Book Description

Despite the proliferation of texts on commercial software, the number of books on public domain and shareware have been few and generally inadequate. Many of these programs rival their commercial counterparts in power, flexibility and ease of use. This is the first comprehensive guide to the high quality, inexpensive (and often free) software that has largely been ignored through lack of information. The finest programs available in each area--word processing, database management, spreadsheets, graphics programs, and games--are described and evaluated. Information on how the program works along with its strengths and weaknesses help the reader decide if he or she wants to sample the program free of charge. Actual graphic screen dumps are provided to illustrate how the program looks while running. A rating chart is included for each program; it covers such aspects as ease of use, ease of learning, documentation, and general utility. Complete author, company and address information is given for each program. Appendices provide a list of sources of public domain and shareware programs and helpful suggestions for setting up and running such software.