Scribus: Page layout for Mac for Free!
Scribus is an open source project for basic desktop publishing and offers some great advanced features albeit in a slightly cumbersome and aesthetically functional package.
Small Business Special…
Daylite is a purpose built database for tracking clients, quotes, estimates, projects, pipelines and more.
PROS:
CONS:
One of the great things about Daylite is that at any point during its use you really do feel like your using a mac application, which, as you all know, greatly increases the usability factor.
VERDICT: A generally sound all round contender that although a bit pricey can be purposed for pretty much any type of business. The real winner is the accompanying iPhone application that means you can be mobile with your company data.
USEABILITY 4 STARS
Next up….
37SIGNALS have created a suite of web apps that help you stay connected wherever you are.
The three main applications are…
Basecamp – “Manage projects, collaboration and communications.”
Backpack – “Organise and Share information across your Business.”
Highrise – “Track your contacts, leads and deals, always be prepared.”
PROS:
CONS:
VERDICT: A genuinely innovative attempt to shake up and revolutionise the CRM and Business communication market that works well and is very easy to use. Being able to access anywhere and the fact that your data is safe and backed up are a huge advantage but not being able to use off line. Having a rolling fee may also put off small businesses and freelancers.
USEABILITY 4 STARS
Lastly…
FMStarting point is deceptively simple looking. It is actually an amazingly straightforward yet powerful solution for any business.
The nature of a filemaker database is that you need to understand the basics of Filemaker but in this case the hard work has been done for you. Even customising invoice templates for your business is a breeze.
The upside of a Filemaker database is that it is infinitely customisable.
It is hard to believe that this is free as its power certainly warrants a levy. Richard Carlton Consulting also make a home version called Data4Life which offers similar functionality for running your personal as well as your business data.
CONS:
VERDICT: A super addition to any businesses arsenal. Incredibly easy to use, impressive looking documents such as invoices, estimates etc, built in email distribution and most of all COMPLETEY FREE!
USEABILITY 5 STARS
iClockr – Project time tracking for free
Another FREE one. And this one is useful. Its a time tracking application that enables you to break down your tasks by customer or project etc and is nice and simple.
Well worth a try as it has a clean interface and doesn’t get in the way too much.
Slife – Find where those hours go…
This one is quite interesting, if not a little scary!
Slife monitors everything you do on your mac and records how long you spend doing it. Now at first this seems pretty pointless but for all you freelancers out there it could be really useful. One use could be to use it for a few projects that you undertake so you can give your client a better overview of exactly what you did, for how long etc to justify your expenses. It will also be useful for guaging your schedule of charges for your client depending on how laborious each task generally is on average.
Give it a whirl…
Make Fake Model Photographs!
This guys has come up with a very quick and nifty way of making photographs look like they are of tiny model villages! – its very quick and easy and requires photoshop!. Christoper Phin did a really good job of making this tutorial really understandable!
A fun one for anyone to try!
