Helper Software - FREE Office Suite

There is no need to spend a lot of $$ on an office suite of word processing programs, spreadsheets and presentation software.

Go to http://openoffice.org and download their open source suite for free. It is a big download, but installing is nice and easy. If you have a nice fast Internet connection, you owe it to yourself to give this a go.

I have been using and recommending it for years, and can honestly say if you are a casual office program user, this will more than meet your needs. It is always updated and will open any of the latest files Microsoft can offer. You won't have to worry about someone sending you a Word file and they have a newer version so your Word software won't open that particular format.

If you create a document with the Writer program, you can easily export it as a pdf file... uh... did I mention it is also FREE??

• I want to learn more
  about OpenOffice.org

  What is OpenOffice.org? And why should
  I use it?

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• I want to download
  OpenOffice.org

  Download OpenOffice.org for free, or
  find out about other ways of getting it.

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• I need help with my
  OpenOffice.org

  Help is at hand whenever you need it.

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• I want to do more with
  my OpenOffice.org

  Extend OpenOffice.org with additional
  functionality, templates and clipart.

Try it... You'll LOVE it! If it serves all your word processing needs, you will be happy too. You can thank me with a nice review of my book.

Kindle Skills - From the Desk of Mrs. Wizard - If you have a Kindle you will love this book! Get a sample and see.

Ask Mrs. Wizard: Please send me a personal email (mrswizard@mrswizard.com) if you have any questions. I answer all my emails and am more than happy to help any time I can. Your questions mean a lot to me, and may even inspire an article that will help others and make this a more valuable resource to anyone who reads it. 

If you are reading this on your computer and would like to have this blog delivered to your Kindle wirelessly every day, click the link below. New subscribers will get the first two weeks free! If you know of a fellow Kindle owner, please share a good word and let them know about From the Desk of Mrs. Wizard - A Kindle Blog

Kindle Skills

Originally posted May 17, 2010 by Cindy O'Neal

OpenOffice.org for PCs and Macs
What does this have to do with Kindle? A lot, if you like saving money and having a nice office suite of programs that includes a word processor that will export files to a PDF file. A pdf file, I might add, that can be used on your Kindle.

Most everyone has received a pdf file for one reason or another. Most computers are even shipping with the latest version of the free Acrobat Reader software already installed and ready to use. A pdf file is a great way to share a file created with say, the latest version of Microsoft Word with someone who maybe has an older version. I create quite a few files with Adobe InDesign (a great layout/desktop publishing application) and save copies of my files as pdf files so anyone can see them the way they were originally created without having to spend a lot of money on the actual software used to create them.

Adobe Acrobat can be quite pricey, and is what is needed if you want to convert various office files to pdf for sharing and other things. Once purchased and installed on your computer, you can make a pdf copy of pretty much anything you create on your computer. There are other, less expensive applications, you can purchase that will do a similar job, but not quite as well as the folks who invented pdf files (Adobe). They aren't too shabby, but free is always nice, and when you can get free and great quality, it is even nicer. If you can open it with OpenOffice.org, you can export it as a pdf file.

OpenOffice.org will open any Microsoft file, including the newest versions. Once opened, you can convert the document to a pdf file by clicking the word File at the top of the main window, then the words Export as PDF. It really is that easy. Take that pdf file and put it into the Documents folder of your Kindle and you have a new "book/document" you can read on your little machine.

OpenOffice.org is a great replacement for any office suite. It is absolutely free, along with any newer versions and updates. I use it myself, and have and will continue to recommend it to everyone I help with their computers highly. It is a rather large download (about 150 Mb), but with today's fast Internet connections, doesn't seem to be an issue for more and more people. If you are one of the lucky ones with high speed Internet, go for it! It will become your new best friend.

Ask Mrs. Wizard:
If you have a question, please send me a personal email (mrswizard@mrswizard.com) with your question. I answer all my emails and am more than happy to help any time I can. Your questions mean a lot to me, and may even inspire an article that will help others and make this a more valuable resource to anyone who reads it.