A listener called the show on October 17 asking where to get "working copies" of Office 2021 Pro Plus, AutoCAD MEP, Adobe Creative Cloud and CorelDRAW. The short answer: don't. Office 2021 lost Microsoft support on October 13, 2026, so even a legitimate copy gets no more security fixes. AutoCAD and Creative Cloud are subscription-only and were never sold as copies you can own, so any "working copy" is cracked. Cracked installers from download sites are the single most common way infected machines land on our bench. Here is what to use instead, free where possible, with the legitimate paid option listed where there is one.
Office
- Free in a browser: Word, Excel and PowerPoint run at microsoft365.com with a free Microsoft account.
- Free on the desktop: LibreOffice (libreoffice.org). Opens and saves Word and Excel files.
- Paid: Microsoft 365 Personal, about $100 a year, or Office Home 2024, about $150 one time (no Outlook). Buy only from microsoft.com.
AutoCAD
- Autodesk sells AutoCAD by subscription only, around $2,000 a year. The MEP toolset is included in the standard AutoCAD subscription now. There is no separate MEP edition.
- AutoCAD LT is about $500 a year, 2D only, no MEP toolset.
- Free: FreeCAD (freecad.org) for 3D and parametric work, LibreCAD (librecad.org) for 2D drafting. Autodesk Fusion is free for personal, non-commercial use. None of the free tools have MEP objects such as duct and pipe runs.
Adobe Creative Cloud and CorelDRAW
- Affinity by Canva: photo editor, vector drawing and page layout in one app, free for Windows and Mac as of 2026. Covers most of what people use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and CorelDRAW for. Download only from affinity.studio. Needs a free Canva account. The AI features are the only paid part.
- Free and open source: GIMP (photo editing), Inkscape (vector drawing, the closest free match for CorelDRAW), Krita (painting and illustration), DaVinci Resolve (video editing).
- If other designers send you .psd or .ai files, the Adobe Photography plan is the cheapest way in. Buy only from adobe.com.
- CorelDRAW still sells a one-time license, around $550, and a subscription, around $270 a year. Buy only from coreldraw.com.
PDF reading and editing
- Your browser already opens PDFs (Edge, Chrome, Firefox). That is the safest way to open one someone emailed you.
- Standalone reader: Sumatra PDF (sumatrapdfreader.org). Free, open source, no account, no ads.
- Fill or sign a form: open the PDF in Edge, click into the fields, or use the Draw tool to sign.
- Install Adobe Acrobat Reader only if a government or legal form says it requires Adobe.
- Make a PDF: Ctrl+P in any program, choose Microsoft Print to PDF.
- Nitro PDF is a paid product now. Its free reader is gone.
- Full guide: PDF Readers and Editors at radio.azcomputerguru.com/resources#pdf-readers
Low vision: what is already built into Windows
- Magnifier: Windows key + Plus.
- Narrator screen reader: Windows key + Ctrl + Enter.
- Settings > Accessibility: Text size, Contrast themes, Mouse pointer size and color, Night light.
- NVDA (nvaccess.org) is a free screen reader that works better than Narrator in most programs.
- The current Microsoft 365 desktop apps have Read Aloud, Dictate, Immersive Reader and high-contrast modes. If vision is the deciding factor, they are the most accessible programs on this page.
- Veterans: ask your VA primary care team for a referral to the VIST coordinator (Visual Impairment Services Team). The VA Blind Rehabilitation Service provides assessment, training and assistive technology, including magnification software and screen readers, at no cost to eligible veterans. Do this before spending money on software.
- Step-by-step guides for display scaling and Night light are on our Helpful Links page: radio.azcomputerguru.com/resources#adjust-display-scaling
Buying software without getting burned
- Buy from the company that makes it. The $20 "lifetime license" keys are stolen volume keys that get shut off.
- Never pay for software through PayPal Friends and Family. No buyer protection, and that is exactly what the fake license sellers ask for.
- Fake "PayPal invoice" and "your account was charged" emails are the most common scam right now. PayPal never puts a phone number to call inside an invoice. Type paypal.com into the browser yourself.
- A cracked installer is a stranger's program running as administrator on your machine. That is how most of the infected PCs we clean up got that way; see what we do about it.
Selling your own Android apps
- Anything sold inside an Android app (unlocks, subscriptions, digital goods) has to go through Google Play Billing. PayPal is not permitted for in-app purchases. That is Google's rule, not PayPal's.
- PayPal fits only if you sell the app or a service outside the store, for example from your own website.
Questions, call the show Saturdays 11 AM to noon on KVOI 1030 AM, 520-790-2040.
