The best cheap software your money can buy

From...

By Grace Aquino, James E. Powell, Michael S. Lasky, Andrew Brandt, Dennis O'Reilly, Sean Captain, Edward N. Albro, Harry McCracken, Melissa J. Perenson and Eric Dahl

(IDG) -- Forget paying $100, $75, or even $50 for software. We dug up more than 20 software gems that can help you with your day-to-day computing tasks and keep your PC in tip-top shape -- and every application is either free or priced at less than $30.

We rated each program on its features, ease of use, and overall utility. We selected shareware and freeware applications that aren't demos of commercial, off-the-shelf products; don't expire after 30 days; exclude obtrusive ads; and have few "nag notes" for updates.

And while it's getting more difficult to find practical, downloadable software on the cheap, we still came across a good mix of tools, from system utilities to simple word processors to handy Microsoft Office add-ons. We encountered some fun stuff too, such as a space-combat game and a great music jukebox. Just click on the product name to download the software from PCWorld.com's Downloads section. After all, who doesn't love a great bargain?

The best office software for $30 or less

Word-processing wonder: AbiWord

While Microsoft's Word grows fatter with seldom-used features, AbiSource's AbiWord holds appeal as a trim yet capable, no-cost program. It's nimble, installs quickly, and sports a simple menu. You can import Word, HTML, and Palm (.pdb) files and edit them in AbiWord (Word documents maintain formatting features such as columns). You can even save your work as a Web page. The application is strong on basic text-editing functions--complete with a word counter, headers and footers, multiple undo/redo, and squiggly red lines under misspelled words -- but it's relatively light on graphics support.

Got mail: EPrompter

The person with the most e-mail accounts wins, right? EPrompter 1.04 SR8 from Tiburon Technology checks your accounts at regular intervals while running in the background, makes dial-up connections as needed -- and doesn't cost a dime. View up to eight password-protected e-mail accounts, including America Online, EarthLink, Juno, Yahoo, and POP3 accounts. Or to save time, read just the header. Listen for new-mail alerts, or check the color-coded tray icon to see the number of new messages. A wizard helps you set up accounts for reading and deleting mail, but it can't automatically convert settings (such as user name and password) from other clients, such as Outlook Express.

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Uncharted territory: Flow LT 4

Punch up even the driest text with IMSI's Flow LT 4, a free program that lets you create simple flowcharts by dragging and dropping any of 25 symbols to a diagram and then linking them with lines that stay connected even if you later rearrange the items on the page. Add text, color, shadows, and rounded corners to shapes; and align objects vertically or horizontally. The lines don't have arrowheads built in, but Flow LT offers lots of arrow symbols. With context-sensitive pop-up help, you'll be up and running in minutes.

Days of our lives: Happy Calendar

Forget your troubling schedule and get Happy -- Happy Calendar, that is. This free tool from Jimjams has day, week, month, and year views, plus a time line with busy times shown in red. You can display the current lunar phase, the saint of the day, or the zodiac sign. Enter recurring entries, set alarms, and search for appointments. Keep a record of your daily accomplishments or goals using the notes field, with subjects arranged hierarchically. The program even has a simple database for phone numbers and addresses.

Project management 101: ProjeX 97

Need a project time line but don't have the hours required to grapple with Microsoft Project? You'll love WAA's ProjeX 97. The program downloads and installs nearly instantaneously, and its intuitive design and six-tab setup window get you started quickly. Building a new project is simple, and you can compare snapshots (views of a project's progress at specific points in time) with your current plan. The $20 registered version sets you up with time lines in days, weeks, months, and quarters (the freeware is limited to days), plus additional planning features. With ProjeX, you'll always know whether you're on track.

Desktop publishing made easy: Publish-It

Do you find creating a newsletter or brochure tedious? Poster Software's Publish-It makes the task fun, with text effects, color support, templates, and printing options (posters up to 5 feet square tiled over multiple pages). From its simple installation to its helpful tutorial, this $22 program packs other features: page backgrounds, gradients, and a spelling checker. Pages with flowing text, tables, or free-form shapes are easy to design, too.

Track your portfolio: StockVue 2001

For richer, for poorer -- now you'll know instantly how the twists and turns of Wall Street affect your portfolio. With NQL's gratis but ad-supported StockVue, you can record your stock and mutual fund purchases, sales, and splits; view delayed data on highs and lows, bid and ask prices, and price/earnings ratios; set alerts for price and volume changes; and read company news and filings. Look at Quote.com analyst views; peruse analysts' consensus estimates; and get daily, weekly, or monthly charts (you can specify the number of days for the moving average). Drawback: The program asks for lots of personal information when you register.

Words are cheap: WordSmith

Though there are plenty of document viewers for Palm handhelds and even a few apps with a small amount of editing capability, none are as full-featured as Blue Nomad's WordSmith 2.01. It has paragraph, page, and tabular formatting; find and replace; bulleted lists; and many other functions. It integrates with Microsoft Word, right down to an icon on the toolbar. WordSmith's FineType lets you import and display the previously unviewable-on-a-PDA TrueType fonts. And at $30, it's a bargain to boot.

What a way with words: WordWeb

When only the right word will do, there's WordWeb, a free combination dictionary and thesaurus that lets you explore words and their relationships. Enter auto, and the tabbed interface provides a definition and synonyms, as well as vehicle components in the Parts tab (accelerator, bumper) and types of cars in the Types tab (coupe, cruiser). WordWeb is easy to use and a far cry from your word processor's thesaurus. The $18 Pro version adds word searches with pattern matching ("?elp" finds help, kelp, and so on), an anagram maker, and customization options.

The best utilities for $30 or less

Kill AdWare dead: Ad-aware 5

Some programs may install files on your hard drive that secretly download ads. Makers of Web tools such as Usenet readers, instant messaging programs, and Napster clones use the advertising to support their products. But such ad programs can threaten your privacy and lead to system crashes. To be safe, download Lavasoft's free Ad-aware 5. It scans your Windows Registry and your hard drive for traces of the ad tools and deletes them. Frequent updates keep you a step ahead of the ad-download companies.

The cookie patrol: Cookie Crusher

Someday all browsers will make it easy to sort through the cookies that Web sites use to identify you and track your browsing habits. But I wouldn't hold my breath. In the interim, The Limit Software's $15 Cookie Crusher 2.6b can help. Set it to accept or reject all cookies from a single server on a site (such as the server holding your shopping cart) or all cookies from an entire Internet domain (those cookies dished up by a company such as DoubleClick, for instance). The program tells you whether a cookie tracks your surfing, serves advertisements, or provides a shopping cart.

Trusty virus defender: EZ Antivirus

For an efficient and reliable virus scanner, get ETrust's $20 EZ Antivirus program. In our recent tests, it quickly scanned a virus-infested hard drive, caught every piece of nefarious code, and achieved a perfect score in repairing the infected files. The downside: It's a bare-bones application that doesn't allow you to schedule automatic scans or retrieve automatic virus-definition updates; you must remember to manually download the latest inoculations. Updates are free for the first year and $10 a year thereafter.

File management on steroids: PowerDesk

You'll never feel the need to open Windows Explorer again once you start using Ontrack's free PowerDesk 4 File Manager. It has many customization features, including single- or dual-pane views, file compression and decompression, file preview, a file-sort indicator, and a powerful file finder. Unlike Explorer, PowerDesk has a toolbar with icons for all available drives, making copying and moving files a one-click snap -- instead of a scrolling scavenger hunt.

Scrubbing off ads: WebWasher

As advertising revenues have dwindled on the Internet, the ads have gotten more aggressive. They blink, pop up, and barge into your browser page. Scrub away pesky ads with WebWasher 3. It blocks ads (including the ever-annoying pop-up variety), cookies, and invisible Web bugs that track your surfing. Best of all, it practices what it preaches: It's free to noncommercial users and it never pesters you to upgrade to a paid version.

Show some skin: WindowBlinds

Tired of Microsoft's taste in interfaces? Redecorate. Stardock's WindowBlinds 2.2 lets you apply skins that give Windows new graphics, detailing, and colors -- turning the operating system's appearance into anything from a Macintosh look-alike to a Leonardo da Vinci tribute. You can download and customize any of more than 1000 free skins, or design your own with Stardock's SkinStudio. WindowBlinds is a blast, but heads up: It conflicts with certain apps, and the flashier skins bog down sub-600-MHz PCs. Both WindowBlinds and SkinStudio are free to try; they're $20 apiece to register.

Rev up the Windows key: WinKey

Do you use the Windows key on your keyboard? Chances are, you don't. On most PCs, the function of the Windows key is limited to opening the Start menu and some folders. But Copernic Technologies' free WinKey program will give you a reason to start using that overlooked key. Billed as a keyboard enhancer, the software lets you create simple Windows-key shortcuts that launch applications, folders, Web pages, and other items, making Windows efficient and easy to use. It's a snap to program, and it supports up to 200 key combinations.

Sheltered system: ZoneAlarm

If you're constantly connected to the Web, your PC is especially vulnerable to hacker attacks. Zone Labs' free ZoneAlarm 2.6 can give you some protection. It blocks attacks from the outside and guards against dangers that originate within your PC as well, preventing Internet-bound applications from opening ports into your system. ZoneAlarm also makes a digital fingerprint of authorized apps so that Trojan horses can't slip by, masquerading as trusted programs. Just before press time, Zone Labs announced version 3 (due out this month), designed to protect program components (such as DLLs) from being changed and to provide an online help function that explains security vulnerabilities in plain English. For added privacy controls, such as ad blocking and cookie management, consider buying the Pro version.

The best leisure software for $30 or less

Snappier snapshots: ACDSee

ACDSee 4 is a terrific image viewer, but that's only half the story -- this versatile utility from ACD Systems also lets you grab pictures from your digital camera or scanner, convert file formats, create slide shows and Web albums, and do much more. Its photo-editing tools won't replace Photoshop, but you can crop and resize, fiddle with an image's contrast and color, and fix red-eye. You can use it free of charge if you register by e-mail once every 45 days. That's a fair trade-off considering that the package costs $50 otherwise.

Play it again, Sam: MusicMatch Jukebox

MusicMatch Jukebox Basic 7 packs plenty of audio power. The streamlined interface lets you navigate your music collection and create playlists. The MusicGuide (the only place you'll see ads) has artist and album information and recommendations. If you plan to burn CDs of your favorite tracks, try the $20 Plus version, which burns CD-Recordables 12 times faster than the free version. It also lets you rip audio CDs to MP3 format faster, refine and retain your equalizer settings, and print CD labels and case liners.

Gaming on the fly: SabreWing

If you were a fan of Wing Commander, X-Wing, or other epic space-combat titles of the past decade, the frenetic 3D dogfights in SabreWing will bring back fond memories. The best part: This fast-paced space-fighter simulation plays entirely over the Web, streaming missions to you on the fly. Just download WildTangent's free 840KB Web driver, and after a quicker-than-Flash-movies load time, you'll be blasting aliens with the best of them.

James E. Powell edits OfficeLetter.com, a site devoted to Microsoft Office users. All other contributors are editors for PC World.