Free Software

Although ECS provides some student discounts, there is a great deal of quality software available on the Internet for free. With the exception of the Windows security software, none of the programs on this page are supported by ECS.

Security Software (Windows only)

AVG

AVG is an excellent anti-virus program that is free for personal, non-commericial use. AVG, likeSophos, satisfies Earlham's antivirus software requirement. (Warning: Do not install both Sophos and AVG together. This may cause your computer to crash.)

Anti-Spyware Programs

Spybot, Ad-Aware, and Microsoft Windows Defender all satisfy Earlham's anti-spyware software requirement.

Security Software (All Platforms)

Sophos

Sophos Antivirus is provided free to Earlham students for Linux, Mac, and Windows. To install Sophos, you will need an Earlham username and password. Get instructions for installing Sophos.

Open Source Software (Linux, Mac, and Windows)

Open source software operates under a principle of free access to source code, i.e., the code that creates the computer program. Open source programs are usually free (as in free money) but also, unlike the programs above, freely modified and redistributed (as in free speech). All of the programs listed below are both.

Internet Browsing

Mozilla Firefox is a web browser (like Internet Explorer and Safari). Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer and has many additional features, including tabbed browsing and a robust plug-in architecture (for example, users can download foreign language dictionaries to help read web pages in other languages).

Office Applications

OpenOffice is a mostly compatible alternative to Microsoft Office. Bundled programs include a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool.

Graphics/Image Editing

GIMP is a graphics editing program with many advanced features. It can help retouch photos, create art, and generate logos, among other things.

Media Player

VLC is a media player that can play nearly any type of file.

Instant Messaging/Online Chat

Pidgin is an instant messaging program that can access AOL, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN, and other popular chat networks.

FTP

Filezilla for Windows and Cyberduck for Mac OS X allow easy FTP (file transfer protocol) access.

Audio Editing

Audacity is a powerful audio editing program.