Solid state drives are around 5 times faster than ordinary hard drives.

But they are expensive (at the time of writing).

The trick is, you don’t need a large one. A 60 GB SSD drive is around $120.00 (here in Australia) and you only need to put the Operating System and installed programs on it. Data can be stored on an external drive and plugged in when you need it (or for quick access to often used data – saved online on a site like Dropbox).

So SSDs are the way to go. Just don’t spend money on a large one.

One thing – NEVER defrag an SSD. Shortens their life, which is longer than a platter drive by the way.

e.g. office alternative

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But  there is even a website that helps you find alternative software: http://alternativeto.net/

And if you want to quickly add a whole bunch of good free alternative stuff, go here: http://ninite.com/

Brilliant!