Office Suite (sweet)

There are a few different free office suites. An office suite should contain a few things for most users. Most users typically will use a word processor, and a slide presentation software. Slightly less popular, but still in wide use is a spreadsheet software.

A la Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

There are two main branches to go with this: Internet and non-internet. AKA the cloud dilemma.

The Web 2.0 movement has suggested that every single piece of info be stored on servers out on the web, and when we want to look at it or edit it, we go out and get it from the web, and nothing is stored locally. Interestingly enough, Bill Gates predicted that by the late 90s, no one would have hard drives anymore, and that programs, data, media, etc would all be stored on the net, and we would merely have "dummy" terminals.

Missed the mark a little, Bill. But he'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Advantages of Cloud Computing:

• Your information is with you even if your computer isn't.
• If your local hardware kicks the bucket, your data is not lost
• It is much easier to collaborate with others on those files
• Less local hardware needed. Less harddrive space and processing power
• It makes you look all hip and trendy

Disadvantages of Cloud Computing:

• It is only as fast as the net connection you have.
• It is only as reliable as the net connection you have.
• If the host server hardware kicks the bucket, your data is lost.
• Dealing with large files can be timely as upload speeds are still slow.
• The interface may not be what you are used to

So enough. Users are going to have to choose one or the other (or not I guess. They could use both. There are no cloud computing police. Yet.). For offline office suites, you can't do much better than OpenOffice.Org. "HEY, YOU CAN'T FOOL ME, THERE'S ONE OF THEM DANG DOT ORGS IN THURR! THAT'S A WEBSITE!"

I'm not certain of the logic behind naming your piece of software after your website, but hey, I'm not making the software, so I don't get to criticize. So OpenOffice.org has all the trimmings of a major commercial product. Since vague ideas aren't copyrightable (thank goodness), when a neat feature is introduced into a commercial product, it is only a matter of time before the feature is tested and applied to the free, open-source software.

OpenOffice.org will be used for this test as the Offline word processor, spreadsheet, and slide presenter.

For the Cloud Computing varient, there are even more choices.

Google Docs has the google juggernaut behind them, and it is difficult to overestimate their reach. With integrated calendars, websites, email, and web applets, Google has made a really nice experience for many facets of the web, and they make a habit of giving most of it away for free.

Zoho is another great suite of applications. They have a LOT more going on at the moment from CRM solutions to online database managers. There is probably more here than you need, but that's not a bad thing.

So there is a solution for you here, and it may just be a matter of trying one out and seeing what pushes your buttons.