"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always pays."

In the world of software there is commercial software, shareware and then there is freeware. Of course, with the above saying in mind we do have to poke at the freeware with a stick sometimes to find out where the hook is hidden. Fortunately for us, most of the time the hook is either a very mild one or nonexistent with regards to freeware.

May of the "free" software downloads are not really so free. Most of them are shareware programs that are free to download as a form of a trial demo. Some programs only annoy you with reminders that you should be a nice person and properly pay for it. Others place a time limit on the functionality. Still others cripple critical features such as being able to save a work file. There is nothing wrong with this since shareware is a form of commercial software from a developer who has chosen to avoid the problems of the established distribution system via commercial publishers.

Some downloadable software is what we usually call "freeware". Freeware programs are often small simple programs that do one thing or are limited but otherwise fully functional versions of full shareware or commercial programs. Some freeware programs are remarkably useful even though they may have only a few functions and sometimes we are lucky enough to reap the benefits of a software company that is giving away fully functional software packages that may originally cost many hundreds of dollars but is an older version of current software being given away as a marketing tactic. In this marketing ploy, the idea is to get us to like the older version well enough that we will want to purchase the newer and hopefully better current version. Sometimes a company has decided to stop developing a product but has been nice enough to give away the last version of the now-discontinued product.

Here is a small listing of some great free programs available on the web.

Netscape Communicator 4.73

This is the latest version of Netscape communicator for the Mac. Open the link and look at the top of the page for the download button (Hint: it has an arrow pointing downwards). Push this button and you will be taken to the page where you can select which platform version of Communicator you wish (Win-doze or Mac).

Communicator 4.73 can also be found on the August 2000 MacAddict disk (#48)

Now that you have the latest version of Communicator, you may want to use it to go do a little online research. To help you do this you might want to get MacDICT 1.3.9

MacDICT lets you access a growing number of databases, including Webster's Dictionary, for free! Other databases include the US Gazetter, Free Online Dictionary of Computing, Roget's Thesaurus, and Infoplease Encyclopedia.

Of course, every now and then you may find a really fascinating sound file to download, but it is in some unusual sound file format other than QuickTime or WAV, or perhaps you want to convert it to another file format. To help you with this, there is SoundAPP 2.6.1

SoundAPP is one of those small but absolutely essential programs that every Mac owner absolutely must have. It is a one trick pony, but what a trick! It is also a default helper application for Netscape (and I suppose for MSIE too...) for the opening, playing and conversion of just about any sound file format in existence. It will work transparently from your web browser as a helper application and has the good manners to discreetly quit after the sound file has been played, as an option.

SoundApp 2.6.1 can also be found at nearly any Macintosh download site on the Web.

SoundApp 2.6.1 is also available in Japanese, French, Dutch and Swedish language versions from sites listed and linked at the home page.

Of course, someone out there may have the urge to work in raw HTML or manipulate text files in wondrous ways using BBEdit. Unfortunately, BBEdit may be a little beyond their limited means. Not to fear, the Bare Bones people have kindly provided a way for you to enter into the world of geeks who hack raw code with their teeth. They have provided BBEdit Lite 4.6 for free!

BBEdit lite 4.6 is a simpler version of BBEdit that is nonetheless a remarkably powerful text editor. Amongst its remarkable capabilities is that it can open and examine nearly any file you can see on the desktop and extract any meaningful text embedded in it. Personally, I have found it a lifesaver on more than one occasion when I received a garbaged Word document as an attachment.

It is also available on every MacAddict disk from November, 1999 (#39) through August 2000 (#48)

For many of us, being able to hack raw text isn't as useful as using a full fledged word processor. Well, we Mac users are fortunate enough to have not only one powerful free word processor for download, but three of them!

The simplest one is Mariner Write Lite 1.06a

It does not have quite as many features as its commercial cousin, Mariner Write 2.0, but it comes close. It shares some nice family traits with it's heftier cousin such as a remarkably small memory footprint. That is important for anyone whose system is already clogged with too many added on doodads and not enough real memory

On the other hand, you may feel the need for just plain raw word processing power. In that case you can download Corel WordPerfect 3.5e for the Macintosh for free. This is not a "lite" version or crippleware, it's the full version.

Sadly, Corel has decided not to continue support for WordPerfect on the Macintosh. I personally think this is a serious error and Corel may not survive to regret it. Although Corel is producing WordPerfect, currently up to version 8, for Windows and Linux, the Mac version is still stuck at 1997's version 3.5e. However, Corel has been nice enough to give away the Mac version for a free download. It is still a powerful alternative to using Microsoft Word and you certainly can't argue with the price.

Of course, some of us have special needs that require a special word processor. Some of us need to write in a multiplicity of languages, each with special needs. How about being able to do a "force justify" for Arabic poetry? Or how about mixing two byte Asian languages, right-to-left alphabets such as Hebrew or Arabic with Cyrillic and Slovenian on the same page with embedded graphics simultaneously? For this you may want to try Nisus„Writer 4.1.6

This is the last major release of Nisus Writer before the current version 5.1.3. It doesn't quite have all of the refinements in the current version, but it still packs a lot of word processing power. If you add your choices of the Apple language kits found on your Mac OS 9.x disk, it becomes a multi-lingual word processor capable of writing in just about any language on the planet, including the various Latin alphabet based languages, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Gujerati (Gujerati!?) just to name some of them. On top of that, you can use all of them in a mixed writing environment on the same page in the same document!

Of course there is a hook in all of this. Nisus wants you to like Nisus Writer 4.1.6 so much that you will spring the cash to purchase Nisus Writer 5.1.3 and perhaps take a look at their new e-mail program as well. In fact, I am considering seriously purchasing the next version of Nisus Writer when it is released. In my case at least, their ploy has worked.

For some of us, being able to create our very own 3D graphics masterpieces is an ambition that has been thwarted by the huge price tags attached to those powerful 3D software packages. Now Strata has come to the rescue of any would-be 3D artists by providing Strata 3D 3.0 for free! this is a package that not very long ago was selling for the better portion of a thousand dollars!

Strata is moving away from competing directly in the 3D modeling arena and is now concentrating on their new media and web oriented products such as Media Paint and Video Shop. Strata has opted to release Strata 3D 3.0 as a freeware product rather than play Dog-In-The-Manger. This places a powerful product for 3D graphics into the hands of people who ordinarily could never afford the high cost of these programs. Secondarily, it is a great public relations move and focuses attention on both Strata and their other products. Nice move on Strata's part.

It is also available on MacAddict's August 2000 software CD (#48)

Of course, this isn't anything like a complete listing of great free Macintosh software by any means. I know some of you will be sending me information your own favorite freeware Mac programs and eventually I may do another article like this one listing some of those as well.

Oh yes, as a final note: I mentioned MacAddict magazine more than once. There is a simple reason for this. Each issue of MacAddict comes with a disk crammed full of great software and game demos, shareware, updates and freeware. If you haven't yet checked it out I strongly urge that you do so (Blatant Plug!)

joecarson@applelust.com