In a (somewhat vain) attempt to keep this blog a bit more up-to-date (I’ve set myself a target of one entry a week!), I hope to start writing some shorter blog entries in the future. In the first of these shorter excerpts, I’ll be looking at a few great free, open source applications that anyone can start using right now, for free.

Firefox – Web Browser

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser is quite possible one of the biggest names in open source software, and a product almost everyone is familiar with; at least in name.

For me, the benefits of using Firefox include what can only be described as an arsenal of add-ons and extensions that make Firefox far more than just a web browser. Among the extensions that I use are Adblock Plus (the web has never been the same again), the venerable Web Developer Toolbar and HTML Validator combination (in my opinion, the staple toolbox for any web developer) and DownThemAll (a great resumable download manager, complete with checksum support).

Also present is the benefit shared by most open source applications: cross-compatibility for almost any platform and architecture.

Songbird – Media Player

From the same stable as Firefox, but very often overlooked, is Songbird. I have only started using Songbird as my media manager of choice within the last three months, however it is incredibly versatile, discrete, and shares the cross-compatibility benefit, so I can use the same player on my MacBook and my Windows and Linux environments on my desktop PC.

Like Firefox, it benefits from extensions, although the extension support isn’t at the level of Firefox’s. A feature I do really like though is the unobtrusive mini-player – it makes quickly flicking through tracks a breeze – especially after Microsoft abolished the Media Player toolbar feature in Windows 7 and Media Player 12!

Pidgin – Instant Messaging (Windows Live Messenger – MSN)

After growing frustrated with the bloat of Windows Live Messenger, I turned to Pidgin – another open source alternative that is already shipped with many Linux distributions as the Instant Messenger (IM) client of choice.

An advantage of Pidgin (albeit one that I don’t use) is the ability to handle multiple IM protocols: geek-speak for being able manage your MSN, AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, ICQ and a whole host of other IM accounts in one place, and as with Firefox and Songbird, the great number of plug-ins available really do extend the functionality. For those music-fans that like people to know what they’re listening to, there’s Music Tracker, and the host of other plug-ins included as standard.