Softmaker Office - the Good Office Suite; even FreeOffice

I have been using the Softmaker Office 2010, bought as Ashampoo Office 2010, then upgraded to Softmaker Office 2010. It’s fast in my Windows 2000, my preferred OS, and occupies just a sliver of my hardisk space. Although it does not have all the bells and whistles of the Microsoft Office product, it handles well the MS Office 2007 and up, new file format versions both in read and write (except in PPTx and XLSx). It does all the things I need to do in an Office Suite.

It gets better with Softmaker FreeOffice 2012, with most of the features of Softmaker Office 2010 but its FREE. And it still runs on my old reliable and simple Windows 2000 OS. What you will miss is just the writing into the DOCx, PPTx and XLSx file formats, and the dictionaries. If you definitely need these, why not buy the full Softmaker Office 2012 paid version, and support this good software product and company. You will never pay full price again for succeeding new versions.

Go now to http://freeoffice.com/ to download and test the Softmaker FreeOffice 2012.

Go to http://www.softmaker.com/english/of_en.htm to buy the full Softmaker Office 2012 paid version. Also available for Linux and Android. SoftMaker Office 2010 is still available for Windows Mobile and Windows CE.

If you are an academic institution, you will get a very low cost site license at http://www.softmaker.com/english/education_en.htm

Aren’t these Good Guys on the Web.

FREE DOCX AND XLSX EDITORS AND VIEWERS

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Microsoft regularly churns the software market to increase its already obscene profits. It did this spectacularly with its release of MS Office 2007 where it changed its file formats from the old, almost standard formats to new ones. This has left people without Microsoft Office 2007 or newer versions unable to open and edit the files created by it coming from their colleagues, from the Net and other sources. Unless they buy MS Office 2007 or newer versions that to many involves a big investment in software and hardware.

If you find yourself in such a situation, there are solutions from the GGN (Good Guys on the Net) community that are free and just as good. May this tribe prosper and increase.

From the Open Source community, we have

AbiWord to edit docx files, the proprietary Microsoft wordprocessor file format.

GNUmeric to edit xlsx files, the proprietary Microsoft spreadsheet file format.

From the commercial software community, we have

Atlantis Word to edit docx files, a shareware.

TextMaker Viewer to view only the docx files, copy and edit in the FREE Ashampoo TextMaker 2008. You can find it as part of the FREE Ashampoo Office 2008.

As always, you can thank these GGN's (Good Guys on the Net) by buying a license to their commercial software.

Pass this on to your friends, specially those in NGO's and CSO's (Civil Society Organization). They can better spend their money to serve their financially-deficient clientele than buy expensive software. We will also be spreading the goodwill around.

Protect yourself on the Net for Free

Money is no excuse not to protect yourself on the Net.

The Good Guys of the Net are providing freeware software to everybody for personal use at home.

So far, the best of these type of software are:

1. avast! - Free realtime scanning Antivirus Software or Internet Security
www.avast.com

2. Avira AntiVir Personal - Free realtime scanning Antivirus
www.free-av.com

3. WinPatrol - BillP Studios - realtime scanning
www.winpatrol.com

4. Comodo Firewall - realtime scanning and protection
www.personalfirewall.comodo.com

5. Spyware Terminator - Free realtime scanning spyware removal and spyware protection
www.spywareterminator.com

6. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - free on-demand scanning but not realtime scanning
www.malwarebytes.org

7. SUPERAntiSpyware - free on-demand scanning but not realtime scanning
www.superantispyware.com

8. CCleaner - Optimization and Cleaning
www.piriform.com/ccleaner


You can download all of these from File Hippo, including older versions of these for older OS's
www.filehippo.com


Using the latest Opera browser will make it faster and more safe.
www.opera.com


With these GGN's (Good Guys of the Net), you can be almost invincible while surfing the Net.

For old versions of software, go to File Hippo

I still use Windows 2000 for stability and speed. Whenever I need old versions of freeware software, I go to File Hippo at FileHippo.com.

They have the latest versions of Freeware.

More importantly with me, they have the older versions that work better with my more than ten year old OS - the stable and fast Windows 2000.

Just have the best Freeware anti-malware for Windows 2000 -

1. Avast! anti-malware
2. COMODO firewall
3. WinPatrol registry protector
4. Malwarebytes anti-malware on-demand
5. CCleaner registry/hardisk cleaner
   

Freeware Proven Software Collection

Avast!

IrfanView

Avira

MemPad

AkelPad

Atlantis

Spread32

Q-Dir

Opera

POPcorn

Google services

Bubbles

GNUmeric

RoughDraft

Going to the Net for $100

The hype by the ad-supported media is you have to have the latest hardware, the newest OS and application software, and the fastest connection; to go to the Internet.

If you have the money, this is OK.

But for those with more limited funds who want to go to the Net in their own homes, $100 is more than enough.

For the hardware, buy a working surplus PC, at least Pentium 4 and 256 MB RAM. This will set you back about $80.

For the software, you can load this with Puppy Linux initially, or if you want to go all the way, Ubuntu Linux or its derivatives. In the Philippines, you can use Bayanihan Linux. If you are the windows type, you can scrounge around for a Windows 2000 installer then download tons of freeware applications from the Internet. I'm sure Microsoft won't go around looking for persons still using one of their 10 year old OS.

For the connection, you can get a Bayantel line for $10 that will give you a phone and the capability to do dial up. And for the remaining $10, buy Bonanza ISPx Reloaded P90 prepaid cards that will give you 16 hours of Net connection time.

My experience with the Bayantel-Bonanza dialup combination has been good. To make it better, use Opera browser and its multi-tab loading; Star Downloader for downloading; Miranda IM for instant messaging; POPCorn or iScribe for email; WinHTTrack for website downloading; Bubbles site-specific browser for your GMail.

To protect yourself from Net intruders, use Avira AntiVir, Spyware Terminator, Comodo Firewall, BO Clean, Spybot Search and Destroy, CCleaner. These are all freeware from the Good Guys of the Net but if and when you have the money, please buy also licensed software from them.

Of course, one must have the many wonderful tools provided by Google.