I’m finding that it is possible to download some great software tools to help improve my efficiency at work and at home. Some are downloaded for free and some you must pay for. In particular I am thinking about the importance of antivirus software for my computer.

One thing to understand from the beginning is that you can find free virus protection software, but it is intended 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.

Finally, as the business world leans towards a paperless environment, there is the need to be able to consolidate and organize all types of files from hundreds of software applications. It will be more and more common that
we will convert these other documents, photographs, faxes and spreadsheets in to pdf documents.

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 your needs are very basic, you might be able to get away with the free Adobe Reader, which is easily downloaded.

Whichever file management software you select, you’ll find that there are significant time savings in being able to quickly work with pdf files. This is not likely to change in the foreseeable future.