5 cool "Free" softwares

I'm always on the look out for useful and free software. Here's 5 that you should check out for your own use.

1. Abiword
www.abisource.com
Replaces Microsoft Word
Want a good word processor but find Microsoft Word too expensive? AbiWord is my favorite replacement for Word. It’s lightweight (meaning it runs quickly) and includes pretty much every feature that I use regularly in a word processor, plus it can save files in formats that you can exchange with Word and WordPerfect users, plus open any of their files, too.

2. OpenOffice
www.openoffice.org
Replaces Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint
If you want to replace the rest of the Office suite, your best bet is OpenOffice. It includes very nice replacements for Excel and PowerPoint (and workable replacements for Access and other Office elements).

3. KeePass
keepass.sourceforge.net
KeePass is a program that securely stores and manages the abundance of passwords we all use on a daily basis.

4. GnuCash
www.gnucash.org
Replaces Microsoft Money or Quicken
GnuCash is a slimmed-down version of the bloated Microsoft Money and Quicken packages, but it contains all of the features I want for managing my money. The interfaces are incredibly simple - it functions much like a checkbook ledger on your computer - but there’s a lot of meat hidden throughout the software.

5. Firefox
www.getfirefox.com
Replaces Internet Explorer
If you haven’t switched to Firefox for your web browsing needs, do it now. It stops annoying popups and it has lost of plugins that can make surfing the web even better.