“Because the best things in life are free.”

Let's face it: economically, times are tough. Everyone is trying to cut costs where they can. An easy place to do that is software. You can get many great programs for free. Looking for a word processor, spreadsheet, HTML (WYSIWYG) Editor, Anti-Virus software, or a registry cleaner? Here are some great downloads that are all FREE and legal.

1.) Microsoft Office – Estimated Cost: $399 (Standard Edition), $99 (Student Version)

A great substitute is Open Office. Open Office is an open source “productivity suite” much like Microsoft Office. It is completely free of change and very similar to and replaces the likes of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Power Point. In fact, it's even able to read Microsoft Office files. It's completely “backwards compatible.” You can also save your files in the popular .doc, .xls, .ppt file formats so you can open them in the Microsoft Office programs. You're not getting the same functionality as Microsoft Office, but many people find the 2007 version confusing and annoying. You have all the features you would ever need in the format that most people are familiar with: the Office 1997-2003 version. Open Office's Excel spreadsheet is practically the same and the Power Point presentation developer is actually easier to use.

2.) Anti-Virus Software

Most people have Norton Anti-Virus installed on their computer. At first they give you a quick trial and then you have to pay for it: $39.99 and that's just for a one-year “subscription.” You'll have to repay for it for another year of service. It may keep your computer safe, but it slows down your system significantly while running. Why not opt for AVG's free version of their anti-virus software, get the adequate protection you need, and not have to pay a dime. You won't ever have to worry about renewals and it gives you e-mail security, internet security, spyware security, and the whole nine yards without a dime.

3.) Registry Booster & PC Cleaner

CCleaner is a great program that I came across that kill two birds with one stone: it cleans your computer's hard drive from unnecessary files. It can clear files such as temporary files, memory dumps, log files, internet history, cookies, and temporary internet files. It can also get rid of unnecessary registry logs. These are the things that are known to slow down your computer and if your computer has a lot of them, it's going to be slow.

4.) HTML Editor

So you want to create a simple website, but don't want to shell out $300 for Microsoft's Expression Web or Adobe's Dreamweaver. If you just want to make something basic, go with NVU. It has different panes for the WYSIWYG Editor, the HTML source, and the preview.

5.) CSS Editor

I would go with Top Style Lite. It's the best CSS editor I've seen. It has great auto-fill features and has a window on the right to easily fill in any attribute quickly.