The best way to introduce great open source software to others is not necessarily getting them to switch their entire computing lifestyle to all open source, but rather to get them trying and using a few applications at a time on Windows or Mac OS X. With that goal in mind, Firefox, Pidgin, and the GIMP are all terrific programs that can really help improve the overall computing experience on non-Linux systems and get people curious about open source software such as a Linux desktop like Ubuntu or Red Hat.

To help make deployment easier for system administrators, we’ve packaged up some leading open source software in Microsoft’s MSI installer format.

Firefox 2.0.14 with Flash 9.0.124 and Shockwave 11 plugins

Pidgin 2.4.1 with Pidgin Encryptin and Guification plugins

Gimp 2.4.5 with Online Help Manuals

ClamWin Anti-Virus .93