Computer software should be affordable, effective and safe. Too many people are frustrated by viruses, slow downs, restrictions and high costs. Are you running out of options?

Try another angle! Open source software is hand crafted by a worldwide community who believe that software should be free to use and free to share. It isn't cheap, it's free.

• Consider adding open source and freeware software to your list of other Windows applications. Options include office software like OpenOffice.org and Scribus, graphics software like the Gimp and Inkscape, internet software like Firefox and Opera, security software like Avast and Adaware.

• Consider replacing Windows with Linux. Linux is easy to use, comes with all of the free and open source software you need, and is free from viruses. We recommend PCLinuxOS as a good first Linux distribution.

Want to learn more? Our Guides and Reference section will introduce you to open source software. Our Training Material section gives you free resources for learning and teaching the software. Our Support Forums offer help on specific computer problems.

Prefer the human touch? We also provide good Aussie training courses and computer support.

O'Reilly have produced some excellent free quick reference cards for the various Microsoft Office programs. Using the same layout, we are creating equivalent cards for OpenOffice.org.

In this way, new users who are familiar with Microsoft Office can quickly see the similarities and differences between the programs. Or you can download just the OpenOffice.org quick reference cards if you are not interested in Microsoft Office.

The cards are suitable for individual use, or as a resource in training courses.

Quick Reference Cards	Microsoft Office (by O'Reilly)	OpenOffice.org
Word Processing	Word 2003	OpenOffice.org 2.0 Writer
Spreadsheet	Excel 2003	OpenOffice.org 2.0 Calc
Presentations	Powerpoint 2003	coming soon
Database	Access 2003	coming soon

Training material for OpenOffice.org, an office suite that contains:

Writer, a word processor Calc, a spreadsheet Impress, a presentation program Draw, a vector drawing program Base, a database program

We are currently working on quick reference cards for each of these programs. We use and recommend the "In Pictures" training manuals.

One way we want to contribute something back to the free and open source community is to create training material for free and open source software. Besides using these manuals ourselves in our own training courses, we will also make them freely available to others. All materials will be released under a Creative Commons licence, and be downloadable as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. The manuals will be created using only open source software.

The project is still in its infancy. Our current focus is on creating quick reference cards. Next will come training manuals for OpenOffice.org.

Feel free to use these materials to learn open source software yourself, or to teach others - either in your own courses, or informally.

You may not sell or alter these materials without permission. If you would like to become part of the team, please email me at tryanotherangle@gmail.com.

An excellent office suite for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX. A description of this program is under the Linux section of the site. Please click here. For support, click here.

An excellent office suite available for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX.

For support, click here.

Try Another Angle supports free and open source software by offering free online support and training material, and also commercial training and support. We emphasise OpenOffice.org and Linux.

Free Online Support and Training Material

We aim to provide reference material for the following categories:

• Introducing computer users to alternatives to the software that came with their computer, explaining productivity, cost and security advantages. We emphasise free and open source software.
• Providing descriptions and reviews of specific software programs that we recommend.
• Providing a forum for dealing with specific features, issues and problems that may arise when using these programs.
• Training material for these programs. We use this training material ourselves, and make it freely available for others to use.

We will explore ways of receiving funding and other financial support while we create this material. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.

Apple have been making personal computers pretty much since personal computers have existed. Apple computers are designed for elegance and ease of use.

Most of the Apple Macintosh users I have met are are very passionate, and find it hard to understand why someone would use anything else. They see themselves as being Mac users for life.

Why should you consider joining them?

Macintosh computers are works of art. They are both gorgeous and elegant. They are of very high quality. And these days the prices are quite comparable to other computers, although they don't sell "budget" computers that are basically crap.

Macintosh software is full featured and easy to use. The basic applications generally have more features than the programs that come with Windows.

And you are very unlikely to meet a virus while using a Mac. Not only are there very few viruses written to attack Macs, the security settings on a Mac are very good, and keep most malware at bay.

Surfing the internet is like swimming with sharks! You are constantly in danger of attack and serious damage.

• There is the danger of viruses and trojans. These are programs designed by intelligent but misguided people to cause you inconvenience or disaster.
• There is the danger of adware which can cause an infuriating number of advertising popups when we surf the internet, alter the ads on the sites we visit, and even redirect our journey on the internet to visit sites we had no intention of going to.
• There is the danger of spyware which is designed to record and report on what we use our computer for. Spyware can record the keys we type on our computers, including passwords and other confidential details. Spyware can record the internet sites we visit, and give that information to advertisers.
• There is the annoyance of spam - junk mail that jams our email inboxes, and makes the paper version we get in our letter boxes seem very tame.

The existence of all of this malware means that we need to be very smart computer users. It is possible to protect ourselves so that we minimise the impact of these things.

Imagine a kid in a candy store - and all the lollies are free. The mouth waters. The mind boggles. So many options. So many taste combinations. Where do a start? How long can I stay?

Now imagine a geek in his electronic equivalent. A free operating system. Tens and hundreds of thousands of free programs. All freely available from the internet. All customisable. And you can share them all freely with your friends. What is the ideal combination of programs he can put together? What is the coolest look? What will his friends think?

Or imagine a company trying to put together the most effective and stable collection of applications they can - either for themselves, or to share with other companies. Out of all of the available programs, only so many will fit on the CD they are sharing. What are the best programs to choose?

When you are using Linux, virtually all programs are open-source: they are generally free or charge, and free to share with your friends.

Some of these have been made available for Windows, so you may have heard of them. These are programs like Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice.org. Others (that you may not have heard of) are Evolution, Scribus, Gaim and Audacity.
 
Other programs are only available for Linux. You may never have heard of these programs before. When you are new to Linux this is a potential source of confusion and frustration. The programs you are used to using are not there, and you don't know which of these new programs do the job you're trying to do.

That is the point of this section. It is here to introduce you to many of the excellent programs you can use in Linux. Enjoy exploring!

Computing can be expensive. While the price of computers has definitely come down in the last few years, they still cost a fortune. But the cost of computing doesn't finish when you buy your computer. Software to make your computer useful - from games to office suites - can cost hundreds of dollars. But we see the cost as being an investment into our homes and businesses, and shell out the cash.

You may have heard rumours of software you can download for free off the internet. Sounds a bit suspicious, doesn't it?

The truth is that much of the software you can download for free off the internet is very suspicious. Some is quite illegal - copies of programs you normally pay money for in a shop. Some of it is dangerous, containing viruses and spyware. Some of it is frustrating, constantly reminding you that you can get a better version by spending money on the "real" program. It is definitely important to be careful in what you download from the internet.

One of the strengths of Microsoft Windows is the huge number of programs people have written for it. Being the most popular operating system in the world also attracts the greatest number of programmers.

This means that besides the programs that came installed on your computer, there are many millions of other options. Perhaps you have visited a computer store and been overwhelmed by the number of programs you could buy. And overwhelmed by their prices.

Besides the programs you can purchase in a computer store, there are also many programs you can download from the internet. Many of these are excellent, and free of charge.

This section will introduce you to some of these programs. Besides saving you a pile of money, they will enable you to do things on your computer you've never done before.

Linux is an operating system in the same way that Microsoft Windows is an operating system. In fact, Linux is an alternative to Microsoft Windows.

An operating system is the software (computer program) that makes your computer work. It operates your computer hardware (keyboard, mouse, monitor, drives etc), and operates your computer software (word processor, games, music). Without an operating system, a computer is just an expensive door stopper.

So, Linux is an alternative to operating systems like Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, except:

• It is generally free of cost.
• And comes with lots of programs you would normally have to spend more money on.
• And is essentially free from viruses.
• And is constantly being updated.

Linux doesn't belong to anyone, so there are many different versions of it designed for lots of different sorts of people.

A site dealing with options you have for using your computer, emphasising Linux and Open Source software. Coming soon!