Did you know there is a free alternative to Microsoft Office? If you only need to use an office suite for writing basic documents, spreadsheets and the occasional powerpoint, you don’t need to pay hundreds for Microsoft Office. Here’s a quick look at OpenOffice.

OpenOffice is a multiplatform, multilingual open source office suite. OpenOffice is compatible with many other office suites, including Microsoft Office. This means that you can open Microsoft Office files as well as save Microsoft Office files. If you have a .doc Microsoft file that you need to open at home, you don’t have to worry about compatablity issues because OpenOffice will read and write to that format.

One of my favorite functions of OpenOffice is that it allows you to save files directly to PDF. So if you are writing a document, spreadsheet, or any other office file you have the option to save it as a PDF. As a college student this is great since most professors prefer to have electronic copies in PDF format.

If you dual boot Windows and Linux this program is a must have. I have it installed on both my Windows and Linux partitions so that I can access my files whether I am in Windows or Linux.

To download OpenOffice visit the download page. OpenOffice is available to Windows, Linux and Mac users.

If you need a lightweight document writer, take a look at Abiword which is open source and available for Windows, Linux, and Mac.

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