Open Office will recognize Microsoft documents and open them, but the reverse is not true. It is, in many ways, a fairly versatile suite of programs. Although OpenOffice.org requests donations of time or cash, the program can be downloaded for free. This is a definite advantage in a week when the world seems to be full of unexpected expenses!

While it is a little clunky when compared to Microsoft, the Open Office suite offers a viable alternative for the budgetarily challenged user. I found very little difference when using the text editor; the spreadsheet was quite reasonable-except for a couple of sort features. The database program seemed to me about as comprehensible as any database program. (Not my personal area of expertise-maybe someday...) The presentation software proved easy t o use, quite versatile. Open Office Math is completely beyond my personal comprehension. I squeaked through my college math classes, and breathed a sigh of relief when I put them behind me. It looks really interesting though-lots of equation-type stuff. Very nice.

I was delighted with the drawing tool. For years, I have put up with Paint (better than nothing), and various budget photo editors. Of those, JASC was probably the best; but when my trial down-load (and the class I was taking) ended, the funds weren't available for the full edition.
Open Office also offers the ability to export files as pdf.

In short, Open Office is a fairly versatile suite of editing and presentation tools. It is a viable alternative to more expensive programs suitable for keeping home office records, writing essays and a variety of other tasks.

Downloading has received a bad name because of the media's coverage on piracy, but there is a vast amount of software, files, and even music that is placed under a public license. With this content under the public domain, a person is free to download, and in some cases, change it for his or her own specific use.

Besides browsing the Internet, the most commonly used application of the computer is office productivity. Every time you want to type a paper, make a spreadsheet, or create that dazzling presentation, you usually call upon Microsoft's Office Suite to accomplish the task. However, many computers do not include the suite by default.

Instead of buying Microsoft's product for a price, you can download a free office productivity suite called OpenOffice maintained by Sun Microsystems. This free alternative sports all the familiar features of Microsoft's including a word processor, a spreadsheet program, and a presentation creator. These three components will satisfy the needs of even the most demanding person.

This software is available, legally, for free at Open Office for multiple platforms. Windows, Mac, and Linux versions are distributed from this site. However, the Mac version needs an additional component which needs to be configured for the system.

OpenOffice is very usable and compatible with Microsoft's products by saving your documents as the Microsoft format. That means you can both read and write your files, so you can share files with your friends.

Because Microsoft does not own OpenOffice, there is currently no support for Microsoft 2007 products. However few people currently use the Microsoft 2007 format, so that is not a major issue.

If you are looking for a free alternative, OpenOffice is a good candidate for your basic productivity needs.

By Law this is illegal and you can be prosecuted for doing this. Another danger are viruses that are often hidden in files you download.

There is another option. There are plenty of free programs that are an alternative to the expensive ones. Often they can do exactly the same as the one you were looking to buy.

Here is a list of some alternative programs

1. Microsoft Office

   This is a programme most people need and is very expensive. Open Office is a very good alternative to Microsoft Office. It can open pretty much all MS Office files except Access. You can also save them as MS Office files.

   Another alternative is Google Docs. Yes thats right Google. You can create Spreadsheets, Presentations and Text Documents online or you can upload existing ones. The advantage is that you can access them from anywhere as long as you have internet access. You can also share them with other people online.

2. Dreamweaver

   Dreamweaver is quite expensive but why not simply try PHP Designer. There is a Personal Edition available which is free of charge but comes with limits. It is quite good and has very useful features.

3. Nero

   Nero isn't that expensive but you can still get it cheaper. Have a look at CD Burner XP. You can pretty much do anything you can o with Nero. Create ISO's, burn ISO's, burn DVD's and much much more.

4. Maya, 3D Max

   These programes are very expensive. A Free option is Blender. It is available for Windows, Linux and Mac and produces amazing results.

5. Photoshop

   Another expensive programe some people can't/wont live without. Download Gimp and produce results that are just like the one from Photoshop but free.

6. Outlook

   Alot of people use Outlook and don't even know that there is software available that does exactly the same and is free. Thunderbird has proven to be very good and very cheap.

I will soon post the next part covering Antivirus and more and also provide more free alternatives to some of the above programs.