Technology has transformed the world of enterprise into what it is today. Walk into any office around the globe and you are 99% certain to see desktop computers, telephones, fax machines, mobiles and printers in operation. The use of these technologies is pretty much a must for any business that wants to succeed in an ever changing market, but it’s also recognised that associated costs can often be high. With businesses concerned with curbing costs like never before, I’m going to explore a number of open source options that can significantly save money when it comes to computing.

Desktop computers are a vital component for almost every business worldwide. Word processing, product development, image creation and research are just some of the common activities associated. However I’m sure you won’t be surprised at all when I say that computers can be by far the most costly piece of equipment for a business. Between the actual physical computer hardware and all the necessary software, costs can spiral. If you’re looking for cheaper alternatives consider the following options.

Operating Systems

When buying a computer the operating system (OS) that runs it can often be already pre-installed, more than likely with a Microsoft OS such as XP or Vista. This can add extensively to the cost. Consider the alternative, buy a computer without an OS pre-installed.

There are many FREE open source alternatives out there such as Fedora which can be downloaded from the internet in minutes. Being part of the open source family means that you can distribute it and install it on as many computers as you want. Simply download it, put it on a disk, pop it into the CD-drive and you can install it yourself. I should say that Fedora doesn’t support all the popular software that you might find on XP or Vista, but it does offer good alternatives (some of which are explored below).

Office Suites

When it comes to office suites the Microsoft Office packages are by far the most popular pieces of software found in offices worldwide. The popular Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, Visio and Publisher are words know to every marketer, PR consultant and CEO, but do you know how much Office costs? To buy the most recent Office offering (office 07) as new, Office Professional 07, can set you back a cool €600 ($499.95 in the US). Is it really worth the money?

The open source developed Open Office offers some brilliant alternatives which are really in my opinion just as good. The Open Office suite contains Writer for word processing (instead of Word), Calc for spreadsheets (instead of Excel), Impress for presentations (instead of PowerPoint), as well as Draw and Base (instead of Visio and Access respectively). Again as an open source developed piece of software, it is complete free to use and install on all your computers, whether personal or commercial. Any files you have can be saved in a format that can be read by someone using the Microsoft Office suite so you don’t have to worry about interoperability.

Photo Editing

Photo Editing is something which in the not so distant past was something that only concerned a small amount of business individuals, but now a lot more enterprises are becoming more and more interesting in photo software as social media and new content requirements envelope the web.

If you’re looking for something a bit more advanced than Microsoft Paint, Adobe Photoshop is one of the biggest names out there in the field. It’s a tool which allows you to do pretty much anything and everything with any image. It’s used by designers and photographers worldwide on a daily basis and truly is an extremely powerful piece of software. I’ve used it on many occasions enjoyably. The downside is of course again the cost which is approximately €200 for the latest version, Photoshop CS4.

The Gimp is a powerful alternative to Photoshop. It’s actually one of the most popular overall open source programs. I use on an almost daily basis and I have to say it’s much easier and friendlier to navigate and grasp than Photoshop. It’s also just as good when it comes to photo editing. One of the biggest issues I have with Photoshop is its sheer size and drain on older computers. It’s a product which can kill a computers speed in moments.  The Gimp is by far smaller in size and friendlier to all computers. As an open source product, it’s free to use and distribute under the open source licence.

Servers

Most businesses realise that sharing information is a valuable asset when it comes to communication, PR, marketing and sales. Information can be shared internally in an office block from computer to computer, as well as online through a business’s own website. This is where we come to the territory of servers.  A server is basically a combination of hardware and software designed to provide services to clients. It serves information to them.

When it comes to servers, the open source developed CentOS is extremely popular. It’s easy to manage, incredibly stable and very secure (when configured correctly). On the other side of things is Windows Server 08 which in itself is a good service. It’s popular with many people. In my opinion, when it comes down to it CentOS is by far the better option as it’s free and as already stated, very secure.

Email Client

Emails come part and part with business, particularly office based ones. I come in every morning and my email client is the first thing I open. I’m guessing a lot of you are the same right? Microsoft Outlook 07 is one of the most popular options out there at the moment as it comes bundled in the Microsoft Office Suite. I must admit my usage of it has been limited to only a handful of uses, in which I never quiet took to it.

Thunderbird 2 is the open source alternative which really captivated me. Mozilla, the organisation behind the Firefox browser, offer Thunderbird for free and it’s pretty easy to get it up and running. You can also customise it as much as you want by installing additional add-ons such as calendars and foreign dictionaries.  Both programs will do essentially the same thing, with minor differences in each but if you’re looking at the cost side of things Thunderbird is free while you’ll have to pay big bucks for Outlook.

Summary

These are just a number of comparisons between the most popular open source and closed source options out there. Open Source may not be for everyone. In fact it’s true that the biggest barrier to adoption by businesses is the dominance (in terms is usage) of the mainstream “popular” products already out there on the market. It’s clear though that many businesses are looking for ways to save cash and stay afloat in the current economy, and open source is one option that should be certainly considered.

Boasting an1.2GHz Intel Atom Z515 processor and 60 GB hard disk, it could prove to be one of the most popular products out there over the coming months.It’s also extremely thin (0.68”) and lightweight (820g).

One of the other major points about the tablet is that it’s going to come with a touchscreen keyboard. If Archos are able to pull it off it could become a major winner in the minds of the public! However if it doesn’t, Archos are also releasing a slimline keyboard as an additional addon.

Media tablets in general have been growing in popularity in recent times as their functionality has improved to cope with the high demands of people on the go. Increased wireless speeds also means that being able to surf the internet with a somewhat decent speed is a reliable reality.

The Windows based Archos 9PCtablet goes on sale on October 22nd, the same day Windows 7 is released to the masses.

Well, as stated above I’m planning to write about a number of topics. My main focus will be on all the happenings in the social media, tech and business communities. I can’t wait to get started and I hope I can offer some thoughts and opinions that get people thinking!

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Ed Harrisson of WebRevolutionary for the great Curious theme, which is actually one year old today (didn’t know that until now, kinda freaky)