free word processing and other software

Word processing software is expensive - especially software that's rich in useful features. Thankfullythough there is a much cheaper alternative to the universally used Microsoft Office Suite of programs. Open Office is the name of a replacement group of programs that will duplicate eighty to ninety percent of what Microsoft Office delivers and it's absolutely free.

OpenOffice is open-source office software for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages.

Download a copy of Open Office and install it on your home computer.

In addition to Open Office, Google offers another free way of taking care of all your software processing needs. Called Google Docs, all that's required to use this software is an Internet connection. There's no charge at all for using it and you can access the files you create with this software from any Internet connected computer anywhere in the world.

Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc. so you can go ahead and upload your existing files as well as create new ones from scratch. In addition, you can invite other people to view your documents or edit them.