Some Software Sentiments

They say there's no such thing as a free lunch. But they're wrong; when I first went online, I discovered that the internet was littered with free lunches. It may well be the last place on earth where the free lunch survives and prospers.

I am referring to computer software, of course. Whatever you want to do with your computer, there will be a free program somewhere that will help you to do it. When I discovered this, I became a software collector for a while. I tried every program I could get my hands on, right from major applications like word processors, databases and graphics editors, to tiny utilities that did only one thing. So great was my obsession with finding the perfect program for my needs that I even started a database of the ones that I tried so that I wouldn't forget my opinion of each. My computer became full of programs that I'd tried and was using, programs I was evaluating and others I intended to look at one day.

When the computer had no room left, I had to be more selective. I began to choose the programs I liked best and get rid of those that I could not justify. In time I became quite ruthless and have now settled upon certain programs that I would not be without.

There is Notespad, for instance, a freeware replacement for the text editor that comes with Windows. Apart from doing everything that the Windows offering does, it has many more capabilities, the most important to me being that it can hold many files open at the same time and I can switch between documents by clicking on the relevant tab.

UltimateZip is my chosen program for compressing files, it being completely free and yet able to do everything the famous WinZip does, including making executables from zip files. Executables are self-installing files that will run when double-clicked upon.

One program that I keep even though I don't really need it, since I have Paint Shop Pro, is IrfanView, a graphics viewing utility. It is just too good to throw away and I use it when I couldn't be bothered to sit through PSP's loading time.

Then there is Clippy, a clipboard viewer so much more capable than the Windows version. There's SmartFTP, Lavasoft AdAware and Mozilla Firefox, of course. Even my virus checker is free (AVG - just as effective as McAfee or Norton and it doesn't fill your system files with junk to slow down your computer).

So the free lunch is alive and well and living on the internet. Freeware programs can be just as good and sometimes better than their commercial equivalents. But there is one thing they lack and that is packaging.

Software that is paid for comes in the most wonderful packaging ever devised. No matter that the box probably only contains a CD and a manual or brief Getting Started leaflet; the software box is big, imposing and cleverly designed. This is not a box that you can just open and extract the contents from. No, a software box is an adventure, intended to add to the pleasure of your new software. Many of them set the buyer a little puzzle to lengthen those minutes of delicious anticipation before you may try out your purchase. Just how are you meant to open this box? There may be an ingenious system of flaps and tabs that has to be negotiated before the end flips open. Very often, to get through the first line of defence is only to discover another box waiting within to prolong your pleasure. And this has to be slid out of the first box before it will deign to open. Sometimes there is a finger-sized hole at one end to enable you to pull out the necessary flap.

Oh, they are clever people, those software packaging designers. They know how to whet your anticipation and lengthen the delight of new ownership. And I appreciate their efforts, for there is nothing quite like those first few moments of preparing to try out your latest wild extravagance. I love a good software box and keep all mine lined up proudly on display, a showcase of my excellent taste in software.

Something that is dying out in commercial software, however, is the printed manual. Too often these days, software companies are avoiding the cost of printing by including PDF files on the CD. There are still a few printed versions about, however, and I would recommend those produced by Corel and Jasc Software, who own the famous Paint Shop Pro. A good manual lends weight to software packaging, thumping from end to end of the box as you tilt it. It adds a touch of real class to your purchase, its weight announcing that this is no ordinary CD that you have just bought, this is software to be respected and admired.

Of course, it is rare for manuals to be read. That is not really their function; they are included to make you feel that your money has not been wasted and to allow you a certain feeling of security in the knowledge that, should you ever need help, it is there in your beautiful, pristine manual. Plus it looks good on your bookshelf. A truly magnificent thing, is a good manual.

So there we have my philosophy of software. If you want something that works and is free, someone somewhere will provide you with it. But, if you want all the joys of ownership, all the extras that go with a full software experience, then you will have to pay. Free lunch or dinner at the Ritz, the choice is yours.