Choosing the right word processing software can be a daunting challenge when you are considering working from home. This can be especially true for writers who have to be able to deliver content in a particular format.
In this article I will discuss some essential word processing tools you should be using and how to get a hold of the software if you are do not already have it. The best thing about all of this is that most of what I use is free!
Unfortunately, this one isn’t free. Expect to spend at least a couple hundred bucks, even to upgrade from Office 2003 products. The new look is great and the tools can be customized so you can save a ton of time.
The main benefit of the Office 2007 products is that they are in the Open XML format. As a fun little experiment, if you have an Office 2007 .docx or .xlsx file, you can rename it to .zip and extract files. The point is to demonstrate that the content you type is saved in a new format that allows for smaller file sizes, the data is readable by other programs, and – more importantly – your content can be more accurately displayed by programs.
Office 2007 is quickly becoming a standard file format. At a minimum, you need Office 2003 and and Microsoft’s file converter for Office 2007 files. This will allow you to open and edit documents you might get from clients in the Office 2007 format.
You probably already have Adobe’s free reader on your computer, but can you create PDF files? Of course, you can spend hundreds of dollars on Adobe Acrobat, the ultimate PDF creator, or you can use a free alternative.
I personally use PDF Redirect. It’s free and you can use your Print feature to print PDF files. The quality may not be the same as the Adobe Acrobat version with all the bells and whistle, but PDF Redirect does a fantastic job.
One of the greatest free software packages on the planet is Open Office. It is a completely free, full feature suite of office productivity software that is fully compatible with Office 2003.
The package comes with a fantastic word processing tool, not to mention spreadsheet, database, presentation, and other software. You can find tons of support if you have questions. I highly recommend it if you simply do not want to work with the basic software that may have come on your computer.
Honestly, I am a huge fan of Google Docs. For writers, this is an amazing tool. You can write, edit, share, publish, and more all right from your web browser. Technically, you can do anything you could ever want right out of Google Docs and never have to buy or download software!
You can save Google documents as Word docs, PDF files, and even Open Office files. You also have all of your writing stored safely online. You don’t have to worry about losing your files or backing anything up!
I ran my business entirely off of Google Docs for a long time and I still use it daily.
We’ve covered the expensive industry standards with Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat. We looked at free downloads with PDF Redirect and Open Office as supplemental software. Finally, I made the case for Google Docs, which means you only need to sign up for an account…no software to install or download.
I actually use Office 2007 and Adobe Acrobat now, but I worked up to these software bundles. They do have some amenities that I use to save a lot of time, but I could easily run my writing business right out of Google Docs. For those times that I can’t get to the internet, Open Office does great.
What other word processing software are you using? Any other great software deals out there I didn’t discuss?
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