Apache Open Office

Recently, I received a press release in my e-mail that it was imperative that I open.  Sadly, it was a Word document.  I don't have Word on my computer.  There's a great reason behind it.  I never use it.  Most of my word processing composition is done online.  This is the first time in years that I've found I had any need to open a Word document.  At that point, I realized, I'm not willing to spend upwards of a hundred dollars for a system that I need to use once, for about five minutes, and will probably not use again in the foreseeable future.

Am I cheap?  No.  I'm frugal.  Spending that much money for something I don't use on a regular basis just seems absolutely silly to me.  So, I contacted a few friends of mine for suggestions.  One of my friends, who  has impeccable judgment when it comes to these sorts of things, suggested I give Open Office a try.  She's a professional writer and it's what she uses. 

So, I did a quit internet search for a free download.  Easy enough.  I was quickly able to find a safe link to download Open Office.  It took only a few short moments to download and I was able to customize it however I wanted.  Once it had finished installing, I clicked the wonderful little icon on my desktop and gave it a whirl.

This has got to be the easiest system I've ever used!  Word is confusing compared to Open Office.  When you click your icon, a small box comes up that gives you the different options for what you can do.  It's not just for word processing and spread sheets!  You can enter formulas and databases as well.  As soon as you click what you want, it opens and you find yourself with a clean sheet of paper just begging for you to fill it.  The toolbar at the top contains several easily identifiable icons and over to the right is the same thing.  You can do pretty much anything here.  If you want basic, you can keep it basic, but if you want to go all fancy-schmancy, go for it!  For free!

If you've thought about getting a word processing program or spreadsheet program, I strongly suggest this one.  It passed through all of my internet safety checks without any issue and was a quick and easy download.  Using it is proving to be even easier than I thought.  It can't hurt to check it out, right?  Free!!!

Official Apache Open Office Website