Open source software is essentially free software. So why doesn't everyone use it? The answer is quite simple, there are no big TV ad's or letters through your door because there isn't a budget.

Open source software is written, maintained and improved by a huge community of software developers who do it for the fun of it! The sad fact is not many people even know it exists. Some examples of popular open-source software are

• Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird. An increasingly popular web browser and email program.
• OpenOffice. A full suite of office programs including a spreadsheet, word processor, presentation writer and more.
• MySQL. An enterprise level database used by many website's and desktop applications.
• GIMP. A graphics / art package for editing or creating your own graphics / photos.

These are just a few of the more popular examples of the kind of software available for download completely free of charge. Give them a try!