Google Docs is an easy to use office suite that you use online.

The documents you create are stored on Google’s servers but can be downloaded and saved too. As the access to your documents is tied to your Google email ID it means that those documents are available anywhere you can get internet access; libraries, cafes, someone else’s home etc. All you do is sign in to your Google account and you can see all you have stored.

Docs includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing capability, and form design. The tools are fairly basic but very functional and robust. The main benefit to all of them is that they can be worked on collaboratively. You can invite other to work on the documents and update them – more than one person can edit the documents at one time too.

Coupled with Google Mail and Calendar, Google Docs makes a great addition for small business, clubs, community groups and others. Take a look and see at Google Docs Tour.

Don’t you think it might be worth a try and may save a bit of money in the long run?

Office Suites

OpenOffice – is a terrific replacement for Office. It uses a simpler, plainer interface and doesn’t have an annoying pop-up character asking “It looks like you are getting frustrated. Can I help to make life more difficult for you?”. Comes with a word processor, spreadsheet, drawing application and presentation builder to replace PowerPoint. The most recent versions now also have a simple database application which is much simpler to get going with than Access.
Can load and save Microsoft Office file format documents including newer ones such as .docx Works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Bean is a Mac only, small, easy-to-use word processor (or more precisely, a rich text editor), designed to make writing convenient, efficient and comfortable. MS Word, OpenOffice, etc. try to be all things to all people. But sometimes you just want the right tool for the job. That is Bean’s niche.

AbiWord – A simple and efficient word processor. Leaner and quicker than OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format. Windows and Linux

Internet Utilities

Mozilla Firefox – The premier free, open-source browser. Tabs, pop-up blocking, themes, and extensions. Considered by many to be the world’s best browser. Works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Mozilla Thunderbird - Powerful spam filtering, solid interface, and all the features you need. Works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

FileZilla -  First class File Transfer Protocol application. I have used this on every computer I have had for more than five years. Superb, quick and easy. Windows, Linux and Mac.

Desktop Publishing

Scribus -  Alternative to QuarkXpress, Adobe InDesign, PageMaker or MS Publisher. Works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Video Player, Sound, Podcasts

Miro – Beautiful interface. Plays any video type (much more than quicktime). Subscribe to video RSS, download, and watch all in one. Torrent support. Search and download from YouTube and others. Works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Photos and Pictures

Gimp – A good one in the photo editor department. Works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Inkscape – a vector image designer and editor. A down to earth alternative to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw or Xara. Windows, Linux and Mac.

PDF Readers and Creators

PDFCreator – create PDF’s the easy way. Just as if you are printing. Windows only.

Foxit Reader – alternative to Adobe Acrobat reader. Granted, Acrobat Reader is free, but have you seen how much space it hogs on your computer? I’ve used Foxit for about 2 years now. Love it. Fast, quick and easy. I also don’t run into too much trouble opening PDF’s unlike Adobe where it sometimes can’t even open its own files. Windows only.

ZIP Utility

7-Zip – open source alternative to WinZip. Uses, and opens many different compression formats. Windows only.

Sound Editing, MP3 conversion etc.

Leaving the best to last! Audacity is a truly masterful application. Simple, easy to learn interface. Use it to record sound from any source on your PC, edit and convert to a number of formats. Excellent!