As the release date of Microsoft Office 2010 looms near I want to highlight alternative options for you to consider before purchasing this software.
I am firm believe in open source, free software… and if you haven’t tried Open Office, you might be pleasantly surprised with this free Microsoft Office imitation. As Microsoft Office continues to change the extensions on their file formats (with Office 2007 added an “x” on the extension so you can’t open it with older versions of office like 2003) to force you to buy their latest software. If you want to do a little research I would recommend Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/).
Open Office includes:
Writer (similar to Microsoft Word)
Calc (similar to Microsoft Excel)
Impress (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint)
Base (similar to Microsoft Access)
Draw (similar to Microsoft Visio)
You should also have a look at SSuite Office for a free office suite. They have a whole range of office suites that are free for download.
Their software also doesn’t need to run on Java or .NET, like MS Office and so many open source office suites, so it makes their software very small, efficient, and easy to use.
http://www.ssuitesoft.com/ssuiteexcalibur.htm
Thank you for the recommendation! I am always looking for open source projects that can accomplish what the Proprietary Office Suites do.
Thanks!