Programs Included on 8daysaweek Discs
The selected
programs are high-quality,
easy to use and enable you to get work done, or have fun with your computer.
Here are some of the most popular Open Source and Freeware
programs (11 out of over 55 on the Windows® CD) included on
our discs.
Programs on discs are organized into categories.
Not all of these programs appear on every disc, as we provide CDs & DVDs for different
Operating Systems.
I want to:
- write letters or make calculations
- browse the web safely
- send and receive emails
- view or edit my photos
- play or edit my music
- play or edit my videos
- backup my files automatically
- organize, backup and securely store my passwords
- learn about the universe
- protect/clean my computer
- make it easier to use my computer
- do something else with my computer that's not mentioned in this list
...write letters or make calculations using OpenOffice.org
An office suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. OpenOffice.org is easy to learn and easy to use. It is compatible with other office software such as Microsoft Office.
You may use it for any purpose � home, business, education, etc. - and you can install it on as many computers as you want.
OpenOffice.org is included (along with over 55 other Open Source programs) on the 8daysaweek Discs, which will guide you through a very easy installation of the software.
Read more about this Office Suite on our OpenOffice.org page.
Other programs for doing this: There's also a stand-alone word processor, a desktop publishing program, website authoring tools and other text-editing software on our discs for you to choose from.
...browse the web safely with Mozilla Firefox
An award winning web browser with an array of features and thousands of add-ons to customise your browsing experience.
Why do we like it so much? One reason is that it is regarded by many as The Safest Web Browser. In addition to it's security credentials, Firefox also has these features (and many more):
- One click bookmarking
- Pop up blocker
- Smart Location Bar
- Password Manager
- Instant website ID (for security)
- Anti-Malware
Other programs for doing this: There are at least 2 other browsers on our discs, each offering unique solutions, depending on how you want to browse the web.
...send and receive emails with Mozilla Thunderbird
A powerful email client to organize, secure and customize your mail.
- Choice of folder views
- Message tagging
- Quick search facility
- Junk mail filters
- Easy to integrate with web mail
Other programs for doing this: There are other email clients on our discs, and we've also included some add-ons which add features to Thunderbird.
...view or edit photos using The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
The GIMP is an Image Manipulation Program for retouching your photos, editing and creating images and much more.
We like it because it is so versatile. From the simplest tasks such as cropping photos and reducing red eye to the most complex image manipulation - The GIMP has all the tools you could want.
It is also designed to be expandable - over 100 plug-ins are already available meaning The GIMP will do just about anything!
Features:
- Full suite of painting tools including Brush, Pencil, Airbrush, Clone, Blend, etc.
- Virtually unlimited number of images open at one time
- Transformation tools including rotate, scale, shear flip, etc.
- Selection tools including rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, free, fuzzy, etc.
- Animation tools
- Handles numerous file types
- Multiple Undo/Redo
- and much more...
Other programs for doing this: There are alternative programs for viewing and/or editing images on our discs, e.g. one for 3D rendering & video, another specifically designed for kids, and others too.
...play music with Jajuk
Jajuk is software that organizes and plays music. It is designed to be intuitive and enable you to perform tasks with as few clicks as possible. It is particularly good for users with large or scattered music collections and supports most audio formats.
Features:
- Quickly copy playlist tracks to an external device
- Smart functions - "Best Of" to play your favourite tracks, "Novelties" to play your newest albums
- Find duplicate tracks across your audio collection
- Visual catalog of all albums by covers
- Clever rating system based on user preference (set in one click) and automatic analysis
- and much more...
Other programs for doing this: On the discs there's music editing software, a program for "ripping" music from CDs and other desktop music players too.
...play videos with VLC
VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player. You can use it to play various audio and video formats as well as CDs, DVDs, VCDs, and use it for streaming live data. It works on all popular platforms and will play virtually all multimedia files.
Features:
- Cross-platform � can be used with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, etc.
- Supports a large number of multimedia formats
- Features a complete streaming server with extended features
Other programs for doing this: There are also other video editing and playback programs on the discs, including a screen recorder on our Windows® discs.
...backup your files automatically using Cobian Backup
Cobian Backup is a program that can be used to schedule and backup your files and directories. It copies your files and folders in original or compressed mode to another location, creating a security copy.
It is important to always backup your files in case of hardware failure, but a lot of us rarely or never do it. Using a backup program means it will be done for you automatically so you don't have to keep remembering!
Features:
- Uses very few resources meaning it can run in the background without slowing down your computer
- Checks your backup schedule and executes backups when necessary
- Supports several methods of compression and strong encryption
Other programs for doing this: We also include a much simpler backup tool, and synchronization tools which provide some similar features, but shouldn't be relied on for backup.
...organize, backup and securely store your passwords using Keepass
KeePass is an open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. Nowadays we all have numerous usernames and passwords for an array of websites, and remembering them all can be challenging!
KeePass is a great solution. You put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key. You only have to remember one single master password to unlock the whole database. It's very secure as the databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known.
Of course, you should also take a backup of your passwords database; you wouldn't want to lose them all at once! See Cobian Backup for a way to do this automatically. We also include a plugin that can create encrypted backup copies of your password database each time it is saved.
Features:
- Organise your passwords - create groups such as Shopping, Banks, etc.
- Strong Random Password Generator � KeePass will generate a strong (hard to break) password for you, and tell you how strong your chosen passwords are
- Keep information together - attach notes and files to your password entries
- Portable - can be carried on a USB stick and runs on Windows systems without being installed
- Extremely secure - KeePass claims "the sun will go nova before you have decrypted the database"
Other programs for doing this: We also include at least 1 other Password Manager. Although you should find any of these will securely store your passwords you may simply prefer using one of them, or come to rely on an add-on written for a specific program.
...learn about the universe with Celestia
Celestia is a fun, educational and easy to use space simulation program that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Travel through the solar system, to over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.
Features:
- Point-and-goto interface - navigate easily to the object you want to visit
- Exponential zoom � seamlessly move across a huge range of scales, from galaxy clusters to spacecraft only a few meters across
- Large catalogue of stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft
- Expandable - download dozens of easy to install add-ons with more objects
Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Other programs for doing this: There is only one "Virtual Universe" on our discs, however, there's also a planetarium, and we're always interested in software that teaches us something as well as being interesting or useful.
...protect & clean your computer with Spybot - Search & Destroy
Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware.
Spyware is a threat not always covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies.
If you see new toolbars in Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. However it could still be infected without you seeing any of these symptoms.
Spybot S&D can be installed in two modes: Easy mode for new users who want just the basic features, and Advanced mode for professional users and those who want more control.
Features:
- Removes Spyware, Adware, Trojans and more
- Detailed information about all problems found
- Backups of all removed problems
- Function to clean usage tracks (if you share your computer with other users and don't want them to see what you have been working on)
Other programs for doing this: There are other programs on the discs that help keep your computer running smoothly, e.g. a disk statistics tool and a disk cleaner which removes all temporary and unnecessary files.
...make it easier to use your computer - Ditto Clipboard Manager
Ditto is an extension to the standard windows clipboard. Ditto allows you to save any type of information: text, images, html, custom formats, etc. and access it at a later time.
It is superior to the standard clipboard because you are able to access clips after closing programs, search past clips and paste clips to external applications. You are also not limited to a set number of items on the clipboard.
Ditto is easy to use straight from installation, and also has some advanced features for advanced users, like syncing clipboards over a network (Data is encrypted when sent over the network).
Features:
- Easy to use interface
- Display thumbnail of copied images in list
- Select entry by double click, enter key or drag drop
- Paste into any window that excepts standard copy/paste entries
- Full Unicode support (display foreign characters)
Other programs for doing this: This is the easiest clipboard manager we've used for Windows®, and we found an equivalent that is included on our Mac OS® discs. Ditto is just one of many utilities included on the discs that help you when you're using your computer.
From programs for taking and annotating screenshots to tools for splitting or merging your PDFs you'll find something that can help speed up tasks and make it easier to get things done.
...and there's more
Don't forget, these are just a few of the programs on the discs. We haven't highlighted the software for: project management, mind-mapping, note taking, desktop publishing, creating and manipulating PDFs, enhancing your desktop experience and organizing your calendar.
In addition to all of that, there are utilities for archiving (compressing) files, renaming multiple files, cleaning up your Hard Disk and more! Please see the page for the item you're interested in for more details.
If you still think there's an essential tool we've omitted, or there's a program you know of that you would like to nominate for inclusion, please get in touch.
