Bored with Bill Gates' Office? Try this....

[GeneralElectric]

Hi folks.

I know that some of you are less than impressed with Bill's worldwide monopoly, so why not try this?

It's called OpenOffice 1.0 and is COMPLETELY FREE to download. It's a bit of a hefty file, so probably only good for you guys that have DSL or cable, but I think it's very impressive.

http://www.openoffice.org

It's available for Windows AND Linux and is a full featured suite of office programs.

It's compatible with virtually all current file formats (like .doc, .xls, .ppt) that you find in MS Office 2000 but you don't have to pay a penny.

Surely worth a try.....

[CrashDive]

Or how about the original product from Sun Microsystems: StarOffice (http://wwws.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/5.2/get/get.html) - also free !

It's pretty much platform independant, although Mac users might like a read of this: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac

I have actually used StarOffice and must say that I like it (actually, quite a lot !). Indeed if you order the CD (only a few quid) you can actually install the equivalent of MS-Exchange but for a fraction of the cost.

[BayAreaLondoner]

If you want StarOffice, get it now before the new version comes out. Sun will start charging for it (although it won't cost too much).
Of course, the current version may still be kept on the site for all I know.