Question

Is there something similar to office for windows but free? I am student living on a budget, office is not an option at the moment. Thanks.

Answer 1

Try OpenOffice.org

Answer 2

There are a number of web-based Office services that are also free and offer some of the functionality of Microsoft Office, including:

Google Docs

Zoho Office

While these tend to lack the more advanced features of client-side Office suites, they do have excellent collaboration features.

Microsoft are also expected to release a web based version of Office later this year, that will have a free hosted edition.

Answer 3

Search for your school through the MSDN Academic Alliance. Even if it's not free, it will be significantly cheaper (to the tune of $30 or less).

Answer 4

You didn't specify if you need MS-Office interoperability.

AbiWord for word processing has some interoperability with MS-Word, and seems popular for people who find OpenOffice too cumbersome.

For spreadsheets, there's also Gnumeric although they seem to be a bit unsure as to the stability of the windows build.

I use OpenOffice personally, which does a pretty good job overall, including easy production of PDFs, and MS-Office interoperability as far as Word and Excel goes.

And of course, there's Google Docs that others have mentioned.

Answer 5

I know it's not free, but you can get Office 2007 Ultimate for $60 if you are a student. All you need is a .edu email address. Just go to www.ultimatesteal.com.

It looks like that program is just for the US, but they have similar programs in the UK and Canada.

Thanks to Gnoupi, here is the French version.

Answer 6

You might check out Lotus Symphony.

Answer 7

If your school does not offer a cheap education version of office, Microsoft does make a $70 home and student edition if you need maximum compatibility.

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Office-Home-Student-2007/dp/B000HCZ8EO

EDIT: Newegg mentions a 3 user licence. So maybe you can get 3 people to go in on one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116135

Answer 8

Students can buy Office Ultimate for $59 via Microsoft's Ultimate Steal program

Answer 9

You may also want to try the Google office products: Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets and Google Presentation. Over the last year they have added a lot of features, such that now they are pretty close to what you'd find in a offie suite, minus the fancy features you'd never use. They also export quite nicely to Microsoft Office and other formats when you need to and you don't have to worry about loosing your work when your computer crashes or the program/browser crashes (they save automatically, almost too automatic).

Another option/new commer is Office Live--Microsoft's answer to Google Docs, etc. It has some nice features that Google Docs doesn't have, but is also free...so you can use both :)

Here is a comparison between the 2: http://www.pcworld.com/article/168309/microsoft_office_vsgoogle_docs_a_web_apps_showdown.html There are ofcourse many other comparisons out there.

Edit Another possibility is OpenGoo. It's an open source solution that you can install on your own server and manage yourself.

Answer 10

I have been a faithful user of Openoffice.org for a couple of years now. I'm totally satisfied with the application(s).

Answer 11

I will second, third and fourth Google Docs. It is available on any platform with a modern browser. It imports and exports all major formats. It's free and is very much subject to the philosophy of "release early and update often".

Answer 12

OpenOffice is overrated! If you want something very very close to MSOffice 2003, then get Kingsoft Office 2007 Personal (Free)