Top Free Microsoft Products
Author: Sarah Nasir
Many people i know have been keen to stop using microsoft products, they have their reasons and many of those reasons are quite valid. but we cannot just abandon microsoft products as they have some very good products that have become an integral part of our lives.
Most of the products by microsoft are not free, so i am writing this to bring forward some useful free microsoft products that are truely great. so here goes my list.
1) Windows Live Write
Windows Live Writer is a desktop blog-publishing application that is part of the Windows Live range of products. It features WYSIWYG authoring, photo-publishing and map-publishing functionality, and is currently compatible with Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint blogs, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress, Telligent Community, PBlogs.gr, JournalHome, the MetaWeblog API, the Movable Type API, Blogengine, Square space and all blogs that support RSD (Really Simple Discoverability).
If you are not using Windows Live Writer (WLW) for your blog, then you are wasting your time and being unproductive, there is no better alternative than WLW for now.
2) Microsoft Photosynth
Photosynth takes your photos, mashes them together and recreates a 3D scene out of them that anyone can view and move around in.
Different than static photos and video, Photosynth allows you to explore details of places, objects, and events unlike any other media. You can't stop video, move around and zoom in to check out the smallest details, but with Photosynth you can. And you can't look at a photo gallery and immediately see the spatial relation between the photos, but with Photosynth you can.
3) Microsoft WorldWide Telescope (WWT)
WorldWide Telescope (WWT) enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world. Experience narrated guided tours from astronomers and educators featuring interesting places in the sky.A web-based version of WorldWide Telescope is also now available. This version enables seamless, guided explorations of the universe from within a web browser on PC and Intel Mac OS X by using the power of Microsoft Silverlight 3.0.
4) Windows Live Skydrive
Windows Live SkyDrive offers 25GB of free online storage. You can use SkyDrive storage to back up your files online for free, or to share large files with others. You can assign permissions and set folders to public or private, to help you share individual files with only people that you select. SkyDrive also gives you access to free Office Web Apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint so you can create, share and work online with others. With SkyDrive you can also create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, even without having Microsoft Office installed.
SkyDrive gives an amazing 25GB of free online cloud storage. You can use SkyDrive to back up your photographs or documents, or even make them public and share a folder with friends.
5) Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It's easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you're green, you're good. It's that simple.
Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
Which are your favorite free Microsoft products? Share with us in the comments! Don't like Microsoft?
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/top-free-microsoft-products-3720013.html
About the Author
Sarah Nasir, founder of QuestionsPoint Career building services, is a Career Management Coach and professional resume writer.To reach Sarah Nasir log onto our Web site http://questionspoint.com/