Open Source Alternatives For Expensive Software

Hi folks here We have a list of 15 open source applications, for enterprises, small businesses as well as average users.

1. TurboCash:

As an alternative to QuickBooks Pro and Sage 50 Accounting, TurboCash is a nice accounting package which meets needs of debtors, creditors, stock control, trial balance and it supports several companies and users. It’s compatible with Windows platform.

2. Audacity:

It’s a replacement for Apple LogicPro, Adobe Audition, Sony ACID Pro and more. It’s a very nice option for not-so-expert musicians and average users. It’s very easy to record and edit audio files with this application. It’s also capable of converting tapes, records and CDs to digital files. It’s compatible with Windows, Linux and OS X.

3. WaveShop:

It’s a replacement for the likes of Sonar X3 Producer, Adobe Audition and Sony ACID pro. It’s a Windows-only tool which has highlighted features like sample rate conversion, audio generation, spectral analysis and so on.

4. Jedox:

It’s a replacement for the likes of Oracle Business Intelligence Standard, SAS Analytics Pro and more. It’s a business intelligence suite which has an OLAP server, ETL and mobile support. It’s independent of all OSes.

5. SpagoBI:

It claims to be 100 per cent open source which is also a flexible business intelligence suite. It’s dependent on other open source projects too and offers modules for OLAP, charts, ad-hoc reporting, data mining, dashboard, master data management and more.

6. BIRT:

It focuses on creating reports and visualisations which can be embedded within applications. It’s sponsored by Actuate and to use it Eclipse is also required. It’s compatible with Windows, Linux and OS X.

7. Sugar Community Edition:

It’s a replacement for Sage ACT! And Salesforce.com Professional. It’s very popular worldwide and it helps connect sales, marketing and support teams with customers as well as business prospects. It’s OS independent too.

8. Firebird:

This is an alternative to Microsoft SQL Server Standard and Firebird has been under development for more than three decades. It;s a relational database which offers excellent performance level and powerful language support. Its paid support is available through third-party providers and it can be used on Windows, Linux, Unix, OS X and Solaris.

9. MikTeX:

If you are creatinga document with scientific expressions and mathematical formulas, then this application is a good alternative to InDesign CS5, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Publisher. It’s compatible with Windows and Linux only.

10. MonoDevelop:

This is an appropriate replacement for Microsoft Visual Studio Professional with MSDN. It has been designed for C# and Visual Basic .NET. With it developers can create multi-platform applications and its key features inlcude advanced text editing, unit testing and more.

11. Zimbra:

This is a replacement for Microsoft Exchange and it offers a cross-platform client-server mail solution. It’s compatible with Windows, Linux, Unix and OS X.

12. Openbravo:

This is a replacement for Microsoft Dynamics, SAP and NetSuite. It has been used by some huge brands like Oracle, Federal Bank and others. It offers a commerce platform and an ERP platform. It’s independent of all OSes.

13. Inskscape:

It acts like popular Gimp and it;s quite suitable for use by professional graphic designers. It offers a wide range of tools for creating vector graphics and it supports different file types. It can work with Windows, Linux and OS X.

14. Calligra:

It’s an excellent alternative to Microsoft Office and it was previously known as KOffice. It includes a word processor, spreadsheets, presentations, project management, database, vector graphics, diagramming and mind mapping. It also supports Microsoft file formats.

15. PDF SAM:

PDF SAM stands for PDF Split and Merge. It can extract pages, merge multiple documents, rearrange pages and so on. It’s usable with Windows, Linux and OS X.

Top 10 Alternative software for Internet Download Manager (IDM)

1. Video Grabber – Alternative App for IDM

   Video Grabber is a download manager that allow you to grab videos from all online video sites like vimeo, blip.tv, YouTube etc.. at a very high speed, a feature that is most important in all such downloading tools. TheVideo Grabber tool has the capability to perform much better performance as compared to the IDM tool. Video Grabber is absolutely free of cost and can be used for downloading as many files as you want. Since this tool is a web- based application, there is no need to install it and hence it can be used at anytime from anywhere. Its speed, stability and simplicity give it an edge over other downloading tools in the market. – Video Grabber

2. J Downloader – Open source Alternative for Internet Download Manager

   Written in Java, J Downloader is a free, open source download manager that let you download files and split files automatically from one-click hosting sites such as RapidShare, Megaupload etc… With J Downloader, User can easily import and decrypt RSDF, CCF and DLC Container files. To use J Downloader, you need to use premium accounts. Parallel downloading of several files, via multiple connections is another appreciable feature of J Downloader. Available in multiple languages, J Downloader reduces the waiting time by assigning a new IP address for each download. – JDownloader

3. Download Accelerator Plus (DAP)

   Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) allows you to preview videos while they are being downloaded. This means that there is no longer the need to wait for your content to finish downloading. You can also resume your interrupted downloads, all at once. DAP gives information about broken links so that there is no chance for broken/ incomplete downloads. Faster downloading speed is yet another remarkable feature in this. You can now convert videos to any format from usual YouTube video format. Moreover, there are security checks available for all major anti viruses. – Download Accelerator Plus

4. Orbit Downloader – Free IDM Alternatives

   Orbit Downloader is an ultra-fast, easy to use yet free download manager for download all types files such as video/music/files from Myspace, YouTube, Imeem, Pandora and Rapidshare. User can easily manage all there downloaded files more efficiently with Tagging function. Not only videos, you can also download email attachments at a faster speed. This makes Orbit Downloader best for Windows 7 users. It supports all the major streaming protocols of media such as MMS, RTMP, RTSP and others. Not only this, all major internet browsers support the Orbit Downloader tool. Videos from MySpace, YouTube, Pandora, etc. can be downloaded at a speed which is much faster than many other download managers. – Orbit Downloader

5. Free Rapid Downloader – IDM Alternatives

   Downloading multiple files simultaneously is one prominent feature of Free Rapid Downloader. Like in the case of IDM, there is download history available for future references. This is a smart downloader which checks the server for similar existing files before downloading them. Automatic updates for Plugin are yet another new feature of this download tool. Free Rapid Downloader is very user friendly and is available in a number of international languages. Both pictures and video streaming is supported by Free Rapid Downloader and it works on a list of proxies as well. – FreeRapid Downloader

6. Flash Get Downloader

   Easy to use as well as install, Flash Get Downloader brings no spyware or other malicious threats onto your system. In case it suspects the presence of a malware after downloading a file, the anti- virus is called automatically. Very few of the system’s resources are used by Flash Get Downloader without interrupting the regular working of your system. Increased downloading speed and stability further boosts the performance of this tool. Media protocols such as HTTP,FTP,BT and eMule are supported by Flash Get Downloader. For different category of files downloaded by this, it maintains a separate directory in the system. – FlashGet Download Manager

7. Go! Zilla Downloader – IDM Alternatives App

   Go! Zilla downloader tool helps in managing the files based on their downloading speed and completeness. Recovery from unannounced interruptions as well as high downloading speed makes it one of the best alternatives for IDM tool. It is very simple to use and is very reliable while working on weak networks. Downloading files in a batch i.e. in bulk is yet another feature of Go! Zilla Downloader. It supports a number of media protocols and does not bring any uninvited malware onto your system. It also has the capability to work with any type of internet connection. – Go!Zilla Download Manager

8. Download Accelerator Manager (DAM)

   The downloading speed of Download Accelerator Manager (DAM) is much higher than many other download managers mentioned in this list. You can download videos from any platform. This download manager works best with Google chrome browser. Both videos as well as music files can be downloaded with ample ease. However, it is also compatible with other browsers such as Opera, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and others. Using DAM, you can pause, resume, schedule, manage as well as recover interrupted files. As a bonus, it doesn’t bring any malware onto your system. – Download Accelerator Manager (DAM)

9. Get Right Download Manager

   This tool speeds up the downloading process by acquiring several sources at the same time. There is recovery option available for all kinds of interruptions also province for finding the finished as well as interrupted files using Get Right Download Manager . It is very easy to use and works with almost every web browser. It also supports a number of media protocols such as HTTP, FTP, HTTPS, FTPS as well as Bit Torrent. Absence of spyware is also a remarkable feature of this download manager tool. – GetRight

10. Mipony download Manager

    Mipony Download Manager is absolutely free of cost and enables automatic downloading of files. This download manager optimizes your downloading experience by increasing the speed of browser. It is one rare downloading tool that is available for premium accounts as well. Moreover, it comes with an embedded browser that detects downloading links on its own. Also available with this tool is a web interface which controls the actions of downloading such as resuming, scheduling, pausing and others. – Mipony – Download manager

10 Best Free Cloud Drives For You

The market is full of cloud storage options and some of them require customers to sign up for the services. If you create a new account, freecloud storage is also offered with several options. Here we are giving you the 10 best cloud storage options with which you will get 112GB free cloud storage.

But all the services are not similar. Some have their strengths and weaknesses regarding the size of the uploaded files, pricing of additional cloud storage space, integration with operating systems and mobile apps and also security measures.

1. Amazon Cloud Drive 

Free cloud storage: 5GB

Extra storage: 20GB - $10/year; 50GB - $25/year; 100GB - $50/year; 200GB - $100/year; 1TB - $500/year. Cloud Music player: 250 imported songs free; 250,000 imported songs - $24.99/year.

If you purchase or download music files from Amazon then it gets automatically stored in the cloud drive for free. This service also provides back-up to Kindle-branded tablets. The service was launched in March 2011. Click here for terms and regulations to use Amazon Cloud Drive.

2. Apple iCloud 

Free cloud storage: 5GB

Extra storage: 10GB (15GB total with 5GB free) - $20/year; 50GB - $100/year.

iCloud automatically syncs files, photos, videos and even Web browsing tabs across Apple devices. Apple boasts of a minimum 128-bit AES encryption for iCloud services.Click here for more info about this service.

3. Box 

Free cloud storage: 5GB

Extra storage: Personal account, 25GB for $9.99/month; 50GB - $19.99/month. Business account: $15/user/month - 3 to 500 users; 1TB with password-protected sharing, access management and user administration. Enterprise edition: Custom pricing, unlimited storage, offers customer branding, group access controls.

This service provides SSL AES 256-bit encryption behind the firewall. In case of business and enterprise accounts, files are stored encrypted with automatic redundancy. There are some limitations on the file size like100MB for the free accounts, 1GB for paid personal accounts and business editions have 2GB file size limit. This service also allows document editing through third-party apps, such as Zoho. Click here for more info.

4. Dropbox 

Free cloud storage: 2GB

Extra storage: "Pro" accounts range from 100GB - $9.99/month or $99/year, to 500GB for $49.99/month or $499/year. "Teams" account, 1TB for $795/year for 5 users and $125 for each additional user.

Dropbox is the most popular cloud service and it uses SSL AES 256-bit encryption for its Pro and Teams editions. There is no limit on the file size if you are uploading files from the desktop application, which works on Windows, OS X and Linux. 300MB limit is imposed when you upload something from the Dropbox website. You can also get 500MB of extra free storage if your friends register, up to 16GB. Document editing is not allowed in this service. Click for more information.

5. Google Drive 

Free cloud storage: 5GB for Google Docs and files converted to Google Docs. 1GB of free photo video storage in Picasa Web Albums, unlimited storage of photos and videos (up to 15-minute videos) in Google+.

Extra storage: 25GB - $2.49/month; 100GB - $4.99/month; 200GB - $9.99/month; 1TB - $49.99/month; 16TB - $799.99/month.

Users of Google Drive are allowed to store a lot of files in its cloud for free, if only the files are Google Docs. Files can also be converted to this format simply by copying them into a Google document. Drive has some file limits, including 2MB for converted files, or 10MB for non-Google Doc files. Google Doc files can be edited in the application, but to edit non-Google Doc files you need third-party apps.

6. MediaFire 

Free cloud storage: 50GB

Extra storage: Pro edition features 250GB for $4.50/month, and Business edition offers 1TB for $49/month.

MediaFire is a start-up which offers a large amount of cloud storage, but it only supports Windows, OS X and Linux desktop applications. No mobile apps are supported yet. For $1.50/month, users can get 50GB of storage and the personal edition has no advertisements. The free edition has 200MB file size limit, while personal has a 1GB file size limit. Pro has a 4GB file size limit and business has a 10GB individual file size limit.Know more about MediaFire here.

7. Microsoft SkyDrive 

Free cloud storage: 7GB

Extra storage: 20GB for $10/year; 50GB for $25/year; 100GB for $50/year.

Microsoft SkyDrive has a Windows 8-style interface and it offers one of the largest initial free storage accounts. It limits uploads to 300MB files via the web browser and it imposes a 2GB limit on desktop application. It also supports iOS, Android and Windows phone apps. A “forgot something” feature is an added facility on this service which allows users to retrieve files remotely on their PC without even uploading to the cloud.

8. MiMedia 

Free cloud storage: 7GB

Extra storage: 100GB for $4.99/month; 500GB for $20/month or $199/year; 1TB for $35/month or $325/year.

MiMedia offers high free storage and it works as an excellent back-up repository and cloud access tool. For large uploads the company provides special facilities and files get encrypted during the upload transmission. MiMedia doesn't support Mac OS X and it runs on iOS and Android apps.

9. SpiderOak 

Free cloud storage: 2GB

Extra storage: $10 per month or $100 per year for each additional 100GB increment.

It presents itself as the secure public could storage option and it boasts of a “zero-knowledge” policy. The program doesn't store any password and all data gets encrypted both in transmission and storage. For developers, the service has also started open sourcing some of the codes which were used to create the product. SpiderOak offers personal, business and reseller versions of cloud service. Click here to know more.

10. SugarSync 

Free cloud storage: 5GB

Extra storage: 30GB for $4.99/month or $49.99/year; 60GB for $9.99/month or $99.99/year; 500GB for $39.99/month or $399.99/year. Business account offers 100GB for three users for $29.99/month or $299.99/year.

If you recommend others to use this service then you will get up to 32GB free additional storage. It supports mobile platforms like iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian and WinMobile. Know more about SugarSync here.