A majority of people when they purchase a new Windows computer end up getting Vista on their machine. Along with this operating system they get a thirty to sixty day trial of Microsoft Word. They see all of the cool features that they “think” they wouldn’t get anywhere else. Well they’re incorrect. Microsoft Word costs hundreds of dollars while you can get cheaper word processors out there like open office or even Google Docs. Both of which provide a fine replacement for Word. Today I’m going to write a detailed review on a few Word Processors that are 100% free with no virus’s attached.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a web based platform that allows you to do virtually all things that you would be capable of completing with Microsoft Word and in some cases a great deal more. Google docs provides a simple quick solution to writing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and much more. One of the great things with Google Docs is that you don’t need to worry about compatibility issues with Microsoft word. With their upload tool you have the ability to upload documents in almost all Microsoft Word Files like .doc, .ppt, and .xls. This makes it so much easier if your moving from Microsoft Word. They do have a total megabyte limitation tied into Google Docs with a whopping 10 megabytes which in some cases vary. Also tied into Google Docs is the ability to upload PDF’s which is very useful if your trying to read documents on websites.

Another admirable thing about Google Docs is that they allow you to save all your work online using their servers. This is also great in away that it saves you from filling up your hard drive with documents galore. Attached to all of this is that you can create move and delete files as you wish without many limitations except for the file uploading limit. You virtually have unlimited space to save files with Google Docs.

One of the great things that Google Docs come with is the simple way of sharing your Google Files and Folders with friends, other Google users, and much more. This takes away all of the stress of saving it to a flash drive and bringing it over to someones house.  Also included with the share feature is the ability to upload it as a website, or email it as an attachment. Again this brings back the reality of not ever needing discs or flash drives again.

The actual usage of Google Docs is very straight forward. They like any other word processor allow you to do the simple actions such as adding clip art, formatting the document, copy and paste, inserting tables, spell check, and the basic editing applications. All of which makes a very familiar all around experience for you the user, and the people you are working with. They also have some added features to the word processor including the ability to edit css, or html. This is extremely useful if your looking for an easy way to create a website or other internet based products.

In all Google Docs is a great alternative to Microsoft, and simply gets the job done. For any person that either has a small hard drive or either doesn’t want to go through the hassle of installing yet another application, Google Docs is in my opinion the right way to go.

Open Office

Open Office has actually been around for quite some time, and has really made quite the impression on the Word Processing World. It is very similar to Microsoft Word, and yet it’s Free. With over 20 years of programming and sweat it has finally becoming one of the most consistent products available on the market today. Open Office is available in tons of languages which means almost anyone in the world is able to use it. If your in need of a new Word Processor, spreadsheet, writer, and more turn to Open Office.

Open Office is a Open Source project which first began October 13, 2000. Since it’s release it has astounded the technology community with new applications, and ideas. One of the great things about Open Office is that it’s always under development with new features being added along with extensions constantly.

Now from my experience, Open Office is very clean and straight forward. When not in use it’s always quickly available by accessing your system tray to the left of your clock on the windows machine. All applications in the Open Office bundle start up smoothly and quickly. For you previous Word users, you will hardly notice the difference when switching to Open Office for the first time. It runs like any other application on Windows, and allows you to save your documents seamlessly with your operating system.

Open Office also empowers you to edit documents previously in the Word platform and edit them on the Open Office platform. What Open Office does is read the documents with great accuracy and opens them on their platform. There is virtually no work in switching to Open Office.

So again if your looking for a simple switch from paying tons of money, to an absolutely free product, Open Office is definitely the way to go. The switch is so easy, available, and public. If you find a bug within Open Office, they make it a simple task to report bugs and get it fixed. If I were to rate open Office i would probably give it nine stars out of ten.

AbiWord

Abi Word takes you through a Windows 98 environment when word processing. Again it’s free, but in my opinion it’s old school. With Abi Word you are able to use it on Windows, and Linux but not a Mac. Which is very unfortunate due to the use of Word on a Mac.

Abi Word is similar in price compared to Open Office. It’s free and available for download. In my opinion the user interface isn’t at the standard Open Office has made their product. In any case, Abi Word is great for people that are still stuck on the Windows 98 platform, and are wishing for a simple change from those aged Microsoft Word Products. If i were to rate Abi Word i would give it four stars out of ten.

Conclusion

There are many more Word Processing products that are attainable to the public but i find these three to be the most paramount. There really is no reason for Microsoft Word to be around anymore, as you can get all of it’s features and more within these three free products. I’ve also heard people saying that diverting to free products is easier than switching to the New Microsoft Word 2007.

If you are interested in any of the products that i have went over today, you can take a look at them by visiting their websites by clicking the links below.

Google Docs

Open Office

Abi Word

If you know of any new products availible to the consumer that is either open source, or free, please feel free to send me a shout. You can email me by clicking here, or comment below. I love hearing about the latest and greatest in new technologies. I also enjoy hearing your opinion on the many products available to the consumer today. Don’t forget you can also follow me on many microblogging sites like Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, and Plurk by using the username bradwell.