It’s most notable clients include the Singapore Ministry of Defence, Banco do Brasil and K-Mart. Think Open Office is for amateurs and geeks? Think again. But for most users it offers just about everything needed in a word processor, with the exception, perhaps, of a grammar checker. Writer, the word processor component of the bundle, which also includes a spreadsheet and presentation tools, is admittedly a more basic alternative to that offered by Microsoft Word, lacking Microsoft’s large amount of templates and graphic functions for instance. It is both Windows (7/8) and Mac compatible and is free to use and is supported by an army of developers who dedicate their spare time to offering a free alternative to Microsoft Office. Open Office does exactly what it says in the title, it offers a truly open office suite of software. Microsoft’s word processor is popular because of its sheer complexity and the large number of options it offers (even some businesses are centered around teaching Microsoft Word to individuals) - although its Mac version has been widely criticized - but there are other alternatives that have drawn a hardcore number of devotees. Microsoft Word may dominate its market, but it is not the only word processor available. It’s almost a mandatory requirement for those in higher education to have their own copy of Microsoft Word at hand – and we mean past the 30 day trial.