I am frugal, and carefully watch where my money is spent. I spend money on things I am passionate about, such as travel, and scrimp on other things that, to me, are mundane. I do not need to be an early adopter nor necessarily conform to the masses although I do admit that I did finally give up using both a Mac and PC, and reverted to the latter.
When it comes to computer software, I look at a combination of features and price. Free is my price preference, and what many people may not realize is that one can run virtually every type of application imaginable without ever having to pay a cent. Now, I am not one who understands how companies can give away their products without charging any money (doesn't sound like a profitable operating model to me), but I think that open source software has given the public the ability to use software such as the Linux operating system for free while creating an opportunity for companies to provide consulting services to large organizations that have installed Linux to their servers.
Many people also buy software whose full capabilities they never use. Sometimes, they upgrade because everyone else has, and thus they want to be able to open up documents that others have sent that may be created on the latest version of Microsoft Office, for example. Yet they can still do this, while constantly having their software upgraded free, if they use productivity software such as Open Office (which is free). I was hesitant to use Open Office, but also unwilling to pay $600 for a full-blown version of Microsoft Office, so I gave it a bash, and have been pleasantly surprised. Aside from a few glitches with their version of PowerPoint, I am a convert, and will never pay a license fee to Microsoft again (even though I am a shareholder). Areas where Open Office has not been completely compatible has been in some instances where macros are used in Excel etc. But how many people use complicated macros in Excel everyday? Accountants maybe, the average Joe, not likely.
With a browser, I use Mozilla Firefox which I think is far superior to Internet Explorer, and Google has recently introduced its own new free browser called Chrome which, I am sure, in time will be a superior product to both Firefox and Explorer.
These are just two examples. Don't just take my word for it. Read PC Magazine for their picks of the best free software and the reviews on each of them. The annual edition comes out early in the new year, but for the moment, take a look at the picks for 2008.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2260070,00.asp
In these tough times, it pays to start to keep your money in your pockets anyway you can.
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