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Saving on Home Office Software

I have occasional freelance projects that I do from my home computer. Word processing software is not necessary for me to do the work, but it does make it go a little smoother, so I bought the Microsoft Suite.

Knowing what I do now -- that versions of word processing software are available for free online -- I would've saved my money. I'm sure there are others out there, but the two that I've used are through Google Docs and MSN.

Neither program offers the full functionality of Word or other major word processing programs, but they do offer all I need -- and maybe even as much as most families would need for children in school and  home office tasks.

Google Docs features:
  • Word processing.
  • Spreadsheets.
  • Presentation software.
  • Form creation.
  • Drawing software.
  • Table creation.

MSN's software is a pared down version of its Office Suite:
  • Word.
  • Excel.
  • PowerPoint.
  • Notes.
As my Office software ages out of use, I plan to check these again to see how well they work. If they still offer all I need, rather than pay to replace or upgrade my current software, I'll just use these.

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