.comment - The Price is Right

by Peter A Bell

Pragmatix Communication

Even the smallest business would now regard a computer as an essential part of their operation and a PC is somewhere near the top of the shopping list for any new business. Buying the hardware is only the beginning, however, as various software applications will also be required. The cost of this software can easily exceed the cost of the computer itself and such a substantial outlay can be a daunting prospect. Fortunately, there are alternatives to the expensive commercial products.

SECURITY

The first consideration has to be security. Without going into technical explanations, the absolute minimum requirement will be a firewall and anti-virus (AV) software as well as protection against various types of malware such as worms and trojans. Most computers are supplied with trial versions of commercial security suites pre-installed. While this is fine as far as the user's immediate needs are concerned, the problem arises when the trial period for the AV expires. The user is then faced with the prospect of having to pay regular subscriptions for essential updates and, in many cases, may also have to fork out for program upgrades every year or so.

All too often these costs kick in just as the business is entering that crucial second year. And all too often users are tempted to defer the expenditure, thus leaving their system increasingly vulnerable.

There are free versions of many well-known security applications. But these are often licensed for personal or non-profit use only and, in any case, are invariably severely limited versions of the full product with serious disadvantages for the business user. The AV may not offer automatic updates, for example. Or the facility to schedule scans may be disabled. In some cases email scanning will not be included, making the product all but useless. Free versions of firewalls, meanwhile, will generally have fewer configuration options.

Comodo Group offer the ideal solution with a trio of excellent products that are full versions and totally free - Comodo Firewall, Comodo AntiVirus and BOClean. Find out more at www.comodo.com/products/free_products.html.

INTERNET

Having sorted out your security the next thing will be to obtain the most important tools for using the Internet - a browser and an email client. As far as the former is concerned there is really no competition. Mozilla Firefox is, quite simply, the best browser in the world. It is fast, flexible, secure and, best of all, it is free! Check it out at www.mozilla.com.

While there, you might also want to take a look at Mozilla's email client, Thunderbird, which is an excellent replacement for Outlook Express. Another alternative, Pegasus Mail (www.pmail.com), is also well worth considering - although it may not be freeware for much longer.

OFFICE

Now your computer system is secure and you are online, it is time to start thinking about the basic productivity tools. Open Office offers a complete solution for word processing, presentations, databases and spreadsheets that is everything most businesses will need. It is compatible with Microsoft Office and it is completely free! Get more information and download from www.openoffice.org.

Finally, you will need a business accounting system. A leading brand software package might cost anything from £350 upwards, with annual subscriptions on top of that. So-called "entry-level" versions of these products are commonly stripped of some essential feature. TurboCASH (www.turbocashuk.com) is a free, open source accounting package that includes most functions a business will ever need.

OTHER STUFF

Almost as important as security is a system for creating backups of essential data. SyncBack makes this easy whether you want to synchronise local folders or create a full backup over a network. If the freeware ceases to meet your needs, there is a reasonably priced upgrade available offering a number of additional features and facilities. Check out the details at www.2brightsparks.com.

Portable Document Format (PDF) files are everywhere these days and the free reader is certainly a must-have. Find it at www.adobe.com.

When it comes to creating your own PDF files then Open Office (see above) will do nicely. Alternatively, CutePDF Writer will allow you to create PDF documents from almost any Windows™ application while PDFX-CHANGE VIEWER not only serves as an alternative viewer but also allows the user to add content to existing PDF files.