Free Computing!
Have you thought about using a 'free' office suite as opposed to splashing out loads of money on a package such as Microsoft Office? Then try Open Office!
Open Source? What's that?
Open source is a type of software that is basically free to obtain. Although there may be enhanced versions that require payment, the basic programs can be obtained free in most cases.
So instead of paying out for software that may need updating and hence more spending in the future, alternatives are available that can do the job for free.
Are they any good?
Short answer is yes. So why aren't we all using them? Possibly you already have an office suite bundled with your pc such as Microsoft Works which satisfies your needs for word processing and spreadsheets. Or you have begged, stole or borrowed software from a friend. But careful - this could be illegal!
But sooner or later you may come unstuck and in need of a software package but you don't want to spend that hard earned cash, this is where Open Source can come to the rescue.
These pages are being written to share my own experiences with some open source software. These packages are ones I have used in the past or intend to try out in the near future.
Currently I am editing this in Komposer. OK it doesn't look like
Dreamweaver but can it 'do the job'? So far so good. I have not yet
come across any serious problem for this type of work - and Dreamweaver
is a lot of money for an amateur.
Of course if you know your coding you could get by without a WYSISYG tool completely and just use notepad, or Notepad++ an open source text editor with features for coders such as line numbers, tabbing and colour coding. I have used notepad++ for lots of open university coursework programming and can highly recommend!