word processor

Washington (dpa) -- Want a PC full of free software? To get it, you don't need to adopt Ubuntu or any of the other Unix-based operating systems. Nor do you have to rely on the sometimes risky freeware you find scattered around the Internet. Instead, you can look to the open source movement, where free software is not synonymous with underpowered and unsupported. In fact, many of the best open source applications are not only updated as often as commercial packages. In some cases, they're simply superior. Here's a rundown of open source applications that are widely considered best-of-breed.

In these tough times we all need as many tips as we can get to save a few dollars.

The cost of buying a new desktop or laptop box is just the start. The price can double when you have to add in the software costs of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint), antivirus, and image editing software such as Adobe Acrobat.

Below are only a few free software options that are available to be downloaded from the Internet.

Office Applications

The OpenOffice business productivity suite is now available as a native Mac application for the first time.

Version 3.0 of the free open-source software -- which integrates word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, formula and database capabilities -- is now available for download for Windows, Mac and Linux computers.

"With 3.0, the application is more interoperable with MS Office, more capable, more extensible," said Louis Suárez-Potts, community manager of OpenOffice.org. "It frees the desktop from vendor lock-in."

Reducing Feature Bloat

A master carpenter would neither drive a finishing nail with a sledgehammer nor trim a tabletop with a chain saw.

Such a craftsperson needs tools that are small, versatile and cheap.

One such tool -- for writers and anybody who needs to kick out anything from a short memo or letter to a full-length report -- is AbiWord.

This free, open-source word processor is available for Windows, Macintosh and Unix computers of just about every variety.

AbiWord loads quickly on my 9-year-old, 233-megahertz Pentium II laptop and even quicker on a more recent 3-gigahertz Pentium 4 desktop.

Microsoft's relationship with Apple never has been cozy, but the release of Office 2008 seems to have solidified the two -- and their working relationship -- for the foreseeable future.