Cratchit.org

Small Business PowerPack

For Windows

We've gathered best of the best programs for you!

We're firm believers in Open Source software. Much of the very best software available today is either Open Source or it's "free as in beer"... that is, it costs nothing, though the source isn't available. We maintain a downloadable list (pdf) of the best of breed software that we use, and now we've gone one step further and gathered these favorites into a single CD.

There are some other projects on the web that offer similar compilations, such as The Open CD and GNUWin II , and we urge you to look at those projects. Cratchit.org's PowerPack differs in that, although we greatly favor Open Source, we are not limiting the compilation to only Open Source programs; but include the best free programs as well. Our PowerPack also doesn't try to be comprehensive: Instead of offering 3 or 4 office suites that do the same thing, we include the one that we think is the best.

This particular PowerPack is for business users, but we'll be coming out with a companion CD for personal & educational use shortly.

What's on the disk?
Gee, that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? Download the software list (pdf) to see descriptions of the software in the PowerPack, as well as other recommended software not on the CD. Here's a partial list:

OpenOffice.org. This is an excellent office suite, which includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation graphics package, vector drawing program, and more. OpenOffice reads and writes to Microsoft Office's legacy file formats, as well as to the newly ratified OASIS OpenDocument Format (ODF) standard (ISO/IEC 26300) shared by many modern office suites.
FireFox and Thunderbird. Browsing and email for the 21st century. Mothball those virus magnets called MSIE and Outlook Express.
VNC. Secure remote access to your computers. Combine this with FileZilla, and you've got an ideal solution for remote troubleshooting, software support, and training.
FileZilla (client and server). FileZilla is a fully featured FTP client and server. Using FileZilla you can share files on IP networks (including the WorldWideWeb) without the overhead, administration, and security headaches that accompany the installation of IIS.
GAIM. These days, instant messaging is a business tool, and GAIM connects to all of the major IM clients at the same time. It's compatible with AIM, ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, and Zephyr networks.
Inkscape. This amazing program creates beautiful graphics with a minimum of bother. Its capabilities are similar to those of Adobe Illustrator of CorelDraw. If you do any marketing at all you should consider this program. The results are superb!
Windows Privacy Tools. This is a collection of multilingual applications for easy digital encryption and signing of content. A must-have for secure communications across disparate networks.
Nvu. Easy to use, powerful website management that rivals FrontPage and Dreamweaver. Except that Nvu creates excellent, standards-based HTML code. Now you don't need to be a professional web designer to produce professional-looking results.
Cobian Backup. A simple and straightforward backup tool. Use it to backup disk-to-disk, or (more importantly!) to securely FTP backups to a remote location. It stores your files as Zip archives... no more dealing with proprietary archive files that lock you into some particular vendor's horrible backup software!
Lots more good stuff!

What's NOT on the disk?
Anything annoying. You'll find no nagware, no spyware, no shareware, no pop-ups, nothing that asks you for money. You'll find no software that puts you on a thousand mailing lists, and nothing that will re-direct your browser or install some lame shopping toolbar. We hate that stuff as much as you do.

Download the CD Image Date: 20060525

Disclaimer
With the exception of those Open Source programs expressly written and published by Cratchit.org, the programs in this compilation are the property of their individual publishers. Prior to using any software, you the user are required to read the terms of use and proceed only if those terms are agreeable to you. Although we use all of these programs without any problem at all, computers and computing environments vary, and what works for us may not work for you. Therefore you proceed at your own risk, subject to the warranties provided by the software publishers. Cratchit.org assumes no liability for other authors' works. (That's just fair, don't you think?)

Note to software publishers
If we have included your software in this list, it's for two reasons: first, because we think it's the best of the best, and we are offering you the most sincere compliment. Second, because we interpreted the terms of use to include the ability to freely re-distribute the files. In every case we've provided a link to the publisher's own website. If, by chance, we've misinterpreted the terms of your particular program, we'll be happy to remove the program from the compilation and provide only the program description and the link to your location. Just contact support@cratchit.org and include the word "PowerPack" in the subject line.