THE CONS Why can you not record the audio and have it on a file??? It's so annoying because I like enhancing things, like color correction with videos. I wanted to start getting into the audio stuff with this app, but I can't record the enhanced audio! It's such a bummer. Yeah, I know you can just record with your phone, but then again I have a bad cough right now, so things will be harder. Also, my speakers aren't the best speakers there are, but their okay for me. CONCLUSION Of course there will be some nit-picks here and there, but overall, this app is just wonderful. If you wanna try it, click this link to download it. It's 100% free now.https://www.fxsound.com/ No, I did not get sponsored. (i wish) FXSound Rating: 9/10. I just need a recorder. Then it's a 10/10.

Hi I need a free anti-virus that works on chromebook Andriod and windows 11 I am a content creator of a political podcast so it need a fire wall is there any out our is that to much to ask.

any other stores giving free games other then epic games?

I live in an area where internet is not widely available so i haven't had a network connection since around June. Last month i decided to just go ahead and pay extra to get a Hotspot on my phone, however that was only 10GBs of Data. i have an Unlimited Talk Text & Data plan so I started looking online for a better solution, and I found one. I found an app named PDANET+ which spoofs data packets on my phone and lets me get around ridiculous Hotspot Fees from my mobile provider allowing me to simply use the internet on my PC as much as i want without worrying about data usage. The connection is a little spotty but its miles better than not having internet. A disappointing aspect of PDANET that i found is a lack of compatibility with Linux. Just wanted to put this out here for anyone who has trouble with getting internet where they live and whos mobile provider charges for Hotspot usage. How To Use- (ANDROID ONLY) USB TETHERING -First you need to enable USB Debugging -Open 'Settings' -Open 'About Phone' -Tap 'Build number' 7 Times -Go back to 'Settings' -Open 'System' -Open 'Developer options' -Enable 'USB debugging" -Allow your PC Access to your phone -Download 'PdaNet+' from the 'Google Play Store' (June Fabrics Technology Inc.) If it has been blocked by your provider you can get the APK HERE -Download & Install 'PdaNet Windows Client' on your Windows PC from HERE (during the install it will install a new network driver) -Open 'PdaNet+' on your phone and enable 'USB Tether' -Open 'PdaNet Desktop' from the start menu -Double click the Icon that appears in your toolbar If all went well you now have an internet connection -Warning- The free PdaNet+ version will occasionally disconnect if that happened just repeat the last step again

link to store page.

my 2DS is bricked and I’m broke. How to unbrick one?????

<removed by staff> (PC w/ 3080TI?)

Epic Store gives Tropico 5 for free during December 24th. Don't think this requires introduction, more good dictator sim from Haemimont Games. Game has 78% positive reviews on Steam.

So i found out that my neighbor is moving aswell and he offered to let me help him look through his basement well at first look/question he told me he had some intel Pentium 3's and alot more older computer hardware CRT monitors ect all in mint condition. Is there anything I should keep my eye out for? I'll try to get pictures soon. Time to learn about computers. Just from the basic look he's an IT guy has servers everywhere.

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/kingdom-classic-free-game?hmb_source=humble_home&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_1_layout_type_twos_tile_index_2_c_freegame_2020_storetile_kingdomclassic seems i have it already ECIJV-X5RWI-0IVIJ enjoy

Saw this in passing...seems there will be a Streets of Rage 2 clone release on Steam with Yakuza characters as part of Sega's 60th anniversary celebration called Streets of Kamurocho. It releases Oct. 17 and will be free until the 19th. https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/streets-of-rage-2-yakuza-officially-combine-as-streets-of-kamurocho-for-a-limited-time/ EDIT: Also on the 18th, there's Golden Axed: A cancelled prototype coming on Steam (again for free)

Hello, I'm new to the forums, but I figured this is the best place to ask. I've heard that after October 5th it will no longer be possible to update to Windows 11 for free. This is concerning to me as I plan to update once my printer software and drivers are supported. Is this true? I'd rather not have to buy another pro license. Edit: I just found the original source of this. On the microsoft website about 2 months ago it said that https://web.archive.org/web/20220714113627/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/get-windows-11?r=1 look at "How long will the free upgrade offer last?" in the FAQ at the bottom of the page. This has since been changed to this now: Does this mean they changed their mind or are they hiding the fact and will do it anyway. I might just have to update to Windows 11 anyway and not use my home printer for a while.

Hi, I couldnt find any open competitions for video editing... I´m a beginner in video editing and want to get more experience. I`d like to edit your video footage and learn how to make videos. (e.g a Youtube video) I have already made a few vids. But i need to kill some time while in quarantine.

I suppose I should elaborate what I mean. It would appear that one of the "free items" you can choose are a pair of shoelaces. However, it would turn out that they are not in fact a pair, and only a singular shoelace. Which is kind of dumb, since why would anyone want a single shoelace? It's made even worse by the fact that you cannot buy another set after the fact, only by purchasing another item can you get an actual pair, at which point is it really free? It's made even worse by on the product page it says "Shoelaces", which one would obviously infer would mean two, since it's plural shoelaces, not singular. It also says "...buying these", which again, infers two of them not one. I know these are given as a complementary free product with your purchase, which is already very nice of LTT. it's just an annoyance when you consider that you could get the cool sticker pack or the cable ties, both of which are "complete" products in their own right lol.

Goat of Duty is free to add to your Steam account (verified at least in the US, seems like they're announcing it to be free everywhere). Deal is good until the end of March (add once, keep forever). Yes it's as silly as it sounds.