I don't know if this has been posted here before, but I just found an AMAZING software package - that is absolutely FREE! It's http://why.openoffice.org/ and is similar to what Microsoft Office offers. It is an open source office software suite and includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. Did I mention it was FREE? It's free to use for anything, business, personal, education, etc, and you can load it on as many machines as you'd like. YAY FREE!

This would be the perfect solution for VA's just starting out who can't afford to buy Microsoft Office Suite. I haven't tried any of it yet, but I'm downloading it now to take a look. If anyone is using it, please let me know what you think.

Yvone

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Yvone M. Kon
M.Y. Marketing & Design
Your Virtual Marketing Assistant - At Your Service!
www.mymarketingdesign.com

Yes, Open Office is a truly fabulous free invention!
It gets mentioned again every couple of months - which is how it should be...the 'good stuff' drifts back to the top

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I tried it. I couldn't deal with it. Particularly with their version of excel. It took me ages to figure some stuff out that should have been easy and there was some significant missing functionality (can't remember what but it was something I used a lot).

Call me set in my ways, but I'll stick to the real deal. I'm working on a Mac right now with their version of Word and Excel and I'm about to pull my hair out!

But, for those who can't afford MS Suite, it's a great idea!

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Amanda Moore
Virtual Assistant
VagabondetteVA Blog

I've been using OpenOffice for about a year now, and I say they serve me just as well (I don't even miss MS). The only major difference for me is I always have to remember to change the extension name of the file, so it can be opened and read by the people I send them to (who has no Open Office).

If youre really into OpenOffice and knows of a feature that definitely should be in it, we can always suggest it to the makers and then they can make an upgrade. Dedicated bunch, they are.

I love OpenOffice. I've been using it for many years (since version 1.0) and it's installed on my second computer which doesn't have MS Office.

I also have it installed on my main computer and I use it to convert files to PDF.

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Shari Sultana
Online Business Manager (marketing for retail ecommerce)

If you love Open Office you may want to try out their portable version for a flash drive. You can load it on a flash drive and work on any computer. My only drawback with Open Office is they don't have a desktop publishing program which I use extensively.

Good information since I am trying to figure out what program I want to use. Thanks all.
Pattyben

I've used it many times and it's a fabulous program! I agree it's a great resource for those who can't afford Microsoft Office Suite. In fact, I've heard a few that likes OpenOffice even better than MS Office.

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Brenda A. Jones
www.brevos.com

Thanks for this. I'll have to check it out since MS Office is one suite that I really wanted to have before I go live. Maybe I can use this until I get the $$$ for it. For those that have used it, is it better than the MS Works that comes on your computer?

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

Originally Posted by StephanieP

Thanks for this. I'll have to check it out since MS Office is one suite that I really wanted to have before I go live. Maybe I can use this until I get the $$$ for it. For those that have used it, is it better than the MS Works that comes on your computer?

Definitely better! If you need a application for photo editing you might want to try GIMP which is also free.