There are many reasons now to feel a tad fed up with Google, especially with Google’s new privacy policy. Still, if you’ve been a Googleaholic for long, using only Google products for your docs, calendar, email, location-based services, pictures, news and so on, it’s time to think of de-Googleaholic options. Look up alternatives for Google products.
Search Engine Alternatives
- Microsoft Bing: Definitely more cluttered and more colorful than Google, but a good alternative.
- Yahoo: Yahoo has expanded its services to offer you a more thorough search, news and product experience.
- Kartoo: A meta-search engine that allows switching from row-wise results display to columnar view.
- DuckDuckGo: Integrates with Wolfram Alpha for quick answers and provides keyboard shortcuts to navigate results.
- Others: Wolfram Alpha, Collecta and Mahalo.
Gmail Alternatives
- Zoho Mail: Great storage for emails, both POP and IMAP access, allows folder labeling, allows email threading, and has offline access.
- Yahoo Mail: Still free, with unlimited storage, POP access, free SMS in some countries and much more. Good stuff.
- Hotmail: It has a great spam filter, allows conversation view, and has one-click filters and many other cool features.
Calendar Alternatives
- Yahoo Calendar: You can certainly consider this option, though it’s not as good as Google Calendar.
- Windows Live Calendar: Create a Live ID to get a Live Calendar account. Plus, you get to access a number of Windows Live products including email.
- Mixin: You can post your calendar events through SMS, email, IM or any calendar application and be reminded later.
- Hotmail Calendar: Great Hotmail integration but no search feature
- AOL Calendar: Good interface and great features such as 1 Calendar that allows sharing, upcoming mobile app and Facebook integration.
Picture Alternatives
- Flickr: Yes, storage is limited and there’s an upload cap monthly but it’s still a fabulous tool.
- Photobucket: 1 GB storage, allows archiving and sharing. It’s a gallery-type service for those looking for easy sharing.
- Shutterfly: Google’s Picasa storage is not free but Shutterfly offers unlimited free storage.
- Facebook: You can upload and tag unlimited pictures on Facebook.
- SmugMug: Great customizable interface for photo viewing but low on community services
- Dropbox: Great way to get pics in the cloud and a simple album feature.
Google Docs Alternatives
- ZoHo Docs: ZoHo docs offers collaborative, offline deep document editing for text, presentations docs and spreadsheets. Users enjoy superior doc compatibility, doc formatting and editing options, as compared to Google Docs.
- EyeOS Public Server: Great docs and spreadsheet alternative, with an entire browser-based OS.
- Microsoft’s Office Web Apps: Edit different kinds of docs; enjoy built-in Microsoft SkyDrive support plus collaborative features.
VOIP Alternatives
- Ooma: You can explore three way calling, use a second line, and opt for call forward and other enhanced voicemail features.
- Skype: Skype is still a byword when it comes to VOIP. Many individuals and businesses use Skype for their conferencing needs.
- Phonebooth: You get free local phone number, free call forwarding, phonemail transcription and so on. 200 minutes on inbound calling free every month.
Web Video Alternative
- Vimeo: None of YouTube’s crappy videos or comments here. Vimeo is technologically just as superior; it’s fully embeddable HTML5 player works great on most handhelds.
Phone Alternatives
- Windows Phone: Brand new updated OS that promises platform-independent services.
- iPhone: Recent versions of IOS are much better, with updated features such as the new Siri and other features.
Google Reader Alternatives
- Netvibes Wasabi: Will link you to the Twitter accounts of the websites you add to the reader.
- BlogBridge: Free, cross platform client that supports OPML import/export, needs JRE to run, allows users to tag and pin items.
- NewsBlur: Good desktop client-like interface
Location Hunting Service Alternatives
- Map24: This service by Navteq allows you to add or remove your points of interests from your maps. Downside is that the app is more UK detail oriented.
- Bing Maps: Smooth and clean interface, better street view than Google.
- Mapquest: Works only in the US but a great one to find what you need in specific areas
- OpenStreetMap: Great community-driven utility; provides plugins for 3D views, directions and so on.
Google Image Search Alternative
- PicFindr: Not a very sleek interface but allows you to query up to ten websites for free stock images.
Google Translate Alternative
- Free-Translator: Does a good job of translating text and websites into standard languages.
Google Notebook Alternative
- Justpaste: Paste your info and obtain an URL through which to share your notes with the world.
