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Software Downloads

There is a lot of free software. If you have any 'old' equipment (more than 2 years old) such as a printer, you might need new drivers. These are the bits of software that allow a computer to communicate with the bits that are attached or fitted inside.

Microsoft has a complicated site including upgrades and white papers explaining how to use some features, especially package integration. Not the easiest site to navigate but there are some good downloads including demos and tutorials.

Corel produce a serious rival to the Word and Office suite with their WordPerfect and Draw packages. In fact the packages are similar in operation. If you can use one it is easy to switch to the other.

http://www.corel.com

As well as their range of anti-virus products, Symantec publish a range of products to tune up your computer.

http://www.symantec.co.uk/

Adobe is a bit precious as it still sells much of its software at serious prices. However, it is the owner of the PDF file format. It gives away PDF readers on almost every free disk.

http://www.adobe.com/support/main.html

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html

There is a formidable amount of software available to download free. As it is shareware, you have to register to get the latest or fully-functioning version. Quality is variable but you can read reviews from other users. Some packages are outstanding and if you have some obscure hobby, shareware might have just the package for you

http://www.shareware.com

Rudenko's free BookReader offers the ability to reformat text from ebooks or other downloadable text, which is great if you have impaired vision.

http://www.rudenko.com/

ZiffDavies, the publisher of many computer periodicals, has a good download site.

http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/

Tucows, despite the silly name which dates from an era when we didn't take computers so seriously, produces and allows download of some good software. Worth a look.

http://www.tucows.com/

CNET: The provenance is not clear but the quality of the downloads is excellent. Some of the best utilities plus a few games.

http://download.cnet.com/

Another good place to look for downloads

http://www.jumbo.com/

For beginners, this useful site provides a basic web tutorial

http://www.aarp.org/learntech/computers/basic_web/

Last updated: 
30 Apr 2012 - 1:14pm

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