Office software too expensive? Try this instead.

If you’ve recently purchased a computer, or if you find yourself trying to work from home or teach your child computer skills but the cost of business software is out of your family’s reach, you no longer have to worry. There’s a free, open source business software suite that won’t tempt you to copy someone else’s software, and it’s compatible with the software used by most businesses. It’s called OpenOffice.org, and it might be the answer you’re looking for.

OpenOffice.org is free and open source, and has been tested for the past 20 years. It is one complete package that includes the following:

• Writer is free word processing software
• Calc is free spreadsheet software
• Impress is free presentations software
• Drawis free graphics software
• Base is free database software

Granted, it’s clunkier to use than Microsoft Office or Apple iWork, and the graphics are a lot less polished, but the software can be saved in standard .doc, .xls, .ppt, etc. formats compatible with the software most businesses use. We haven’t tried it on a Netbook, but we have tested it on Windows XP and Apple OSX and found it to be stable and reliable. When I was teaching at a private school and was told “We don’t have the budget” for professional business software, even at a reduced educational rate, we started using OpenOffice.org and were satisified with the results.

Give it a try, and let us know what you think.