Free Office Software Suggestions...

Open Office apps work great on both PC's and on Mac computers. In fact Open Office works better on the Mac's than Microsoft Office for the Mac and there is much better file compatibility for sharing documents between Mac and PC computers.

Yup, that's the one! It's worked very smoothly for me so far, though I did have one strange display problem when trying to view Chrome downloads.

BillyW wrote:
The OpenOffice sidebar is indeed easy to access. Cool! According to my install of Windows 8.1, metro apps require at least 1024x768 to run, which renders things like Windows Update unusable. Hence the reason to find a hack to get past that shortcoming. ...

This is what I did to my netbook so that I could run Metro apps on it: Change Your Netbook's Resolution

The developers of LibreOffice are the original developers of OpenOffice. They broke away when the OpenOffice project was going in a direction they were not satisfied with and saw more potential for developments. They are basically the same suite with similar looks - different customizations perhaps - and equal features. LibreOffice - per the developers has more potential for improvements and future development.

To the poster who asked if they are alternatives to MS Office the answer is yes. Each component mirrors MS Office and file formats are compatible. What you write on one you can read and edit on the other.

Why yes they are!

Are these that are discussed rivals,alternatives to MS Office?

The OpenOffice sidebar is indeed easy to access. Cool! According to my install of Windows 8.1, metro apps require at least 1024x768 to run, which renders things like Windows Update unusable. Hence the reason to find a hack to get past that shortcoming. The previous install of Windows 7 worked and looked fine, but had built in networking restrictions that were really cramping my style. The Win8 "hack" was a simple registry setting, just in case someone else finds themselves in a similar situation. Even though I do IT for a living, I can't bring myself to rely on (or trust) the "cloud".

Google Docs is free and, being part of Google's cloud, backup is automatic. Of course it depends on an Internet connection, but docs can be flagged to keep a copy on the device so they can be used offline.

I've moved all my doc/spreadsheet stuff to Google and I wouldn't go back to a PC-based app. I also have a netbook among other devices. It works fine on the small screen.

The beauty of cloud-based apps is that you can get to the app and documents from any device, smart phone to tablet to computer. Again, assuming you have online access. Wi-Fi is widely available now and my cell phone has a wi-fi hotspot so I am seldom disconnected.

Just another alternative. :)

If your disk space is limited, you might try going to portableapps.com . You can install programs on a thumb drive and run them and not need to take up your disk space. They have versions of Open Office and Libre that will run from the thumb drive. One nice feature is that you can take your thumb drive to any machine, run your programs and not leave junk on the machine.

I've used Open Office for 10 years. I just prefer it. Went from a desktop with a large monitor to a Win 8.1 Notebook PC. I can see no difference. But then I can't see as well as I used to! :D I probably wouldn't be able to see a thing on a tiny netbook screen.