Open Source Options

Filed in archive home business software on March 3, 2010

© mtcarlson


There are a lot of unexpected expenses when you decide to work from home. You probably planned to get a nice computer that you can put all your business work on, but you might not have planned for the cost of the software. And software can become expensive quickly. So here are some open source options if you're not willing to lay down the cash for brand name programs.

Microsoft Office —> Open Office. Microsoft may be the industry standard for word processing, but an Office Suite isn't cheap. If you only use one or two Microsoft programs, Open Office can probably replace it. Word is replaced by Open Writer. Open Calc replaces Excel. And use Open Impress for Power Point.

Microsoft Outlook —> Thunderbird. Need a mail client but don't want to pay for Outlook? Try Thunderbird. It does everything Outlook does but with better security.

Photoshop —> If you just need to do some quick editing, try Picnik.com. It has fun and simple ways for you to edit images. If you need the full range of editing and creating abilities offered by Photoshop, you might want to look into GIMP (the GNU image manipulation program). GIMP will take up a lot of space on your hard drive, but it does EVERYTHING you can imagine.

My favorite thing about Open Source software is the ability to customize. Add plugins, create shortcuts, personalize these programs for your business.

What has been your experience with open source software?