Open Source Software

With a little bit of research I found OpenOffice.org 3, which is now the "leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more." Open Office 3 is available is many different languages and works on all common computers. It can store all your information for you and also read and write files from other software. Open Office can be downloaded and used for no cost what so ever.
The OpenOffice 3 software has been in the works for over 20 years. It was designed from the start as a single piece of software. A completely open development process means that any of the users can request new features, report bugs or complications with the software, and even enhance the software. Open Office 3 can do everything you need and want your office software to do, just without having to pay for it. The software itself is extremely simple and easy to use. If you are familiar with a word processor at all you can easily become situated with this software.
This software is great to use in any profession. Although I most likely wouldn't use it in my profession, I believe that having this program handy in the school system could be beneficial. If the students in the school systems were aware that they had access to free open source software then they would be more apt to do assignments that integrate using a word processor or powerpoint. This enables students who do not have the appropriate resources to have access to those resources for free.

There are many great aspects of openoffice3 however the most important thing is that it is free. It can be downloaded and used entirely free of any license fees. Openoffice.org 3 is released under a LGPL license.  This license means you can access and use the software for any purpose necessary including domestic,commercial,educational and public administration.

OpenOffice.org 3 has FIVE different features to its software. Similar to Microsoft word, openoffice has:

Writer: fully equipped word processor or desktop publisher. Features include autocorrect, autocomplete, autoformat,Styles and Formatting, Text Frames and Linking, Tables of Contents, Indexing, Bibliographical References, Illustrations, Tables and other objects.
    "Writer is simple enough for a quick memo, powerful and stable enough to create complete books with lots of graphics, headings etc." (OpenOffice.org)



Calc: Similar to Microsoft Excel  is " the spreadsheet you have always wanted"

Impress: Which compares to Microsoft Powerpoint. It is a tool for creating multimedia presentations. It includes 2D and 3D clip art, frontworks, special effects, animation, and high-impact drawing tools.

Draw: Gives the user the tools to create and share with graphics and diagrams. It allows you to change and manipulate objects to create what you want. It also allows you to create flowcharts, diagrams and organization charts.

Base:  Allows you to change and interpret database data easily within the software. You can create and modify tables,forms,queries, and reports using your own database.