I could write a very long blog about free mathematics software, but don’t really need to as someone else has done it for me a couple of years ago:
http://math-blog.com/2007/06/02/3-awesome-free-math-programs/
Antonio Cangiano omits my personal favourite – Geogebra. In my view, this is one of the best pieces of mathematical software around. It’s great for five main reasons:
- It works well, combining aspects of graphing, computer algebra and dynamic geometry software into one piece of software.
- It’s easy to use. The helpful quickstart guide is particularly good.
- Based on Java, it works on all platforms.
- You can create stand-alone dynamic worksheets.
- It’s free!
With the demise of Derive, Geogebra seems to have gained a lot of ground in UK schools recently. There seems to be a growing online community of Geogebra users – their teaching resources wiki is very useful.