OpenOffice 3.0 is already here, at least in beta version. The most popular alternative to the almighty Microsoft suite has released its first public beta to allow users to provide feedback and help fine-tune the final product. So here's our two cents.

First, though the OpenOffice site displays a warning about possible instability issues in this beta, fear them not. The complete suite was perfectly stable during our tests, with all its applications running as smoothly as expected. This new OpenOffice is compatible with all file formats from Microsoft Office, including the latest docx, xlsx, pptx and so on from Office 2008.

All OpenOffice tools, along with your more recent documents, are easily accessible from a launcher ("Start Centre") with freshly designed icons, which is one of the main new features in this version. The launcher includes a handy template manager as well, though it's quite empty at the moment.

The suite's applications met our expectations in every aspect: they're easy to use (especially if you're used to working with Microsoft's suite) and feature all the necessary tools to create complete documents, spreadsheets, presentations and databases. I particularly liked the wizard-style interface in Impress (the "Power-Point" app) which enables you to create presentations in no time.

OpenOffice 3.0 left a very good taste in our mouths. In spite of being labeled as Beta, the whole suite works perfectly fine and enables you to enjoy all of its new features right now.

Download OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta 2 in Softonic

OpenOffice.org is both an open-source product and a project. The product is a multiplatform office productivity suite. It includes desktop applications such as a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a presentation manager, and a drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to those of other office suites. OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office.

Localizations of OpenOffice.org are available in 27 languages, with more being constantly added by the community. OpenOffice.org runs on Solaris, Linux (including PPC Linux), and Windows. Written in C++ and with documented APIs licensed under the LGPL and SISSL open-source protocols, OpenOffice.org allows any knowledgeable developer to benefit from the source.

Download OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 in Softonic

Portable OpenOffice.org allows you to carry an entire office suite -- word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, drawing, etc. -- with you on an iPod, USB thumbdrive, portable hard drive or any other portable media. You can plug it right into any Windows computer and use it just like you would on your own.

Portable OpenOffice.org is a repackaged version of OpenOffice.org designed with portability in mind. It works just like regular OpenOffice.org installed on your computer does, except it allows you to use it on any Windows computer without installing anything. It has all the features of the excellent OpenOffice.org office suite except for the Data application. It also includes some special enhancements to make it work even better from your portable drive.

Download Portable OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 in Softonic

The productivity suite market is generally dominated by two main options: you either use the proprietary Microsoft Office suite or its open source alternative, Open Office. But if you don't like any of them, I'm glad to inform you there's a third choice.

Kingsoft Office is a fully featured, completely free office suite you can use for your daily work tasks. It includes three main applications: Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheets, to create DOC, PPT and XLS files respectively. The three of them are installed and launched separately – unlike Lotus Symphony, which uses a common interface. There are no apps for databases, email, or web publications.

I must admit these three apps are almost identical to their Microsoft Office equivalents, so identical in fact I'm beginning to wonder if it's just a copy. Whatever the Kingsoft developers thought about when creating the suite, I'm happy to be able to use a complete suite without having to pay for it. Also, the fact that it's so similar to other suites you may have been using up to know makes the learning curve practically non-existent.

Kingsoft includes interesting options such as the ability to export any document to PDF format and support for document encryption. On the downside, the suite felt a bit unstable during our tests: the Spreadsheets app, for example, crashed on one of our machines but worked perfectly well on a different one.

In any case, Kingsoft Office 2007 is a great free alternative for productivity suite users who don’t want to tie themselves to the same old choices.

Download Kingsoft Office 2007 6.3.0.1371 in Softonic

Whenever I hear the word "Pro" and "Microsoft" in the same package, I get inherently nervous because it's often nothing more than a few add-ons for hundreds of dollars more.

The first thing to warn you about is upgrading from Office 2007 with this package. You are almost certainly going to experience a myriad of upgrade problems, compatibility issues and goodness knows what else. certainly. Note that you'll certainly need a considerable amount of time to adjust to upgrading to this new version of Office although those used to the Classic version will probably have least problem and for the cost of the upgrade, it's debatable whether it actually increases productivity or speed of use at all. The ribbons in particular are still cluttered, poorly organised and occupy too much of the desktop. In addition, there's not much added functionality although they have manged to make sure that the ‘saved’ file sizes are smaller. I really can't see much reason in upgrading from Office 2003 based on this very frustrating version of 2007 but if you really do enjoy constant technical hiccups and error messages, then go ahead.

This is one Microsoft upgrade to definitely avoid although the one advantage is that saved file sizes are smaller.

Download Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Beta 2 in Softonic

In the beginning was Microsoft Office. Then OpenOffice appeared as an open-source alternative. And now IBM makes a new move and offers its own productivity suite, all free of charge. The idea is not new: there have been a few free suites launched lately, but all of them were online. IBM Lotus Symphony is the only desktop suite that, together with OpenOffice, can offer a free alternative to Microsoft's proprietary apps.

IBM Lotus Symphony offers three tools: word processor, spreadsheet and presentations. It's true that other productivity suites are usually more complete. However, Lotus Symphony stands out for a convenient, single-windowed interface from which you can launch the three apps. Simply click on the "Open" button and select the kind of document you want to open: the program's toolbar will change accordingly. What's more, you can have as many opened documents as you want at the same time, no matter which type, and switch between them in the top tab bar.

The suite includes all the basic tools that you could expect in such an application: spell checker and tables for documents, predesigned templates for presentations and charts for spreadsheets - to name a few - besides the usual configuration options as regards fonts, colors and the like.

In my personal opinion, I'm glad to have another possibility to choose from when deciding which suite I'm going to use. A little rivalry is always good and usually produces better and wider options for computer users. And it seems IBM is beginning to take the suite competition quite seriously.

IBM Lotus Symphony has left the beta stage behind and now offers a stable, highly functional productivity suite that, despite not being as complete as other suites, may perfectly fit your needs.

Download IBM Lotus Symphony 1.0 in Softonic

Finally you can create fully navigable online versions of your PDF files in a very stylish way. It’s like turning the page of a book but with the possibility of zooming in, so as not to stress your eyes.

3D Issue Manager is very easy to use, although the graphics could have been nicer. All it requires is that you select a PDF file, choose the orientation of the output document as portrait, landscape or a mix of both, and select the image resolution together with its quality. The program automatically creates the virtual booklet, which is optimized for search engines.

In the main window there are some interesting options you can choose from which allow you to personalise the zoom navigation to either click and drag, or mouse movements, and allow users to download an offline edition of your virtual glossy magazine. These are just two examples, but there is a whole feature list on offer. Strangely enough, the program’s windows are not resizable, which can be annoying if you have to work with different windows open.

With 3D Issue Manager you can easily and efficiently convert your PDF files into fully accessible online 3D booklets, so as to present documents in a stylish, glossy way - and save paper along the way.

Download 3D Issue Manager 3.0 in Softonic

If you're on the open source side you'll probably be using Open Office instead of Microsoft Office. But did you know there is more than one version of Open Office?

Go-OO (that is, Go-Open Office) is a fork of Open Office, that is, a special version or development build that features some interesting improvements regarding the suite it's based on. Among these improvements you can find support for OpenXML and Microsoft Works files, an optimized Microsoft binary file support, and perfect import of Wordperfect graphics, among others. You can also work with Excel VBA macros and Visio diagrams.

Other than that, Go-OO is visually identical to the original Open Office suite and includes exactly the same apps, namely Writer, Calc, Math, Impress, Draw and Base.

If you need the specific improvements included in this special version of Open Office, give it a try; if not, you may as well download the official version because there's not that much difference.

Download Go-OO 2.4 in Softonic

Microsoft has added new file formats to the 2007 versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to reduce file size, improve reliability, and enhance integration with external sources.

To help ensure that you can exchange documents between Microsoft Office releases, Microsoft has developed a Compatibility Pack for the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. By installing the Compatibility Pack (Beta 2 Technical Refresh) alongside Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003, you will be able open, edit, save, and create files using the robust file formats new to the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

Download Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack 2007 Beta in Softonic

Gnumeric is a spreadsheet program used to manipulate and analyze numeric data. Gnumeric can help you keep track of information in lists, organize numeric values in columns and rows, perform and update complex calculations by defining each step of the calculation and modifying particular steps subsequently, create and display or print graphical plots of data using bar plots, line graphs, pie charts or radar charts, implement complex optimization modeling or perform many other tasks involving numbers, dates, times, names or other data.

Download Gnumeric 1.9.1 in Softonic

OxygenOffice Professional is an office suite completely based on the famous open source package OpenOffice, but with more templates, cliparts, samples and fonts. All six applications included in OpenOffice are present, but if you click on File, New, Templates and Documents, you’ll find ten categories to choose from with dozens of pre-formatted documents, so you can save time and have more eye-catching works in minutes.

The categories go from Business Correspondence to Presentation and Education. In each one you can find templates for different type of files, like spreadsheet, presentation, andwriting documents.

Although it’s appreciable the effort of providing more materials to work with, OxygenOffice doesn’t add that much to OpenOffice. Having aimed to be more graphically efficient, the program could have improved the general GUI of the Open Office application. In this case it would have been a real plus and people would have had more reason to use it.

OxygenOffice offers many templates and cliparts for you to be more creative while creating personal or professional documents. It would have been nice if the program had improved the GUI also to differentiate the package from OpenOffice though.

Download OxygenOffice Professional 2.4 in Softonic

Although it is true that standalone computers are always more powerful, it is also true that for portable devices, the need for light applications is always strong. If the portable device were to be a USB pen drive this need is even greater.

In modern life, its useful to have all our document, photos, videos and contacts with us all the timeIts nice to feel free to send a document we have just created at any moment if we need to. The release of very thin and hybrid devices, notebooks with a very small screen try to answer to this need and this life style change. So far though, these devices are not that powerful and they don't have so much storage space. Having a tiny application then is still important and this is why this set of programs may come inhandy.

Tiny USB Office allows you to create text file, export them topdf, use a basic MSN Instant Messaging service, and create spreadsheets. Do not think you can open and modify your doc or xls files though. The application, at least for the latest file uses a proprietary format not compatible with Excel, despite what the developer says. I've actually tried creating simple excel files and the Tiny USB Office couldn't open them. The utility is of course reduced, but you might find useful to have a little office of just 2.3Mb, always available on your USB drive.

The idea of a portable office is great, but I would have allowed compatibility with MS Office; if not the portability is zero and the utility greatly reduced.

Download Tiny USB Office 1.0 in Softonic

Microsoft Office is probably the most widespread office suite in the world, but that doesn't mean you can't use other office packages instead.

One of them is SoftMake Office, a fairly complete office suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet app and presentation tool, all in one single package. It's not as fully featured as the Microsoft suite, but it's compatible with its formats (DOC, XLS, PPT and more) and it's also remarkably faster - and of course, a lot cheaper.

The suite includes also Smash, a Windows Explorer add-on that improves some shell functions and enables you to access the suite's apps from Windows taskbar, and BasicMaker, a Basic source code editor. However, it doesn't include an email client or any other equivalent app to Microsoft Outlook.

SoftMaker Office gives an overall impression of a very professional package. What's more, you can install the whole suite in a USB stick so you can use it anywhere without leaving any trace on the host computer.

If you'd like to try an alternative app to the almighty Microsoft suite, SoftMaker Office is a very good option, but bear in mind that it's not that complete.

Download SoftMaker Office 2008 in Softonic

Integrating your website with a database opens up a whole new way of delivering content to your audience. Not only does it help you facilitate business transactions, such as online ordering but you can also use it to build booking systems, create web applications or to deliver any kind of dynamic content. The trouble is, database products such as Microsoft Access and Oracle are pretty expensive, which is why Kexi is an attractive option, as it is completely free and open source.

The application organises information from a spreadsheet, consulting database servers such as MySQL or ProgresSWL. In many ways Kexi's working model is very similar to Access, particularly in terms of macros. It boasts full compatibility with scripting languages such as Python and Ruby and also uses CSV for imports and exports. This is made easier because the tabular and forms databases are stored as a single file.

The program is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux, making it an ideal data mangement tool for integrating with many server-side programs and technologies.

Download Kexi 2007.1.1 in Softonic

Revolver Mail combines all the elements of a personal information manager - an email client, an address book, and a calendar - in a single, integrated, user-friendly interface. Even better: it´s free. Revolver Mail is the safe, network-savvy alternative to existing email programs.

Designed especially for use in SOHO and small business environments, Revolver Mail´s secure framework and virus-resistant email area makes it a great choice for both company data and personal information.

Safety First

- Virus-resistant Inbox
- Attachments like vbscripts, ActiveX controls , etc., are neutralized.
- Informatio is stored in a fully-encoded data trunk
- Detailed user-rights controls put you in control
- Fully automated backups
Advantage: Built secure from the ground up.

Integrated Interface

Revolver integrates a suite of programs into a seamless application. Everything is interconnected, so you gain efficiency and avoid redundancy.
Advantage: Your world, in one window.

Very User-Friendly

Thanks to its single-window-design, Revolver is as easy to handle as an internet browser. Start organizing your life after only a few minutes.
Advantage: Simple to use.

Very fast

By the time you have typed in the first few letters of your serach term, Revolver Mail has retrieved a list of results; with every stroke of a key, Revolver refines the list.
Advantage: Less search, more found.

Network-Savvy

It may be the star of the lineup, but Revolver Mail is a team player. Up to 100 users can work at the same time with the same data, whether they´re connecting from a Mac or a PC. No expensive server software needed. Connect all of your users in about 5 minutes.
Advantage: Teamwork now means less work.

Download Revolver Mail 2006.2.6 in Softonic

Corel WordPerfect Office X3 - Standard Edition is your one-stop office suite. Ideal for large organizations and governments as well as business and consumer users with the need for dependable word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and email solutions. Trusted by millions, priced significantly less than Microsoft® Office, it's the office suite that makes perfect sense.

Download Corel WordPerfect Office X3 Standard in Softonic

Active BI Portal is business intelligence software that provides an integrated solution for designing and deploying reports and web forms over the internet and intranet. Active BI Portal consists of two parts Active BI Portal Manager which works on Windows only and server part which is collection of PHP scripts and can be run on Windows, UNIX or Linux. Active BI Portal works with all major commercial and open source databases.

Download Active Business Intelligence Portal 3.1.6 in Softonic

Belltech Small Business Publisher is a professional quality business printing software to print address labels, cards, letterheads, flyers, brochures, newsletters, postcards, envelopes etc. It comes with many design templates and cutting-edge design tools.

Main features:

• Create publication with transparency and shadows
• Add object rotation, cliparts, color blend and texture to your design
• Link to Microsoft Excel or Access data files

Download Belltech Small Business Publisher 3.1 in Softonic

Ready Mortgage Site Solution is powerful software for starting mortgage business online. Our product is an effective start-up tool for any loan company. Professionally designed web site adds credibility to your business and gives essential marketing tool to reach new borrowers – this is very important to keep in mind when looking for a ready solution. Pilot Group provides you with continuous and free technical support.

Throughout every phase of our software development, Pilot Group based on one essential conception - take a complex task and make it simple without sacrificing flexibility or completeness. High-quality software is only a single component of what can make your company top-rated. To give you a complete set of tools for a successful online business Pilot Group can help you in finding quality hosting services, domain registration and Search Optimization package.

To start an online Mortgage business is an easy thing to do. To start a successful online Mortgage business is a logical thing to want for a professional broker. Take your chance to work with Pilot Group to get your profit.

Download Ready Mortgage Site Solution 2005 in Softonic

EasyOffice+PDF Filter is an office suite compatible with Microsoft Word and Excel and Adobe PDF files. The download also includes EasyAntiVirus, which you can install if you don't have an anti-virus program. Unlimited anti-virus updates are offered at no extra charge.

The application includes:

• EasyWord with PDF Filter (DOC, RTF, HTML, and PDF files)
• EasyMail integrated with CRM, EasySchedule, EasyCRM, high-speed Anti-Spam
• EasySpreadsheet (XLS files); EasyPresentation (PowerPoint-like presentations)
• EasyDictionary (full-reference dictionary)
• Easybookkeeper (accounting)
• EasyPad (Notepad replacement)
• Easy Contact Manager (hot lists, mass e-mails, and form letters)
• EasySpeaker (reads docs and e-mails out loud)
• EasyZip (full-fledged zipping/unzipping program)
• Easyhelper
• EasyImage
• EasyDatabase
• Easycalculator
• EasyCalendar
• EasyBackup

Download EasyOffice 9.0 in Softonic