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Our Software forum recently had a poll to ask about the Office program or Suite BBR members use. Surprisingly, it was a Microsoft product that won, Office 2003. It beat out Office XP by a 2 to 1 margin.

Office 2003 is tied to the Windows operating system and unless you have Virtual PC installed, you won't be able to use it in Linux, Mac or any other Operating system environment.

Office 2003 has several key features, Word, Excel, Power Point, and Outlook. It is a powerful product for those that need all features offered. And it comes at a hefty price as well. The full version of Office 2003 is $399.00.

However, there is a freeware solution that is comparable with the offerings in Office 2003. I'm speaking of the third place vote getter, Open Office. This product is a multi-operating system product, and can be used with Microsoft Windows, Solaris, and GNU/Linux. This product can read most if not all Microsoft office files. Open Office has its' own suite of products, from Writer to Calc, Impress, Draw, Base, and Math. This open source product is a direct cousin to Star Office, the offering from Sun. While not free, it weighs in at $79.95 and up.

As you can see from the poll, there were lots of products out there, some better than others. The real question is, which one is right for you?

Explore each product offered, see if meets your system requirements, and then see for yourself if it meets your expectations. There is a lot to choose from.

And remember, if you have a question about a product listed in the poll or just the top vote getters above, you can always ask in our Software Forum where some of esteemed members can help guide you with your choice.

And you can always click on the product listed in the poll, which will take you to that products home page where you can get the answers you need to make your decision.

*Note: Links verified as of 08-19-05


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by TransitMan See Profile edited by lilhurricane See Profile
last modified: 2007-09-29 10:43:13