Operating Systems and Productivity Software In recent years there has been a veritable explosion in the availability of online applications and services, sometimes for pay but surprisingly often available free of charge. There are a number of websites that specialize in pointing their readers toward such software, usually with recommendations. One of the most useful is Gizmo’s Freeware with a wide variety of resources and helpful analyses. For the purposes of this module’s assignment, you are to take a look at their assessment of free online applications and services. These are utilities and programs that can be run directly from the Web using only your browser – no downloads to your machine required. As the site notes, they currently are recommending some 231 items, under 137 categories grouped into 12 general groups. Within that enormous collection, surely you can find a few that interest you enough to give them a try-out. So here’s what to do: •Go to their online applications home page. Read the introduction. Then start looking through the groups to find things that interest you. Gizmo's Freeware. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-online-applications-and-services.htm •Try to identify at least three of these online applications that you’d like to try out. They should come from three different groups, and include things that you might use seriously to accomplish some task (i.e., don’t pick your three all from the “Games” group). Also, please avoid choosing a browser as an application; browsers here are all just tools to reach other apoplications. •Give each one a serious try-out; it would probably be difficult to effectively evaluate anything in less than a good 20-30 minutes working with it. Keep notes of your thoughts and reactions as you proceed. •When you’ve completed your experiences with these applications, please prepare a short paper describing the following â—¦The general process you followed in deciding which applications to investigate â—¦For each of the three: â—¾Name of the application â—¾What it does â—¾Why you chose it â—¾Your evaluation of how well it works, including (if appropriate) comparisons to other programs you may have tried along the same lines â—¦Please conclude with a paragraph or two about your overall assessment of the value of free online applications, and the likelihood of your making use of such resources in the future. SLP Assignment Expectations Your paper should be two to three pages in length, and reflect your personal experiences with this issue. The important part of all these project assignments is to carefully assess your own experiences with the topic, and then reflect critically on what you might have learned about yourself and about situations through this assessment process. The more that you can use the exercise to develop personal implications for your growth as a potential business person as well as a moral individual, the more value you'll get out of the exercise. If there are reasons why the entire exercise is impractical for you to undertake at all, please explain them to your instructor as early in the Module as possible, so that an alternative assignment can be arranged. Your paper will be evaluated on the following criteria: •Precision: You carried out the exercise as assigned, or carefully explained the limitations that might have prevented your completing some parts (running out of time isn’t generally considered an adequate limitation). •Clarity: Your answers are clear and show your good understanding of the topic. •Breadth and Depth: The scope covered in your paper is directly related to the questions of the assignment and the learning objectives of the module. •Critical thinking: The paper incorporates YOUR reactions, examples, and applications of the material to business that illustrate your reflective judgment and good understanding of the concepts. •Overall quality: Your paper is well written and the references, where needed, are properly cited and listed (refer to the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper) if you are uncertain about formats or other issues.

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