Looking for a better program that doesn’t quite do it for you?

If you’re looking for a program that’s an alternate to one that you already use that gives you problems, or costs too much or… whatever the reason, then here’s a nifty web site that allows you to see if there are programs that do it for you better: AlternativeTo
It’s also a great way to find freeware programs that do the same.

From their web site:
“
We have one mission: helping you find the right software for your computer or mobile phone.  To do this we wanted to rethink the whole process of searching for apps.  No more browsing through categories with long lists of crappy software.
Based on our users’ recommendations, we list great alternatives to the applications you want to replace. By joining the site you can participate in the process of making these recommendations better, so please join in!
”

The web site allows you to search for a program xxx then if you click on the “Find alternatives to xxx” and then the alternatives are displayed - you can then filter the results by license (eg: free and opensource) or platform or by likes.
For example, searching alternative to Microsoft Outlook email client, and filtering by ‘free programs’ and for ‘Windows’ gives:
Windows Live Mail, eM Client, My Life Organized, Sylpheed, emClient, Spicebird, Zimbra Desktop, Mutt, Popcorn, IncrediMail
Click here for the full results page: alternatives to Microsoft Outlook

Another example: searching alternative to Skype and filtering by ‘free programs’ and for ‘Windows’ gives:
Pidgin, Yahoo Messenger, Google Voice and Video chat, Ekiga, Gajim, Gizmo, Psi, Tpad, QuteCom, Voip Stunt, Tkabber, OpenWengo, Palringo, ooVoo.
Click here for the full results page: alternatives to Skype