Here's some information you all might be interested in:
There is an office package you can download for free from
http://www.openoffice.org/. It is called, appropriately, Open Office. It can do everything Microsoft Office does (word processing, slides, spreadsheets and databases), along with a few things Microsoft Office does not do. Its files can be saved as Word and Excel files, or converted directly to .pdf's. It can also make HTML files.
If you want a great browser for free, you can download Firefox from
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/. It's more secure than Internet Explorer, and has some cool features that IE does not have.
BTW, I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 700m notebook computer. Afterward, I bought a copy of SUSE Linux 10 for $59 from Best Buy (although the daring and adventurous can download it for free without a user manual from
http://www.opensuse.org/). I loaded it successfully after a very minor struggle and got it running. Overall, I like it. There are a few things I have to figure out, however, especially customizing the screen resolution and getting the CD player software to work. Has anyone else tried Linux? What did you think? Have you any suggestions? I'm still a Linux newbie...
Clarence Thompson
