Great Software

It is amazing how much excellent software is available at very reasonable prices. I find the following programs especially useful.

Open Office

These people offer a powerful word processing program and spreadsheet for free! There are presentation and database programs as well. Open Office programs can read and write Microsoft Office files.

KeePass Password Safe

It's best to use a different password for every account you have, and they should be long, random, and contain at the very least upper case letters, lower case letters, and numbers. How do you remember them all? You don't. KeePass remembers them, so you only need to remember the master password for KeePass. Don't forget it! KeePass is free.

SliQ Invoicing

This is the invoicing / accounts receivable program I use. It is so flexible that it might take you awhile to get it set up the way you want. It's from the UK so some adjustments may be needed, e.g. what I would call an estimate they call a quote. The professional version only costs £34. On the negative side the UI is not standard, and the only way I can find to add a finance charge to a statement is to create another invoice.

AceMoney

This great little program is just the thing for former Quicken and MS Money users. For one computer the cost is only $30. 

Edit 8/7/2011 - I have just learned that Alex Simanov, owner and developer of AceMoney, together with his wife and two daughters, died recently in a tragic plane accident. This very sad news means the future of AceMoney may be in doubt.

FastStone Image Viewer

This is a surprisingly powerful image editor, organizer, and viewer. It should meet the needs of most amateur photographers, and it's free for home and educational use!