There are a number of very helpful software tools out there to make me more productive at home and when I’m at work. Some of them, but not all, are free downloads. Antivirus software for my computer is perhaps the most urgent product to discuss.

One thing to remember is that the free virus protection software programs are available only for your home computer. Although the free software will protect you from the most terrible attacks, there are other threats that can be a problem. Just know that the free downloads will not give you the same protection as the full packages that are sold at a modest price.

As we all move in the direction of less and less paper at the office, it means we need to be able to work with many different file types, from a wide variety of software applications. This means there will be a growing need to convert text files, images and spreadsheets to pdf file types.

Of course, Adobe is the Big Dog in this field, with a number of other players as well. Adobe Acrobat is probably the best-known software package and they offer a few choices of products in that family from which you can choose. If all you want to do is read pdf files, and do not need to edit or create them, the free Reader software may be all you need.

Whatever way you go on purchasing using free software, the ability to work with pdf files will be an unavoidable skill. I suspect this is only going to become more prevalent in the future.