The Microsoft Office suite and the Adobe Creative Suite of software have become the top of the line options for many. But, for many, if not most users, more features don’t add benefit. As the marginal benefit to uses of upgrading for the new features has diminished, both publishers have adopted a subscription-based business model to keep their revenue flowing.
The new subscription plans are prohibitively expensive for many. So how about something more affordable? Consider these open source free products:
1. Google Docs, Sheets, etc. (Free, in the cloud so you need to be connected.)
2. Apache Open Office (Free, works when disconnected.)
3. Libre Office Suite (Free, full-featured, works when disconnected.)
4. Scribus (Free. Layout – like publisher, InDesign for making flyers and books.)
5. Inkscape (Free. Like Illustrator, use for vector artwork, drawings)
6. GIMP (Free. Like Photoshop, use for editing photos, graphics projects.)
7. Cute PDF – Free PDF “printer” and modestly priced alternative for Adobe Acrobat Pro.
There is a learning curve for these, but there are online tutorials and how-to videos for them. Because your learning transfers from other similar software, it is mostly a matter of learning how to navigate the new tools and menus.
You’d have to pay monthly fees for the Microsoft and Adobe products these days. Over time this adds up to thousands of dollars in savings. So it may be worthwhile to invest some time.
Do you know about refurbished computers? Enough corporate users retire relatively new equipment that an industry has developed to refurbish and remarket them. Think less than $350 for a real work-horse of a computer. Check out TigerDirect.com. You can outfit yourself with a refurbished computer and software for less than $400.
3.27.19 R B Shreve
P.S.: Are you a non-profit? Non-profit organizations can obtain some software free by registering at this website: https://www.techsoup.org/