Most folks are familiar with Microsoft Office or Microsoft Works.  Some with WordPerfect.   But you don't have to shell our big bucks for an office suite.  You can have it all for FREE.

    Now at V. 3.1

    This software suite has everything you need.  It will read and write to almost every format out there, including Word.  It has all the bells and whistles that I ever have needed.

    It includes the Word Processor, cleverly named "WRITER".  You have have it look and act like Word®, Wordperfect®, or whatever.  It has templates and all.  Nice.  You can create web pages here too.

This software suite has everything you need.  It will read and write to almost every format out there, including Word® .  It has all the bells and whistles I have ever needed..

It includes a word processor, cleverly names, "Writer."  You can have it look and act like Word, Wordperfect, or whatever.  It has templates and all.  Nice.  You can create web pages here too. 

It has an Excel clone, just as cleverly named, "Calc".  Again, all you can use. 

 It has a Powerpoint® Clone called "IMPRESS" that reads and writes Powerpoint files.

It has a database program like Access®, called "BASE".

It also has a drawing program, but I haven't fooled with it, called "Draw".
And last but not least "Draw".

Why would you want to spend $250 to $350 for a program when this one is free?

Get it at:  

Many companies and government entities are dumping Microsoft Office and moving to Open Office and its Open Source format for documents.

Version 2.4 is an excellent upgrade from earlier versions. More color and more capabilities.  

IBM Lotus Symphony

This is a new suite produced by IBM.  Yes, it is free.  It is rated as "good" but not great.

It has a world processor, spreadsheet, and a presentation program (think powerpoint).   It is free, of course.

Abiword

This is a great little program that runs on about all systems; Windows, Linux, Mac OsX.  It loads fast, is easy to use, and works well, even on very slow systems.  If you don't pay for all the bells and whistles of Word, don't need something so comprehensive like OpenOffice.org, this might be your cup of tea.

WORDPAD

Don't forget WORDPAD!  It's one every Microsoft computer and really is capable of a lot of things.

For most folks and the normal light typing they do, this may just be fine.

NOTEPAD

Yes, for simple texts, even Notepad can work just fine.  Wordpad has better formatting, but text is great for quick notes, etc.

ONLINE OFFICE SUITES

 This is seen as the "next big thing".  You can sign up and use these sites and access your files anywhere, which is a nice feature for the Arizona Winter Visitors (aka SnowBirds).

At the gOffice site, I noticed it was 99¢ per month.  Cheap but not quite free.

Check these out by doing a search for the name on the charts below and see what you find.  Share the info here!!