Looking for an Office?

So, you're using your new MESH Computer, and you need to find a free alternative to Microsoft Office. Well, we'd be happy to help you. Rather than stick with the norm, there are many alternative packages available which will help you steer away from the regular suite of applications from Microsoft.

Microsoft Office has been the market leader for productivity software for the last decade and a half, and up until now has gone relatively unchallenged. There is a reason for this: it is quite simply the best package that money can buy.

However, if you are on a budget all is not lost. One of the most under-rated gems on the internet has to be OpenOffice, the open-source free office suite available for a simple click of the mouse. This has to be the most complete cross platform office alternative available, matching most if not all of the features offered by MS Office.

Sure, the interface isn't as jazzy, not featuring the latest "ribbon" style menus now features in Office 2007. However if you have used Office 2003 and below, you will find yourself at home with this free alternative. Its fully compatible with MS Office too, with the ability to open and save in the Office format.

If you are feeling really adventurous, you can try web based software that you don't even need to install. One of these is google's office platform, Google Docs, This intelligent web based program is almost entirely written in javascript, and let you create compatible word, excel and powerpoint documents using only a compatible web browser such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla. You can even save your documents online.

So if you're feeling frisky or looking for an alternative, go ahead, give them a try - let us know what you think.