Software: Tips for shopping, buying and downloading

Software is necessary to take care of business whether for a business or for personal use. Financial software provides budget control, office software provides the space for letter writing and creative software provides photo control.

Some software can be downloaded and other software is purchased as a boxed version.

Tip: If you download a piece of software save it in a download folder on your desktop. Copy the file onto an external backup drive so that if you change computers you will not loose your software. I create a separate folder where I copy the software file and include a copy of the unlock code. The unlock code is either listed on an email or you can type it into a word document.

Of course you can buy software in a box from just about any store. Big box stores, membership clubs, office supply stores and online stores. Compare prices although most of the time there is not much of a difference in price. You may get lucky when a particular store offers a sale price as a way to get you into the store (brick and mortar or online).

Software can be purchased from online auction sites such as Ebay. Personally this has been a great option for me. I have saved hundreds of dollars over the past few years on Microsoft Windows XP Pro, Microsoft Office 2007 and QuickBooks Pro 2008. If you are wondering why some software titles are being sold online for a lot less than off the shelf software there is a good answer. People that work in the IT industry often receive software as prizes and give away promotions when attending meetings and conventions. The software is full versions but these people may not need or want it.

TIP: Before buying a piece of used software make sure that you can receive an unlock code and that you can register the software. I know that QuickBooks has a special process that you have to go through to re-register their software.

My suggestion is to decide on your needs and then search for the best software to fulfill them. Try to save as much money as possible but be careful when buying used software. When downloading software be careful to save the unlock codes. Buying new software is a commitment so be careful but have fun.