What do you use a computer for?

[Hawkmoon]

Or, perhaps more accurately expressed, what types of programs do y'all generally use on a computer, and what do you use for each? I'm thinking of general categories, like:

• Word processing
• Database
• Spreadsheet
• E-mail client
• CADD
• PDF Editor (Acrobat)
• PDF Reader (Adobe Reader
• eBook reader (for ePub or Mobi formats)
• Image editor
• Digital image creation
• Web design
• _______

I'm particularly interested in whether anyone (other then me) uses much freeware and, if so, which programs and how do you like them compared to the "name" commercial programs

[K Frame]

For me, primarily telling people on the internet that they are WRONG! 

[BobR]

For me, primarily telling people on the internet that they are WRONG! 

 

Well, at least you have that down pat!!   


bob

[bedlamite]

For me, primarily telling people on the internet that they are WRONG! 

No you don't.

[Ned Hamford]

https://youtu.be/zBDCq6Q8k2E

The Internet is for Porn.

[K Frame]

 

Well, at least you have that down pat!!   


bob

Jesus, how could you be more wrong?

[K Frame]

When I used to be able to work from home I'd say that I had my computer primarily for that. Not time wise, but importance.

Now that I can no longer work from home, I use my primarily for communication -- Facebook and web boards like this one.

I also research various subjects of interest to me.

Entertainment is also on the list -- primarily streaming music (I've got pretty good speakers on the thing), but also gaming, Utoob, and occasionally a sporting event or movie.

I do keep my personal accounts (budget, tracking my bills and my investments) on spreadsheets, so that's in there. Plus, I do my taxes on my computer.

I also have some spreadsheets that support a group I belong to.

I also store and edit photos on my computer.


I use a really old version of MS Office -- 2007, I believe. It's quickly going the way of the dodo (as is my nearly 10 year old Windows 7 computer), so I'm thinking of switching everything over to Google's productivity suite. It would make things easier.

[RoadKingLarry]

Photo editing and storage is a big part of it.
I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for that.

I maintain a number of personal record files using MS Excel but I only switched to Excel because my wife has a  MS 360 Office subscription since she uses it for her work. I had been more than happy using Open Office for word processor and spreadsheet stuff.

I spend a lot of time attempting to spread hate and discontent via fecesbook.

And, I spend way to much time hanging around this website.

[Hawkmoon]

I use a really old version of MS Office -- 2007, I believe. It's quickly going the way of the dodo (as is my nearly 10 year old Windows 7 computer), so I'm thinking of switching everything over to Google's productivity suite. It would make things easier.

Heh, heh.

I have Office 2016, but I still use primarily Office 2003. Why? Because I can't stand the new (as of Office 2007) ribbon menu system. When I am forced to use Word, Excel, or Powerpoint 2016, I use them with an add-on that overlays the ribbon with a traditional ("classic') menu.

Have you looked at Libre Office, or Softmaker Office?

[zxcvbob]

I use a really old version of MS Office -- 2007, I believe. It's quickly going the way of the dodo (as is my nearly 10 year old Windows 7 computer), so I'm thinking of switching everything over to Google's productivity suite. It would make things easier.

I use Office 97.  It still works great; I like it better than Office 2016/365 that I have at work because it's easier to use.  On my Linux laptop (don't ask me why I'm running Linux on a PC that has a perfectly good Win10 Pro license) I recently installed...  not sure but I think it's Softmaker FreeOffice.  I haven't used it much yet but it looks okay.

Or, perhaps more accurately expressed, what types of programs do y'all generally use on a computer, and what do you use for each? I'm thinking of general categories

My email client is Gmail.  It talks to my ISP's mail server just fine.  For an Internet browser I use Chrome, but I like the newest version of the Edge browser too.  And I use Audacity for audio editing.  That's just about all the software I use besides Steam games.

[Hawkmoon]

I use Office 97.  It still works great; I like it better than Office 2016/365 that I have at work because it's easier to use.  On my Linux laptop (don't ask me why I'm running Linux on a PC that has a perfectly good Win10 Pro license) I recently installed...  not sure but I think it's Softmaker FreeOffice.  I haven't used it much yet but it looks okay.

I have SoftMaker FreeOffice on several computers, in addition to various versions of Microsoft Office, and also LibreOffice. FreeOffice is a very capable office suite (and the paid version has even more features that 99% of users will never want, need, or miss), plus it offers the option of a traditional menu structure or a ribbon menu structure. My only complaint is that I use the classic menu. SoftMaker has a support forum, and their help desk crew default to telling people how to accomplish thnings using the ribbon menu, but they don't tell you how to do it using the classic menu unless you really hold their feet to the fire.

[charby]

a computer controls my car
a computer provides a device for me to communicate
a computer controls my HVAC
a computer provides me with entertainment
a computer lets me have sound effect for my guitars
a computer helps me to tune my guitars
a computer does about everything but provide me with booze and sex.

[Nick1911]

I can't disagree with Charby, if we're counting micro-controllers, which are truly ubiquitous.

But I think the spirit of the question is about applications we use on a personal computer.

I use all FOSS, including the OS.  [Fedora, usually with XFCE, because I kinda hate gnome3]  It's been so long since I've used a windows machine as a primary desktop environment, I have little baseline for comparison with commercial applications that provide similar functionality.

• Word processing --  LibreOffice
• Database --    I can't say that I use a database program as a PC user, but as a developer, I usually stick to MariaDB
• Spreadsheet --  LibreOffice
• E-mail client  -- I don't use one.  OWA for work and the college, gmail in the browser for personal.
• CADD  --  FreeCAD
• PDF Editor (Acrobat)  --  Don't use one.  On the rare occasion I need to combine PDFs or whatever, I've used stuff that's already installed with the base image, like pdfunite, or pdfseperate.  Think I used imagemagick like... once?
• PDF Reader (Adobe Reader)  --  No idea, whatever was built in as a document viewer.
• eBook reader (for ePub or Mobi formats)  --  I don't view epub or mobi formats.
• Image editor  -- Gimp
• Digital image creation  -- Gimp
• Web design  --  ...I mean, I do software development in a flavor of eclipse, mostly doing web services, but what do you mean by web design?  I don't have some application to build webui, if that's what you're asking.

[HeroHog]

Ex-Sr Programmer/Analyst, former hardware tech/net admin, now old guy piddling around on his laptops. I have 3 laptops running BOINC/Rosetta@Home 24/7 when they are not in use doing something else. Mine is always busy and the wife's does her business and online webcasts.

SoftMaker FreeOffice (Free)

• Spreadsheets
• Word Processing

Softmaker FreePDF (Free)

MS Print to PDF (Free)

VSDC Free Video Editor (Free)

Fastone (Free)

• Image Viewer
• Capture

VLC Media Player (Free)

Macrium Reflect Backup Software (Free)

MyPhoneExplorer (for Android Phones, Free)

Google Chrome Web Browser (Free)

Thunderbird Mailer (Free)

RealVNC VNC Viewer, Client and server (Free)

Adobe PhotoShop CS2

Notepad++ Text Editor (Free)

WS_FTP 12 Pro FTP software

WINZIP 24 64bit Archive Software

AVAST Anti-Virus (Free)

BOINC running Rosetta@Home (was SETI) (Free)
http://herohog.com/images/computers/SETIcert2.jpg
http://herohog.com/images/misc/Rosetta@Home.png

MP3tag (Free)

MP3gain (Free)

ReNamer (Free)

Audacity audio editor (Free)

Microsoft SyncToy 2.1(x64) (Free)

[Hawkmoon]

But I think the spirit of the question is about applications we use on a personal computer.

That is correct. I'm researching an article.

[HeroHog]

Realized I left out some requested answers:

SoftMaker FreeOffice https://www.freeoffice.com/en/download (Free)

• Spreadsheets - so far, 100% MS Office 2007 compatible.
• Word Processing- so far, 100% MS Office 2007 compatible.

Softmaker FreePDF - https://www.softmaker.com/en/comparison-freepdf-flexipdf Free PDF maker/Editor Good for what you pay ($0) for it.

Microsoft Print to PDF - https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/how-to-add-or-reinstall-the-microsoft-pdf-printer/70377c34-e50a-42be-b9f3-92345d6e25df Free, I use this mostly for saving web receipts as PDF files.

VSDC Free Video Editor - http://www.videosoftdev.com/ Free, does everything I need and pretty well!

Fastone (Free) https://www.faststone.org/

• Image Viewer - LOTS of added features like editing and MANY more!
• Capture - used this a lot till Win 10 added Screen Snip.

VLC Media Player - https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Free, Great small footprint app!

Macrium Reflect Backup Software - https://www.macrium.com/ Free, Great backup, recover, and restore program!

MyPhoneExplorer (for Android Phones) - https://myphone-explorer.en.softonic.com/ Free, Great app to transfer files to/from your Android phone and even make calls and send txt messages from your PC/Laptop.

Google Chrome Web Browser - Free, It works, I loved FireFox but it seems doomed.

Thunderbird Mailer - https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/ Free, Great email program that can support MANY accounts at time.

RealVNC VNC Viewer, Client and server - https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/vnc/ Free, remote access to up to 5 computers over LAN or WAN. VERY useful!!!

Adobe PhotoShop CS2 - https://www.techspot.com/downloads/3689-adobe-photoshop-cs2.html OLD version but it does everything I could ever want!

Notepad++ Text Editor - https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ Free, I used to pay for TextPad but changed to this. This is what I build/edit web pages with and write programs in.

WS_FTP 12 Pro FTP software - https://www.ipswitch.com/ftp-client my favorite FTP program!

WINZIP 24 64bit Archive Software - https://www.winzip.com/win/en/ the gold standard in file compression/archiving.

AVAST Antivirus - https://www.avast.com/en-us/ Free, works, nag ads aren't TOO bad if you don't want to buy it and get all the (in my opinion) unnecessary features.

BOINC running Rosetta@Home (was doing SETI) - Free, does research in my machine's spare cycles. https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/ "With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, Rosetta@Home has been used to predict the structure of proteins important to the disease as well as to produce new, stable mini-proteins to be used as potential therapeutics and diagnostics, like the one displayed above which is bound to part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein."

MP3tag - https://www.mp3tag.de/en/ Free, edits MP3 tags, works great.

MP3gain - http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ Free, mass adjust volume level of MP3 files.

ReNamer - https://www.den4b.com/products/renamer Free, POWERFUL file renaming tool for mass file renaming jobs.

Audacity audio editor - https://www.audacityteam.org/ Free, GREAT little audio file editor. Does multiple tracks and layers!

Microsoft SyncToy 2.1(x64) - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15155 Free, synchs up files/folders. VERY handy tool.

[K Frame]

Yes, I've got Libre Office on my laptop.

Not crazy about it. It does some... odd... things.

[zxcvbob]

BOINC running Rosetta@Home (was doing SETI) - Free, does research in my machine's spare cycles. https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/ "With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, Rosetta@Home has been used to predict the structure of proteins important to the disease as well as to produce new, stable mini-proteins to be used as potential therapeutics and diagnostics, like the one displayed above which is bound to part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein."

I've been running BOINC for years :)  Forgot about it because it mostly runs in the background on about 5 computers currently.  I am running WorldCommunityGrid, mostly doing cancer projects plus this year OpenPandemic.

[Hawkmoon]

Yes, I've got Libre Office on my laptop.

Not crazy about it. It does some... odd... things.

Interesting. My friend in Europe, who has been using Libre Office exclusively for years, just said the same thing in an e-mail this morning.

Try SoftMaker FreeOffice. It offers the option of a classic menu (like MS Office 2003 and Libre Office) or a ribbon menu. That's what I think Microsoft should have done.

[lee n. field]

Or, perhaps more accurately expressed, what types of programs do y'all generally use on a computer, and what do you use for each? I'm thinking of general categories, like:

• Word processing
• Database
• Spreadsheet
• E-mail client
• CADD
• PDF Editor (Acrobat)
• PDF Reader (Adobe Reader
• eBook reader (for ePub or Mobi formats)
• Image editor
• Digital image creation
• Web design
• _______

I'm particularly interested in whether anyone (other then me) uses much freeware and, if so, which programs and how do you like them compared to the "name" commercial programs

All Freeware, on the Linux side.   Most on the Windows side.

Linux, Debian or Mint, basic desktop install, plus Chromium and Brave, plus "sudo apt install mc build-essential emacs" and bits and pieces as needed.  There's a java related thing I need to install to get the remote access program we use at work to function.  Wine, to use our router config program.  I use an ancient Palm Pilot sync program (jpilot) to store addresses and notes, even though I haven't had a working Palm Pilot in at least a decade.

Firefox is default browser.  Thunderbird the default email program.  I hope they both continue to exist.  Libre for Office stuff.

Windows side (on the laptop I drag around for work), is basically the same.  Office is usually MS Office 2010, light use.

[Nick1911]

All Freeware, on the Linux side.   Most on the Windows side.

Linux, Debian or Mint, basic desktop install, plus Chromium and Brave, plus "sudo apt install mc build-essential emacs" and bits and pieces as needed.  There's a java related thing I need to install to get the remote access program we use at work to function.  Wine, to use our router config program.  I use an ancient Palm Pilot sync program (jpilot) to store addresses and notes, even though I haven't had a working Palm Pilot in at least a decade.

Wine has gotten surprisingly better in the past few years.  I needed to use a program to interact with my HP 3478a over an arduino based usb-GPIB bridge, and the wine part was super easy.  Even mapping com ports and whatnot.

[RocketMan]

I use my computer as a handy target for my rage.  And to surf the net.

[WLJ]

I use my computer as a handy target for my rage.  And to surf the net.

The latter usually causes the former with me.

[K Frame]

"a computer does about everything but provide me with booze and sex."

You're apparently not using your computer correctly, then...

[K Frame]

Interesting. My friend in Europe, who has been using Libre Office exclusively for years, just said the same thing in an e-mail this morning.

Try SoftMaker FreeOffice. It offers the option of a classic menu (like MS Office 2003 and Libre Office) or a ribbon menu. That's what I think Microsoft should have done.

Why? Google's application suite works flawlessly with my current Word and Excel documents, I don't have to download anything, and I've got access on any computer I log in to. Can't beat that.