FrostWire added to osalt.com
FrostWire is an alternative peer-to-peer file sharing service on the Gnutella network that is modeled after LimeWire and in fact, derived its code from LimeWire Pro. You'll find it a bit different in appearance but if you've worked with one, the other will be very familiar.

One of the advantages of FrostWire is that you won't get an onslaught of ads every time you open it to search for a file. This is good news for those who prefer to keep their machines clean of adware and spyware. The interface is pleasantly blue with rounded corners on the tabs but other than that, FrostWire is remarkably similar to LimeWire. You will still be sharing files on the Gnutella and Bittorent network but you'll be able to pay more attention to your downloads and less to unwanted ads.

As a pleasant extra feature, FrostWire has a built in community chat. The clean, straightforward interface is very user friendly and installation is fast and simple. However, pay attention to every screen if you would rather not install the ASK toolbar; you must uncheck two boxes instead of one if you prefer not to have this feature.

In short, FrostWire is quality peer-to-peer file sharing, Java based so it's compatible with any system. Those that have used other Bittorrent supported services will find FrostWire familiar and easy to use with fast downloads and a few enjoyable extras.

Qt Creator added to osalt.com
When you want to build applications with state of the art GUI interfaces you may want to look at Nokia's Qt Creator. It is focused on the idea of providing Qt users the features they need to get up and running, whether they are new at Qt or experienced developers. This IDE (integrated development environment) provides several unique features that make Qt creation easier and more enjoyable and supports multiple platforms.

Coding can be one of the biggest time consumers in developing applications and Qt's C++ code editor makes it easier and faster. It has static code checking and provides style hints as you type, code folding and advanced editing. You'll get context sensitive help and parenthesis matching and selection modes, two very helpful features that will let you finish the job faster.

Qt Creator provides navigation tools that will help you manage your source code, too. Have you ever forgotten the name of a file you needed? No problem here, you can open files even if you don't know where they are located or what the exact name is. You can also follow symbols across several different files and locations, search for files and classes and switch between header and source file or declarations and definitions. You'll also get an integrated GUI layout and forms designer, visual debugger and project and build management tools.

You can get Qt Creator bundled with the latest version Qt libraries as well as additional tools.

Support is provided through the customer portal, email, a knowledge base, software updates and an online forum consisting of experts and creators.

Mumble added to osalt.com
Mumble is voice chat software that can be used by any type of group but is tailored for gamers who enjoy chatting while gaming. It has an ingame overlay for DirectX9 and OpenGL based games and shows clearly who is speaking even when using full screen applications. This is a feature that most chatting software lacks and is what gamers have been asking for.

Gamers have had concerns about delays with other chat software. This presents a major problem when a gamer is asking advice and needs a quick response. Mumble has a much shorter delay and better implementation of Speex than most other software. In fact, it is based on the new Speex codec that has significantly lower memory needs and much better sound quality. Since it doesn't demand so much memory, gaming is smoother and the chatting process doesn't interfere with the game play.

Mumble comes with plug-in support to positional audio in games and also has a plug-in for Battlefield 2, one of the most recently popular games. The installer has Mumble as the client and the server Murmur. Murmer is the server that insures secure communication and full extensibility. It also has voice preprocessing and low latency that removes noise and improves voice clarity. The Murmur server delivers quality that is superior to many chat applications currently in use.

Mumble supports a number of popular game title including Battlefield 2, Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty 2 and 4, and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.

MuseScore added to osalt.com
MuseScore is an open source cross platform music notation program that has a lot of very good features. Simple to operate, notes are entered on a virtual note sheet with your mouse, MIDI or keyboard. There are an unlimited number of staves and up to four voices per staff, making it very versatile. It also features a note editing input that is much like step-time note entry that found on premium commercial music editing software. Its wizards make it easy to set up and files are opened by a simple double click of the mouse.

MuseScore includes an integrated sequencer and FluidSynth software synthesizer and even drum notation, something that many commercial programs don't have. There are plugins included to use or you can even create your own.

MuseScore is popular among educators as it is easy to learn and has all the bells and whistles that their students enjoy. It will mark out-of-range notes using yellow for amateurs and red for professional musicians. It offers automatic note head positioning, unlimited time and key changes, slur editing and unlimited lyrics. MuseScore also has a mixer function, part extraction and grace notes.

When you want to share your music with others, you can import and export MusicXML, standard MIDI files and Band-in-a-Box files. It can also export to LilyPond. Once you're done with your creation, you can print engraved sheet music as SVG, PDF or PNG documents. If you want professional looking sheet music to share with friends, a choir or your band MuseScore does a very fine job.

Games on osalt.com
Today we launch a new category - Games - here on Open Source Alternative. This has long been requested by our users - and we and now finally able to go live.

We hope that this new addition to osalt.com will allow us to reach out and help even more people by showing them the alternative to paid software. And thus allowing some of these people to provide feedback to the developer community in order to add new features to and improve their software project.

Already today you will be able to find alternatives for some of the most popular games on the market: Guitar Hero and SingStar.

And we will be adding more games to the list of alternatives - so keep an eye on osalt.

Enjoy the new category.