Free word processor, database and spreadsheet

Middy

I cannot find the article about these on this website - I remember seeing it before.

I have a new laptop and my old PC, I was using MS Office 2005!

Can anyone recommend any good free programs that has a word processor, database and spreadsheet?

Also are they MS Office compatible? I have a few files that I constantly update all the time.

I need something basic to write the odd letter, my finances and databases for my hobbies.

S0litaire

Try this :

http://www.libreoffice.org/

It's MS compatible and (i think) a lot better than MS Office ^_^

ChristineL

I'll make a couple of additional suggestions:

- OpenOffice is free and it's petty good and is Microsoft Office compatible. http://www.openoffice.org/

- You can use Google docs on the web. You can get at that from the Google home page

Winjackie

I was just going to put a post on about this. We have just bought DD a new laptop and she needs software to do coursework/homework on. MS Office is between £70-£85 to purchase (I know I should have purchased it when I got the laptop!).

Can anyone recommend anything cheaper (or free would be great!). I will admit to being one of those people who are always frightened to download freebies/trials in case I enter into an agreement I'm not aware of/download a virus etc.

TIA

Richard_T_

open office will do the trick, theres also libre office as well, linked to above.
both free no strings attached.

As for which one is better, im not sure, as ive been using open office for years.

alanrowell

When my GF upgraded a few years ago she was able to install Microsoft Office from the old computer on the new computer.

Worth a try if you have the disks as the worst that can happen is that you have to uninstall it.

bod1467

LibreOffice is effectively OpenOffice with ongoing support. (They both come from the same baseline. OpenOffice - as far as I know - is not being actively maintained).

Big_Stan

If you have a Google account the Google apps are fantastic. You can also download them as an app in Chrome so you can use them offline as well
Just type in Google drive or google docs into google to see more about it

mrs_T

Do I remember that full ms office was available cheap for students? I've bought three netbooks for offspring for xmas and this would be very useful.

WhiteChristmas

Cut-down (but still perfectly capable for most "normal" users) versions of the current MS Office programs can be used online free at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps/

But, if you're used to the old fashioned pre-2007 version, then Libre Office will suit you better.

SnowTiger

Ashampoo Office 2010, which is a rebranded version of Softmaker Office 2010, appears to still be free.

You can grab a serial code here: http://www.softmaker.de/reg/ash10_en.htm.

Perhaps the best thing about this package is that it runs from a USB stick and loads extremely quickly.

Ashampoo and Softmaker send out quite a lot of email offers, so punters might want to use a throw-away email address when registering. Although I find the offers quite useful and both companies probably process removal requests without hassle. If you're willing to wait long enough most of the software Ashampoo offers turns up for less than a tenner eventually.

Another of their offerings I like is Snap, which takes screen-grabs. It's useful for collecting evidence of those too-good-to-be-true offers some companies like to renegue on. :rotfl: