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Index They can often find what they need for the most reasonable price of
all: Free.
Index Nisus Software offers Nisus Compact, which is a fine choice, and Nisus Writer 4.1.6, which is an amazingly capable word processor, as its sample documents demonstrate. If you really like it, buy the latest version of Nisus Write from the company. Download either of the free programs from the The Nisus home page. You can learn about the programs from the book The Nisus Way, which is now on-line.
One of the most famous word processors, WordPerfect, has been discontinued on the Macintosh. Corel made it a free download for a while, but has removed it from its site and asked other sites to remove it. At this time (27 February 2003), it can still be downloaded from here and find patches and macros for it here. You may also wish to visit the Campaign to Save WordPerfect for Mac to make your voice heard.
If you want to use WordPerfect under OS 8 or 9, patch it with a free WordPerfect Updater . You can also teach WordPerfect to import many types of file by installing the WordPerfect Conversions package . Among the conversions are MacLink, all popular graphics formats, Microsoft Word 6, Quark XPress, and PageMaker.
If you would like to try word processing in OS X, you have a limited
number of options. There are Apple's own AppleWorks program which may
have come with your computer and some other commercial programs (Microsoft
Office, Nisus Writer, Mariner Write, and the
promising newcomer Mellel)
and ... well, that's it. Two significant free word processors are
making the transition to OS X: AbiWord
and OpenOffice. Both can be run now
with the help of Apple's X11
program; both should be able to run without X11 within a year. Both are
extremely feature-full and will give the commercial programs stiff
competition.
The pure text editing function, which is indispensible to programmers and web page designers alike, has been well served by the free BBEdit Lite. You have to hunt for a link to it on the publisher's web site now; as of today (3 March, 2003), it is available from a link at the bottom of this page. iText, jEdit and mi all look like very capable replacements. Each is available for both Classic and OS X.
Interestingly, you don't need to download a text editor if you are running OS X. You can launch the Terminal application (in Applications/Utilities) and type either "emacs." or "vi" to bring up either of those popular editors. There are also projects to make Emacs into a regular OS X desktop program, one of which is Emacs-on-Aqua.
True desktop publishing (dtp) programs, such as Quark XPress and Adobe PageMaker, are more complex and more expensive than word processors. They are also much better tools for laying out anything more complicated than an essay or letter, such as business cards, newsletters, fancy resumes, and so on. Fortunately, one of the veterans of the dtp wars, Ragtime, now has a full-featured version called Ragtime Solo that is free for non-commercial use. Ragtime normally costs $495 U.S. but, as the web site says: "As long as you do not earn money working with RagTime, we do not want your money either." The spell checking and hyphenation dictionaries are not included (but are available for 15 euros each). Ragtime Solo is available for the Classic OS and OS X.
Several free relational database programs now run under Mac OS X, including MySQL, PostgresQL, and Firebird. These are text-based programs that are probably obtained and installed most easily with Fink, with or without Fink Commander to make it even easier. And, speaking of putting friendly faces onto text-based programs, a search for "database" on VersionTracker revealed a number of database managers that are designed to make MySQL, PostgresQL, and Firebird easier to use. Among them are DataDino, dbVisualizer, Aqua Data Studio, and MacSQL.
Relational databases like those above are big, complex programs designed to handle big, complex, jobs. For simple lists, they are excessive. I have always thought so and so did the author of MyND ("My Nifty Database"). It is a "flat" (non-relational) database program that is simple to use. It has many features for exchanging data with hand-held computers like the Palm. Despite its free status, its author trusts it enough to keep his business files.
Not exactly a database, a Personal Information Manager (PIM) is a combination of address book and appointment calendar. One of the best is Palm Desktop, formerly Claris Organizer. Its purpose now is to exchange information with a Palm handheld computer. You don't need the Palm to use this program, however. Both Classic and OS X versions are available. OS X users could also use Apple's free Address Book, iCal, and iSync programs for the same tasks. The Mozilla web browser will soon incorporate a module called Mozilla Calendar.
Once known as Apple Media Tool, iShell is a high-end program for multimedia presentations on a computer or over the internet. It is often compared to the industry leader, Macromedia Director. iShell itself is free and the company sells technical support for it.
Maintaining a set of data is one thing and studying it mathematically is another. Have a look at Regress+ for mathematical modelling and statistics.
Outliners have almost disappeared from the market. Their eclipse could be because some of the simpler outlining features have gone into word processors. However, the best of these programs are now free. Select ACTA for a beautifully simple outliner or MORE! for a real glut of features. MORE! outlines, converts outlines into organization charts or bullet charts, uses background graphics, creates presentations and, uh, more. You can download its Quick Reference chart , Tutorial , and Enhancements as Adobe Acrobat documents prepared by Geoff Heard (gheard@surf.net.au). The manual itself exists as a PageMaker 3 document, linked to on the MORE! web page, if anyone wants to convert it.
How about creating some visual art? Staz Software's Future Paint 2 is a step below PhotoPaint in complexity, but not a very big step. It is a free demonstration of the ability of the Future Basic programming language to create highly-polished, professional software.
People with yet more modest graphical needs can download the HyperStudio trial. Go to the HyperStudio home page and select "Download the HyperStudio Evaluation Version." HyperStudio is a multifaceted tool for creating your own hypermedia programs, and the demo version will let you investigate that. However, its painting tools are like a colour MacPaint, and thus the simplest way to sketch on a computer.
The "next dimension" in drawing is 3D, and it is served under OS X by Blender. Free versions of commercial programs such as Strata StudioPro and Pixels 3D no longer seem available, but Blender was purchased from its owners by donations from an active, internet-connected community and is now maintained as free software by a non-profit society. It will not be withdrawn from circulation.
For using the internet, the sky is the limit: the main browsers (Internet Explorer, Safari, and Netscape
Communicator) are free. If you want to test an open source
alternative for Netscape Communicator, download the latest version of my
own choice, Mozilla.
The main e-mail programs for the Classic Mac (Eudora and Outlook Express) are also free, although Eudora supports the free version by displaying a subtle ad. Many people with OS X will undoubtably use Apple's own Mail e-mail client, but others will stick with Eudora, Mozilla, or GNUMail.app.
The major FTP (file transfer) programs, however, are shareware. For
free FTPing under the Classic OS, try the "shareware" version of
Vicomsoft FTP Client. An e-mail to the company verified that
"shareware" is a misnomer: it is a trial version that sheds its "Pro"
features after a while to become a free version that you are entitled
to keep. You can read about it at the
Vicomsoft site before
downloading it and its manuals.
The OS X version of the Vicomsoft software is strictly for pay, but there are freeware alternatives including Liftp, RbrowserLite, and, for secure FTP (SFTP) only, Fugu. (There are plans to add standard FTP to Fugu). It is also possible to use the OS X Finder to do FTP.
To create your own web pages you can select programs with three different philosophies of web design. At one end, you can use a text editor. Many of them provide syntax colouring and other features to help create proper HTML. Alternatively, there are specialized HTML editors such as Cobweb and CreaText for Classic and OS X, and Taco HTML Edit and Webcode for OS X only. For an interface similar to a word processor's, try the Composer module of Mozilla or save web pages from WordPerfect. For one similar to a desktop publishing program's, look for the CD-ROM from either issue 40 or 42 of MacAddict magazine, which has Freeway 1.0.2. Freeway is a delight to use.
You will want to back up your hard drive. Oh yes, you will. Redux, a backup program for the Classic OS, has had excellent reviews. It was originally a commercial program, then became freeware, and is now difficult to find. The link I give for it is working for me (in early 2003), however. Silverkeeper is a free solution for OS X.
There isn't a free spreadsheet that I'm aware of for the Classic Mac OS. However, Ragtime Solo is as much a spreadsheet as it is a desktop publishing program. It is worth seeing if it can meet your needs. OS X has a few free spreadsheets of different goals and capabilities. The trial version of Mesa is limited to 20 cells by 20 in a worksheet, but can do quite a lot with those cells. It may stimulate your interest in the full version. Flexisheet is an unusual and ambitious spreadsheet. A beta version is available. Finally BC Spreadsheet is deliberately simple, but may be as much as you need.
It can be as unsatisfying to always use programs made by someone
else as it would be to always eat in a restaurant. As a friend once told
me: "You can't do better than your own." Apple includes a free
programming language, AppleScript, with the Mac OS. There are many
tutorials on-line to get you started. People who want a more
traditional language, however, can download THINK PASCAL, formerly a
Symantec product; a good place to start is
Ingemar's Guide to Think Pascal 4.5d4 . C or C++ programmers can use
Apple's monumental MPW, the Macintosh
Programmers' Workshop Former BASIC hackers can get back up to their
old tricks with
METAL. I especially appreciated that the HOME command was added for
compatibility with my old programming "home," Applesoft BASIC.
Apple makes the Developer
Tools for OS X available as a free download from its site. Beginning
programmers will probably be most interested in AppleScript Studio,
a graphical programming environment and an interface maker for
AppleScript.
There is more to life than productivity. Apple offers iTunes in
Classic (versions 2.0.4 and 1.1) and OS X versions. To find the
Classic versions, go to Apple's site,
click on the "Support" tab, click on the word "Downloads" just under
the tabs, then type "iTunes" in the Search box.
iTunes is quite demanding in terms of hardware and software: you will need to have a Mac made since August 1998 running OS 9.0.4 or higher. Hg3 ("Mercury 3") is a much smaller alternative that runs under any OS version from 8.5 to OS X. (I found that it skips if I am clicking on its scroll bars during a song). Another alternative is Cabrio. Unlike iTunes, Hg3 and Cabrio are purely players; they do not encode music nor burn music CDs.
Speaking of music, there are two cut-down versions of commercial programs for creating sheet music that are offered for free. NightLight, by Nightingale, is highly recommended to me for excellent PostScript output and a good interface. It can create documents up to four pages long. Coda's Finale Notepad is worth comparing. You can run NightLight on System 7.0 or up to 9.2. An OS X version is being worked on. Finale Notepad requires System 7.6 or up.
DigiDesign has released Pro Tools FREE ,
a music recording and editing program that allows up to eight tracks of
audio and forty-eight tracks of MIDI. The LE and TDM versions of Pro
Tools remain commercial products.
The wonderfully-named Audacity is
a audio recorder and editor that supports a number of different file
formats. Classic and OS X versions are available. With a
separately-downloadable plugin, Audacity can save MP3 files.
Alternatively, SparkME
for OS X is also available, but without MP3 support.
Games are the ultimate time-wasters, of course. If you are a fan of "first-person shooters" such as Wolfenstein 3D or Doom, you can start by downloading Heretic, GLQuake, Marathon Aleph One and its Marathon Rubicon levels, or Mac DooMLegacy . These games are available through the generosity of their publishers in releasing them as Open Source and of volunteers who have put a lot of work into them.
A number of excellent, though black-and-white, strategy games are available from their programmer, Chris Crawford, including Balance of Power I and II and Siboot, "the world's first narrative-game." Scroll to the bottom for these oldies. One of the oldest strategy games is chess. I enjoy using Ole Christensen's Sigma Chess Lite. A "professional" version is available as a $15 upgrade. Apple provides a version of GNU Chess free with OS X.
There's also a list of free games by BF.Bullpup. Many are simple arcade games, but he also has card games, variations on Concentration, and three different chess games; all are suitable for older Macintoshes.
Last, but not least, I should mention a utility called WebWasher Classic which was
developed by Siemens, but now has its own eponymous company. You can
launch WebWasher from the Control Strip; it will launch your web browser
which will appear to run normally. However, WebWasher sits between your
web browser and the internet and filters out distractions (such as ads,
scripts, animations, and cookies) before they are sent. WebWasher has
two major benefits: web pages look cleaner and less distracting, and
they load noticably faster. You can read my review of it here.
Index I don't expect Mac OS developers to adopt Open Source quickly. However, the fact that Mac OS X is based on Unix makes it easier to move Open Source programs from Linux or Unix to OS X. MySQL is the first to make the jump, and I will be fascinated to watch what others will follow. Will we see the GIMP take on PhotoShop (apparently so ), PostgreSQL challenge FileMaker and Access (and mySQL), or Lyx provide an alternative to PageMaker and Quark? You can read my opinions on this important trend here.
These trends are all peaking, and I believe that they mean the end of commercial software suites. They may also mean the end of commercial software itself as other companies, following the lead of Red Hat and TribeWorks (the publishers of iShell), start to give away programs but sell support. I expect that this will be clear within about a year, when Star Office is available for the Mac, and complete within five. (I made this prediction in 2000. We will see if it is correct in 2005).
In the meantime, enjoy the first fruits of the free software era.