Most writers use the all powerful Microsoft Word word processing program. Even non-writers use it for everything from school work to manifestos. When my computer crashed and I lost the use of Word on my computer, I felt completely lost. I tried Word's ugly cousin Wordpad and that just didn't cut it. There is so much that Wordpad cannot do. It almost felt like I had went back a couple of decades.

Needless to say I needed another option. Buying another copy of Word was out of the question. I already had a copy that was in route to me. I had recently moved and everything was packed up. It's very easy to see why Bill Gates is one of the, if not the richest man in the world. Microsoft software is far from cheap. There had to be another way and I was determined to find it.

After some research I came up with my word processing savior and solution. There is an alternative to Microsoft Word. And get this; It's FREE! Yeah, you read right. It is completely and totally free to obtain and use. The program is called OpenOffice.org. OpenOffice.org was designed as a Microsoft Office clone in order to make the migration process easy for people who want to go "free." It includes: a word processor, presentation program, drawing program, HTML editor, and spreadsheet program. All of the programs mirror your familiar Microsoft programs like Powerpoint, Paint, Frontpage and Excel, so it is easy to use from the get go.

OpenOffice.org Writer is a powerful word processor that can handle all types of large documents and lots of different formats, including Microsoft Word. You can add graphics, generate indexes, tables of content, headers and footers, and much more. OpenOffice.org Writer is more than enough for all your word-processing needs. OpenOffice.org is available for Windows and GNU/Linux, but the newer version is not available for Mac users. Check out www.openoffice.org for more information.

Downloading and Installing OpenOffice.org

1.)Go to www.openoffice.org and click on the Download tab

2.)Click on the OpenOffice.org 2.0 Link.

3.)Select the language, operating system, and download site you want to use.

4.)Click Continue to Download

5.)A window should appear asking if you want to save the program to disk or open it.

6.)Choose Save to Disk.

Once you've done this you're ready to write. One of the best things about free software is that it is free! You can't beat that with a stick. To find out more about free software, check out Free Software for Dummies by Mary Leete. Think of all the money you save by using free software rather than its expensive counterpart. I've done the research and now you reap the benefits. Who loves you baby?

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