There is literally tons of free software out there today all providing some very useful function and even fun to your laptop experience. Now, personally, I love free and open source software. I love it so much that I will often search for just the right piece of free software before I will even consider investing my hard earned money into commercial software. That being said, sometimes you have no choice but to buy software for your laptop.
We have talked about free software in the past, but today I want to focus on some of the best commercial applications you can find out there that will help you get your work done much more quickly and much more easily. These applications, while not free, can easily be purchased, downloaded and installed today in a matter of minutes, assuming your Internet connection is at least half way decent and you can afford to fork out a premium to compliment your high-end machine.
Why Pay for Software
Before we talk about several different software packages out there than you can buy, we must first examine why you would want to pay for software when you could probably find something similar for free. There are many benefits of opting to buy commercial software. Let’s examine just a few of these benefits.
- Increased Compatibility – If there is one thing that commercial software has over free software is compatibility. Sure, free software has taken steps to be more compatible with commercial software, but they are still not as widely used as other options out there. The world uses commercial software, and if you want to be compatible with the rest of the world without having to jump through a bunch of hoops, then buying an application is most definitely the way to go.
- More features – Free software can be as feature-rich as commercial software, but commercial software has entire teams that can come up with new features designed to make your life easier. Now these don’t always work, but the point is they try and often continue to release new features to make it easier to use the software and sometimes, even quicker.
- Ease of Use – While a lot of free software is easy to use, some of it can be rather cumbersome. The interfaces aren’t often as polished when compared to commercial software either which can make it difficult to find what you want to do in the free software. Commercial software has been designed to be easy to use and usually features a very polished and often pretty interface that you will enjoy using every time you load up the application.
- Accessibility – Let’s face it, if you want to start using free software, you have to look for it. Chances are you will find three or four different options out there as well. This means you will probably have to try them all to figure out which one is right for you. Who has that kind of time? With commercial software, chances are you already know what you are looking for or one quick search or question to someone you know will give you the answer you need.
Drawbacks of Commercial Software
To be fair, it’s not all sunshine and daisies when looking at commercial software. While they do offer benefits, there are most definitely some drawbacks to choosing commercial software that you must consider before you make your purchase.
- Cost – Often commercial software is quite expensive meaning you will have to make a potentially significant investment just to get the proper software for your laptop. If you are on a tight budget, this can be problematic.
- Updates Slow – Free software develops at a fast past compared to commercial software releasing incremental updates and improvements at lightning speed. Commercial software, on the other hand, usually releases new versions every few years. While you will get updates to fix bugs and even add minor improvements to it, if you are looking for something drastic you are going to have to wait awhile for the next version, which you will then have to pay for all over again.
- Locked In – When you use commercial software, it often means you get locked in for the long haul using that software. For example, if you use QuickBooks to keep track of your business’ finances, you will have to keep using it year after year if you ever want to be able to produce any meaningful data about how well your business has performed over the years. Being locked into these systems forces you to keep using software you may not like and even makes you continue to spend money with the companies in order to have the latest versions in order to be able to continue to work.
Commercial Software You May Need
Luckily, I don’t believe there are too many different software packages out there that you simply must have in order to work day in and day out. But there are a few that you will most likely need if you want to make sure you stay current and can easily talk to the rest of the world, especially if you are doing business and not just playing with your machine at night before you hit the sack. Let’s take a look at a few pieces of software that you may want to consider buying to make sure you can easily talk with the rest of the world through your computer no matter what you are doing.
Microsoft Office
Adobe Creative Cloud
Norton Security
Kaspersky Internet Security
Intuit Quicken Deluxe
Intuit Quickbooks Pro
TurboTax
Final Thoughts
I love free software, and so should you. But that doesn’t mean that you ignore all of the other software out there that is sold on the market. Much of this software brings with it all the features you will ever need and want to the table and makes it easy for you to find them and get them. That way you don’t have to spend hours upon hours trying to find the right piece of software just to save a little money. If time is money, then how much is your time worth? If you spend too much time on free software, you are simply wasting your money when you could quickly buy exactly what you need to get the job done.
When creating the perfect laptop setup, you should take the time to consider both free and commercial applications so you can create the perfect workflow that allows you to get the job done in the shortest amount of time. The software I highlighted for you today can help you do just that. Even though it may require you to invest some of your hard earned money, in the end it could be worthwhile investment.