Ditch proprietary software in favor of free and open source software.
Whether it’s saving money or preserving your personal data, there are a thousand and one reasons to abandon commercial software in favor of open source alternatives.
Today, the majority of proprietary software, often preinstalled on your computer, can be replaced by free programs that are just as powerful. The editorial staff of Telecharger.com has selected for you the best free and open source software to meet all your needs.
Create documents
To write a letter, give a presentation or manage your accounts, do you automatically think of the Office suite? It’s not just Microsoft Office in life! Microsoft’s office suite, as complete as it is, can easily be replaced by an open source alternative like LibreOffice.
This software suite is a benchmark by integrating all the tools that we can expect from such a solution: Writer, a word processor that has nothing to envy Word, Calc, a spreadsheet editor. calculation as powerful as Excel, or Impress, a tool for creating presentations as polished as with PowerPoint.
LibreOffice is not limited to these software constituting the basis of office automation tools since the program also offers a drawing tool, a database manager, a mathematical formula editor, or even a diagram creation module. Derived from the OpenOffice project, LibreOffice benefits from regular updates and adapts to individual needs by allowing the installation of extensions to increase its capabilities tenfold.
Download LibreOffice for Windows (Free)
Download LibreOffice for Mac (Free)
Download 32-bit LibreOffice for Linux (Free)
Download LibreOffice 64-bit for Linux (Free)
Watch videos
Having become a real benchmark, VLC is the ultimate multimedia player. Capable of reading most audio and video formats, VideoLAN’s multimedia player integrates a multitude of functions, sometimes hidden, in a simple interface, the efficiency of which is well established.
VLC plays all types of files without the need to install additional codecs. It perfectly handles subtitle files and can also play content from a network stream, convert files, record screencasts, and even stream content played on a device to a Chromecast connected to your TV since the upgrade to version 3.0 .
Download 32-bit VLC for Windows (Free)
Download 64-bit VLC for Windows (Free)
Download VLC for Mac (Free)
Download VLC for Linux (Free)
Download VLC for Android (Free)
Download VLC for iPhone / iPad (Free)
Surf the Internet
Free, free and fast, Firefox is a web browser that has nothing to envy the competition and will replace Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Safari without blushing. Its rendering engine gives it perfect fluidity, and is less greedy than some competitors.
Firefox includes an incognito mode allowing you to block trackers and advertising tracking during your browsing. The browser also provides a screen capture tool capable of capturing a complete page or a specific area and which is responsible for centralizing the screenshots taken to find them more easily.
In addition, Firefox can save your important articles thanks to the integration of Pocket, a smart notepad that allows you to find your articles and their content on any device. Thanks to synchronization, all data saved in the browser (passwords, bookmarks, etc.) can be accessed on other devices on which Firefox is installed.
Finally, the Mozilla Foundation web browser offers many customization tools (extensions, themes, toolbars) to adapt the browser to your needs.
Download 32-bit Firefox for Windows (Free)
Download Firefox 64-bit for Windows (Free)
Download Firefox for Mac (Free)
Download Firefox for Linux (Free)
Download Firefox for Android (Free)
Download Firefox for iPhone / iPad (Free)
Open PDF files
There are many websites that when you need to download a PDF will prompt you to download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the document on your PC. While Adobe’s software offers many advanced functions, the majority of users will only use them to open their documents.
However, there are simple and powerful open source solutions that do this very well. This is the case with Sumatra PDF, a document reader which not only supports PDF files, but also knows how to open other file formats.
Lightweight, simple and fast Sumatra PDF can indeed be used to open eBooks in ePub or Mobi format but also to view comic pages archived in CBZ or CBR files.
Download SumatraPDF for Windows (Free)
Download SumatraPDF Portable for Windows (Free)
Edit images
Image editing is frequently associated with Photoshop, a paid software offered by Adobe. Reserved for advanced users, Photoshop is chargeable and now requires a monthly subscription which can very quickly become expensive, especially if you only use it occasionally.
There are credible free alternatives that have absolutely nothing to envy to the Adobe program. GIMP is a benchmark in this area, and for good reason. The program is built around a very similar interface, and most importantly, it offers identical tools and functionality. The tool can be used to process and retouch photos in high quality, and offers, like Photoshop, support for layers.
Download GIMP for Windows (Free)
Download GIMP for Mac (Free)
Download GIMP for Linux (Free)
Manage your emails
If you haven’t yet succumbed to the sirens of webmail and want to be able to manage your emails without being connected to the Internet, Thunderbird should be the thing for you. This mail client is compatible with most services as well as with most email protocols.
The program includes a wizard to assist you in setting up your accounts and allows you to easily add recipients to your messages with one click through direct access to your address book. Thunderbird also knows how to be careful about what you send: before sending a message, it looks for words that may mention an attachment and, in case you forgot it, displays an alert asking you to add your document.
Proposed by Mozilla, Thunderbird is based on a tabbed navigation system like Firefox. All messages can be opened in separate tabs and in case you close the program, Thunderbird is able to reopen all tabs as you left them. The mail client also incorporates a filter system allowing you to quickly sort your messages, as well as a powerful search engine to find specific mail. Finally, the program, like Firefox, can be personalized and enriched with new features thanks to the possibility of installing extensions that meet defined needs.
Download Thunderbird for Windows (Free)
Download Thunderbird for Mac (Free)
Download Thunderbird for Linux (Free)
Edit films
If video editing professionals operate on expensive solutions like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut, there is free software that covers these areas just as well, however sophisticated they may be. Available on all platforms, Shotcut is a free open source video editing software with many features.
The various media imported into the program can be enhanced using various filters, and effects can be applied to provide perfect fluidity to the final production. Clips can be shortened, trimmed and reoriented, while the organization of videos on the timeline is done with a simple drag and drop.
Compatible with a multitude of audio and video formats, Shotcut supports high quality video files, 4K included, and integrates everything you need to mix video and sound in order to obtain a professional result.
Download Shotcut 32 bit for Windows (Free)
Download Shotcut 64-bit for Windows (Free)
Download Shotcut 32 bit Portable for Windows (Free)
Download Shotcut 64 bit Portable for Windows (Free)
Download Shotcut for Mac (Free)
Download 32-bit Shotcut for Linux (Free)
Download 64-bit Shotcut for Linux (Free)
Compress and decompress files
Whether compressing or decompressing your files, 7-Zip is one of the easiest and fastest solutions to use.
Under the GNU LGPL license, 7-Zip is a file compression and decompression software capable of applying high compression rates to the 7z format. The program can be used to compress or decompress files in 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM formats. Other formats are also supported, but for decompression only, like CAM, DMG, EXT, FAT, HFS, ISO, RAR files and many more.
All files in 7z and ZIP formats can be protected with AES-256 encryption, while archives generated in 7z format can be set to be self-extracting. The utility integrates seamlessly with Windows context menus and has a powerful file manager.
Download 32-bit 7-zip for Windows (Free)
Download 64-bit 7-zip for Windows (Free)
Download portable 7-zip for Windows (Free)
Manage passwords
Data as sensitive as passwords or bank details is not to be put into everyone’s hands. While there are commercial software programs capable of storing and organizing this information, it is not always reassuring to entrust your personal data to third parties, especially if these tools offer online synchronization.
To keep control of this sensitive data, nothing better than to use a free manager like Keepass which will record your passwords, bank details, etc. in a database stored locally on your computer. This database is secured with a master key, a unique master password that you must remember to access your passwords protected by two encryption algorithms (AES and Twofish).
Download Keepass for Windows (Free)
Download Keepass Portable for Windows (Free)