I found a brilliant set of programs to rival Microsoft Office Professional today and the package is FREEWARE!

Open Office is a suite of open source applications which you can use to open/edit your existing office documents as well as create new ones with all the ease and simplicity of the menus you may or may not already be familiar with from the MS packages. Open source means not only is it free but the code is available to everyone and you can contribute to how these apps are developed….(if you’re proper nerdy cool like that)

The package consists of:

Base (like Access) (Database creation and editing. Also perform queries and reports)
Calc (like Excel) (Perform calculation and manage spreadsheets)
Draw (cross between Power Point and Publisher) (Edit images, create flowcharts, plans and diagrams etc.)
Impress (like Power Point) (Create multimedia presentations)
Writer (like Word) (Create and edit documents, letters etc. supports table formatting and most media objects)

It’s available to both Mac OSX and PC.

I’m only a basic user of Word, Excel etc at home and use it for little more than the simple functions at work… in other words I’m no big Management Accountant churning out hardcore dull old intricate spreadsheets on a daily basis (like some of my friends do) so I couldn’t possibly comment on just how complex these apps will let you get. However, if you’re up for writing sweary letters to Asda because they stopped carrying your favourite non-meat chicken style pieces and would enjoy saving £100-£300 because you didn’t have to fork out to Bill Gates’ pocket, then what are you waiting for? CLICK THE LINK kids!