The Internet has spawned a strong free software movement. A few items that have come to 4D's attention recently (that you may not have heard about):

This is a postscript interpreter. It lets you print postscript (such as EPS files) on non-postscript printers, view them on screen, and convert them to other formats. One particularly useful format that it converts to is PDF (i.e., Acrobat). Since Adobe's Acrobat Reader is free, but Adobe's software to create Acrobat files is relatively expensive, this is a great alternative.
Get Ghostscript from:
Mac version: PC version:
This is a cross-platform remote control application. It lets you see the screen of a remote computer and control it via a TCP network such as the Internet. The software is very easy to set up and use, and lets you control remote PCs and Unix workstations from PCs, Unix Workstations, Macintoshes and even Palm Pilots! Note that you can control a PC from a Mac, and you will be able to control a Mac from a PC when the Mac version is completed. (It is not yet available.). VNC is fast and efficient. It can be a useful alternative to running a 4D client connection by a dial in connection. Simply run 4D client on the LAN as you normally do, install the VNC server on the same computer. When you need access to 4D, just remotely control the client machine via an Internet connection.

Get VNC from:

Both of these applications offer advantages over commercial applications that may cost hundreds of dollars.