Open Source Software or Freewares

A few free things that can help your computer office software set up for free!! Both Jason and I are using the following, we give them the thumbs up.

OpenOffice.Org - free word and spreadsheet programs that are cross platform and operating system compatible.
For those of you who don't have MS Office, this is a great alternative, as you can save the files as .doc and .xls formats for MS Office users.

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Google Mail - alternative to Hotmail, yahoo, etc...
(available only by invite from existing member, so let me know if you would like to be a member of Gmail. Blogger is part of Google.)

Gmail is an experiment in a new kind of webmail, built on the idea that you should never have to delete mail and you should always be able to find the message you want.

• Search, don't sort. Use Google search to find the exact message you want, no matter when it was sent or received.
• Don't throw anything away. Over 2734.450282 megabytes (and counting) of free storage so you'll never need to delete another message.
• Keep it all in context.Each message is grouped with all its replies and displayed as a conversation.

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Google Calendar
(just need to register for a Google account, but does not give you google mail account.)

Wouldn't it be great to be able to keep track of all the events in your life, coordinate schedules with friends and family, and find new things to do -- all with one online calendar? We thought so, too. Learn More

• Seeing the big picture. With Google Calendar, you can see your friends' and family's schedules right next to your own; quickly add events mentioned in Gmail conversations or saved in other calendar applications; and add other interesting events that you find online.
• Sharing events and calendars. You decide who can see your calendar and which details they can view. Planning an event? You can create invitations, send reminders and keep track of RSVPs right inside Google Calendar. Organizations can promote events, too.
• Staying on scheduleYou can set up automatic event reminders, including SMS notifications, and instantly bring up anything on your calendar with the built-in search tool.

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Mozilla.org

Firefox - The award-winning Web browser just got better. It’s free, and easy to use. Join the millions of people worldwide enjoying a better Web experience.


Thunderbird - free mail application, better than outlook and mac Mail.
"Thunderbird delivers. Enjoy safe, fast, and easy email, with intelligent spam filters, quick message search, and customizable views. Brought to you by Mozilla, Thunderbird makes email better."


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Sketchup - by Google
we have yet to try this out, haven't had time, but it looks cool.

SketchUp is a simple but powerful tool for quickly and easily creating, viewing and modifying your 3D ideas.

• Click on a shape and push or pull it to create your desired 3D geometry.
• Experiment with color and texture directly on your model.
• Real-time shadow casting lets you see exactly where the sun falls as you model.
• Select from thousands of pre-drawn components to save time drawing.