When it comes to word processing most think Microsoft Word, but there are other alternatives out there. Once I got into high school I learned that I could not get away with just a pen and a piece of paper, I needed to type things up on the computer. I was introduced to Microsoft Office 2003, I was amazed at the power of the program, I went home and asked my dad about it, then I learned the price.
If you ever needed a word processor or any other office program and lacked the money to pay Microsoft, you know my problem. The only option I saw was to pirate a copy from Demonoid; I disliked the idea, but the price was too much. Then I found out that there were free alternatives. Well that is enough rambling. I found LibreOffice, an office program that had everything Microsoft had plus extendability.
LibreOffice has a word processor, slide show creator, and spreadsheet processing. It supports Microsoft’s formats along with XML and a set of it’s own. The word processing capabilities are enough for most home users. With an intuitive interface that is easy to navigate and modify; you could format a paper, write a book, export documents as PDF files, create tables and chats, and just about anything you could with Microsoft Word. All of this is free.
LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice.org and is open source. It works cross platform and can be modified from the source code, if you wish to change something you don’t like. One nice feature is the fact that it uses good old tool bars and drop down menus; in case you did not know, I hate Microsoft’s ribbon interface.
LibreOffice has it’s problems, but it has enough power for most users. Microsoft Office can handle larger documents better and has best compatibility with other Microsoft products, but if you are looking for something on a budget, LibreOffice has the tools you need.
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