Bob Mc
12-13-2007, 12:11 PM
Many of you may already be familiar with open source software. Its where a group of folks contribute their time and expertise to collectively generate some amazing full-featured software and its FREE.
The one I'm recommending specifically is called OpenOffice and it provides functionality similar to Microsoft's Office Suite packages.
It has a word processor (Writer)
a spreadsheet (Calc)
a database (Base)
a vector drawing program (Draw)
A presentation program (Impress)
It operates on a variety of operating systems including an Apple OS and others.
I've used Writer and Calc and they are quite full featured Writer can create a pdf output whereas MS Word can't. I've looked at Draw just in passing and since I haven't used that type of program in years, I can't comment on its relative functionality. Perhaps someone who is familiar with Illustrator can help with that.
go to
www.openoffice.org
for the download and info - remember its .org not com
Happy Holidays
Bob Mc
The one I'm recommending specifically is called OpenOffice and it provides functionality similar to Microsoft's Office Suite packages.
It has a word processor (Writer)
a spreadsheet (Calc)
a database (Base)
a vector drawing program (Draw)
A presentation program (Impress)
It operates on a variety of operating systems including an Apple OS and others.
I've used Writer and Calc and they are quite full featured Writer can create a pdf output whereas MS Word can't. I've looked at Draw just in passing and since I haven't used that type of program in years, I can't comment on its relative functionality. Perhaps someone who is familiar with Illustrator can help with that.
go to
www.openoffice.org
for the download and info - remember its .org not com
Happy Holidays
Bob Mc