Download Free Software
Small businesses use a variety of software applications in their daily operations. Purchasing all of the necessary programs can be a big expense. However, free equivalent software is often available for download. Here's where to look.
1) Open Office competes with Microsoft Office and Corel Word Perfect. It contains word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, illustrating and mathematical equation creating modules.
2) Sugar CRM is comparable to salesforce.com and Microsoft CMR. It provides sales management, marketing automation, customer support and reporting capabilities.
3) Microsoft Office Live competes with Yahoo! Web Hosting and GoDaddy.com. Their most basic level of service is free and comes with a domain name, web hosting, email hosting and a $50 credit for online advertising.
4) Google Apps offers free email hosting that includes up to 2 GB of storage per user. Blue Tie also offers free email hosting with 5 GB of free storage space for each of up to 20 users.
But remember, even though it's great to have free software. Most free software comes with no support. Pay for the application if it's integral to your business.
Comments
Incidentally, OpenOffice can generate PDF files directly, avoiding the need for Adobe Acrobat.
There are literally 100's or 1000's of free apps, whether your platform is Windows, Linux, or Mac. And for home or office use. Many of them are as good, or better than those you pay for. For example, one place I found for free Mac software is 4macgoodies.blogspot.c.../, though I'm sure there are others.