No doubt, Microsoft remains dominant when it comes to office productivity suites.However, with a $500 + price tag for the professional version of Microsoft Office, many of us are starting to look at alternatives.
Earlier, I mentioned that I opted for one of the less expensive Office packages (Home and Student version) because I didn’t really need Access and wasn’t willing to pay in excess of $500 just to get it.
What I didn’t mention was that I’ve been eyeing OpenOffice.org. Should I need to create a database, rather than forking over the big bucks for Access, I plan on downloading the free www.OpenOffice.org Base application.OpenOffice.org offers a free open-source office suite with programs that are compatible with the Microsoft Office applications.
The five applications (Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, and Base) cover all of the major functions you expect from an office suite. For example, Writer is the OpenOffice word processor, while Calc is the spreadsheet; Impress is the presentation application; Draw is the graphics and diagramming application; and Base is the database program.
Another free alternative to Microsoft Office is also found online. Head on over to Google and search for Google Docs and Spreadsheets. This free mini-suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet program, and presentation program. It’s particularly handy for collaborating with others and sharing documents over the Internet. Plus, your documents are stored online where you can retrieve them from any computer.
Thinkfree Boundless is another suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office. This suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation application as well as provides a full gigabyte of online document storage space. You can work with your documents offline and they will be synced automatically with the online version. In addition, if your mobile device is compatible, you can access your documents through your mobile device!
While I’m a longtime Microsoft Office user, I’m excited about the latest alternatives available, particularly the ones that make collaboration and file sharing simple. I’m not sure that I’ll be first in line the next time Microsoft rolls out a new Office version. Why pay hundreds of dollars when viable free alternatives exist?
Celeste Stewart | June 1st, 2008
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