1. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.1 Technology in Action

2. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.2 Technology in Action Technology in Focus: Computing Alternatives

3. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.3 Application Software Alternatives Open-source softwareOpen-source software –Freely distributed –Contains the source code (the actual lines of instructional code that make the program work) –Can be distributed to others

4. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.4 Productivity Software Alternatives OpenOfficeOpenOffice –Comparable to MS Office Writer is likeWriter is like MS Word MS Word Calc is likeCalc is like MS Excel Impress is likeImpress is like MS PowerPoint Allows you to open files created in Office applicationsAllows you to open files created in Office applications Documents created with OpenOffice can be opened by other programsDocuments created with OpenOffice can be opened by other programs

5. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.5 Drawing Software Alternatives OpenOffice DrawOpenOffice Draw DIADIA –Comparable to MS Visio –Allows you to create diagrams, graphs, and charts

6. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.6 Database Software Alternatives MySQLMySQL –Comparable to SQL Server and Oracle 9i –Many books and online tutorials are available

7. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.7 Web Page Authoring Software Alternatives NVUNVU –Comparable to MS FrontPage or Dreamweaver –Don’t need to know HTML to generate a Web page

8. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.8 Image-Editing Software Alternatives The GIMPThe GIMP –Comparable to Adobe PhotoShop –Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and UNIX versions available

9. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.9 Operating System Alternatives LinuxLinux –Linux versions called “distros” –Knoppix and PC Linux run from a CD so do not replace your current OS –Other distros (such as Mandriva Linux) install Linux permanently

10. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.10 Hardware Alternatives AppleApple –Mac OS X –Intel platform –Open-source software for Macs –Special software lets you run Windows-based software on a Mac

11. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.11 Hardware Alternatives Do-it-yourselfDo-it-yourself Case Power Supply Processor Motherboard RAM Hard Drive Video card Sound card Removable Storage

12. © 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc.12 Hardware Alternatives Do It Yourself AdvantagesAdvantages –Exact configuration desired –Choice of quality components –Satisfaction Disadvantages –No technical support if there is a problem –Multiple considerations in matching components –Often more expensive