Free Software You Know You Shouldn’t Have To Pay For — Part 3a

Posted on September 7, 2007, 12:19 am, by Matt McGee, under Technology and Computers.

Ok, so here we are at the last post of our series on free software. We have covered antivirus, firewalls, spyware blockers, web browsers, e-mail client, and IM clients. So far, Windows users have been getting the most Free Software Love. That’s mainly because they need it the most.

So this last post is about productivity software. Here’s the rundown: We’re going to cover office programs first because you are more likely to need them. Then we will go into music players, cause everyone should listen to music while they are working…it just makes the time pass by quicker. Then we will get into media editing programs. I mean for editing pictures, music, and video. Then we will get to web design programs. Finally, we will discover some IDE programming environments.

So we are going from the programs that everyone knows about and uses regularly and we are going to advanced programs that hardcore geeks probably already know about.

And without further adieu -

Office Productivity Software:

Open Office – The Open Office Suite is a complete suite replacement of Microsoft Office. Open Office includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation designer, diagram developer, database editor, and mathematical calculation program. Open Office really was made to remove the need for Microsoft Office.

The whole suite works really well and has a good chance of making people want to switch. It may not have the beautiful interface that Office 2007 has, but it is free. Besides, it has the ability to access and produce a wider variety of formats.

The only gripe I have with Open Office would be their Impress program doesn’t have the features and graphics we have come to know and love in our presentations. Bland presentations don’t always go over very well.

They are currently working on developing an OS X native version. It looks like they are almost there. If you are a software developer and you are interested in helping out, please do. There is also a project called NeoOffice that is based on Open Office that is native to OS X. I am going to check it out and let you guys know about it in the comments.

OS Compatibility – Open Office is available for pretty much any operating system you can think of.

AbiWord – AbiWord is a word processor that is designed to replace Microsoft Word. You would have to find other programs to replace the rest of the Microsoft Office suite, but most people with a home computer really just need Microsoft Word.

If you like the feel of Office XP, you know the one from 7 years ago, then AbiWord is right up your alley. It has all the functionality you want without having to have a whole suite that you really don’t use.

OS Compatibility – AbiWord is available on all major operating systems.

KOffice – KOffice is an office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, flowcharting application, image manipulation program, business report generation tool, formula editor, graph and charting program) for the K Desktop Environment (KDE).

OS Compatibility – It runs on systems that are supported by KDE (like Linux).

Google Docs & Spreadsheets – Google bought Writely which was an online word processor and developed it further to be a great option for people who need the functionality of a word processor or spreadsheet without the need to download and install anything.

All it takes is an internet connection and a browser to get to the site and one of Google’s free accounts. Most of the functionality is there and you probably won’t need the stuff they left out. You save your work on Google’s server and you can access it at any computer using a browser.

OS Compatibility – Any operating system that you can access the internet on.

I am making a last minute decision. I am going to break this last post into three dedicated posts. So, this will be post 3a and 3b and 3c will follow in the next few days. I know how boring it can get to read a SUPER long post and I don’t want to put y’all through that.

You know what, that gives you a great chance to let me know about your favorite free office program. If I missed the newest thing in free office productivity, let me know in the comments.

And as always, if you like what you are reading…Check out our feed!! Don’t miss another post and have it delivered directly to you without all the advertisements!

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  • Dave, that is exactly my point. I could understand if they had one server you purchase for your house and have slim clients that access that central server. I don't think people would be willing to let Microsoft serve their own information to them. Especially with the development of higher capacity hard drives that are smaller.

    On top of that, processors are being worked on that ar faster than what we currently have and they consume less energy while producing less heat. We haven't reached the end of computer capabilities so why go to remote computing? I doubt I would ever go to that unless the central server for it is based in my home.
  • Dave J
    In the IBM world of two and a half decades ago, there was an acronym "DFT" standing for Distributed Function Terminal, and one "CUT" for Control Unit Terminal.

    DFTs became PCs and CUTs went away. The PCs cost less than the terminals (CUTs) that required a another box just to show characters on a green screen.

    Both types were used in a scheme where all storage was centralized, and no user really owned "their" data.

    That is the major difference between what Google proposes and a quarter century ago in "Big Business."

    Real user's may go for a bit of convenience, but we will never give up control of our data in any serious way. Some data is OK under someone else's control, like maybe pancake recipes and family pictures, but I will never leave the only copy of my writing to the whims of any corporate enterprise.

    Cheers
  • Matt - Distributive computing is what everyone is pushing for. Just look at things like google docs. It may not be an O/S, but it's not that far fetched either. I don't personally like the idea, but reality is things seem to be moving that direction.
  • By the way, I have redone my blog and I am having a designer working on the colors and the header, but it is almost ready. New purpose and new theme.
  • I have some software development experience so I guess I am looking at it from that vantage point. By the way, I see more and more people getting into it.

    I just don't see Microsoft making it much further. Their next idea for an operating system is to make each computer a client and have all of your data and processing happen on their servers. I don't see too many people choosing this.

    Now if they make it possible for the home user to buy one really good computer and have like 5 terminals that all work within their home, I can see that, but not with their servers being the main processing point.
  • Matt - The problem is that the community support of nearly all of these kind of things sucks unless you are somewhat technically inclined. Consider the 65 year old grandmother who wants nothing more than to write a letter to her grandchildren. Do you think she's going to want to spend hours looking through a community?

    How about Mr. Bigshot CEO? Think he's going to want to waste hours and hours of manpower while some poor fool asks questions and gets answered with "RTFM N00B!"?

    I'm a big supporter of open source and community driven, but they have a long, long, long way to go before they'll be viable on a larger scale.
  • David - for the most part, I agree with blogaboutnothing, but I have to disagree with the 5-10 years. I think in 2-3 years community driven projects like OpenOffice will overtake proprietary companies like Microsoft because the community will be so strong.

    Microsoft is relying so much on people being used to their product that it is bound to collapse in on itself. There are more complaints about Vista, Microsoft's newest operating system, that I don't see them as the primary operating system in the not-too-far-off future.

    I would say the same thing is going to happen to the RIAA and the MPAA. They are all forgetting that in the world we live in, the rule is go with the flow or get swept away. Sticking with the old marketing tools and standards is going to come back on them in a bad way.
  • David - Really no need to. Aside from Google none of those companies have the budget to even come close to competing with microsoft, and even Google would have a tough time of it because they are so far out of their element. In another 5 or 10 years who knows...
  • Those sounds like some great programs that can beat MS office or words. Will Microsoft takeover them to eliminate competition =).
  • Matt - Linux has become so simple compared to what it used to be I don't know that it's really any harder than windows. Just takes some effort in relearning a few things.

    Check your email regarding more posts.
  • blogaboutnothing - linux is great if you are setting it up for the person or if you have someone who can set it up for you. Otherwise, it is too much work for what to you want to do. It all depends on what you are comfortable doing.

    This is the third version of a reply I have written so far and the first two were more like posts. How about another guest post about the pros and cons of the available operating systems.

    Let me know.
  • Lova - Well update it and I could stop having to check and see if it's been updated!
  • Hey blogaboutnothing! Stop coming to my blog! :o)
  • Matt - Depending on what you use your computer for I always suggest Linux to people. I'm not a big fan of Macs because of their proprietary components. Hell, even the screws are proprietary. Which means that they can charge you 5 times the actual value.

    As far as windows goes I'm relatively pleased with Vista at this point and was very pleased with XP Pro (home not so much). Once I did some service tweaking and got things setup have never had any problems that I personally didn't cause.
  • This is another program I used mainly when I was stuck with windows. Now that I have switched to Mac, I have Mac Office (Microsoft). Believe it or not, Windows did a pretty good job of making a Mac program.

    The main reason for this is Open Office on the Mac requires the use of X11 Windowing software to be running and THEN Open Office will start and you can use it. The idea of two programs running so you can use one is a little ludicrous to me. However, I am buying a MacBook soon and I plan on getting rid of all Windoze influence. Right now I have an old G3 iBook that I bum around on.
  • I swear by open office and to a lesser extent Google docs. I'm more and more inclined not to like Google and I'm not certain I like having my stuff sitting around on their servers.
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