OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org (OOo for short) is a free, open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, which is a $500 (or so) set of programs.

OOo includes an entire suite of programs, including a word processor (like Word), spreadsheet (like Excel), presentation program (like PowerPoint), a database program (like Access), and other things.

If you need any of these programs and don't already have the paid versions, you should at least try them.

The biggest advantage to OOo is it can open and save Microsoft Office files (although you have to tell it you want it to, it doesn't do it by default), although sometimes the files don't look quite right, but for a $500 savings, you can't complain too much.

Another handy feature is this program can natively save files as PDF without the need for an external PDF writing program.

Personally, I never use Microsoft Office at home anymore, and I even have the newest version of Microsoft Office installed on my computer, so I'm not just saying that because OOo is free. I just like OOo better. I also use OOo at work when I can, which is most of the time.

Another nice thing about OpenOffice.org is it uses the new OpenDocument file format, which is a free and open file standard that is designed to be opened by a large number of office programs. Alas, Microsoft Office has chosen to not be included in the list of programs that can open or save OpenDocument.

Two things I don't like about the default install of OpenOffice.org can be easily fixed. First, OpenOffice.org installs a quickstart feature, which is nice if you work with OpenOffice.org all the time, but if you use the program only occasionally, then the quickstarter is a computer resource hog. You will see a small OpenOffice.org icon in the lower right corner near the clock. If you want to turn it off, just right-click on it and select "Load OpenOffice.org on System Startup."

The second feature can be handy or really annoying depending on your point of view, I fall in the latter category. It is a feature that completes the word you are typing on based on what you have typed previously. If you want to turn that off, select "Tools", "AutoCorrect", go to the "AutoCompletion" tab, and uncheck the "Enable word completion" button.

OpenOffice.org runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX.

Check out the OpenOffice.org website