Free software for work

By Patrick Norton, CNET Contributor

Level: Intermediate

9 out of 10 users found this tip helpful

You don't need to drop a bundle on good work and communication software. You can find free and sometimes better alternatives.

OpenOffice.org does a ridiculously good job imitating the world's most popular set of office tools. Not every feature works exactly the same, but I've yet to receive any complaints from Microsoft Excel or Word users about documents I've sent.
Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 costs about $150 for the same programs as the regular edition. No students or teachers in the house? Consider a "gray market" OEM version of office. It's supposed to be sold with a new PC, but beyond that, it's legal if it has all the spiffy Microsoft holograms.

The GIMP (a.k.a. GNU Image Manipulation Program) is your very own free and legal Photoshop substitute. You'll need to download the GTK+ Runtime Environment for the GIMP to work, but complete instructions are here.
Mozilla Firefox is a fast and secure browser with cool perks such as live bookmarks and my personal favorite, tabbed browsing.
Thunderbird is Firefox's companion e-mail tool.
Sunbird is a beta calendaring system for Firefox. Beta, by the way, means not finished, so don't blame me if it crashes.
Gaim is a free instant messenger compatible with AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, and Zephyr networks.